On Making Shoes

You may have read in my previous posts my position on shoes for babies. This position remains the same even now as my little one is 20 mo old and walking and running quite well. He still wears soft soled leather bottomed shoes, but I have run into an issue with my determination that he wear appropriate footwear.

My little one is on the big side. What can I say, he takes after his dad. As you may have seen in previous posts, I've probably mentioned this before in struggling with clothing sizes from time to time. It also seems to extend to his feet. Aside from his feet being on the large size for his age, they are also wide which he likely could have gotten from me. At 19 mo of age, he outgrew the commercially available soft soled shoes which are only available from most manufacturers up to 18-24 mo sizes. Many shoes are available in his size that still have flexible soles, but I feel he needs less structure since developmentally (even though he's and adept walker as far as I can tell) he's still young.  Aside from that, among the flexible soled shoes, many have much more structure than I would prefer not to mention the cost of said shoes is astounding. Purchasing those shoes would mean spending what I spend on a pair of shoes for myself; and, when you need to replace a toddler's shoes every couple of months, it's not always feasible or friendly where the pocket book is concerned.

So, what is one to do? My solution? Make the shoes. I am fortunate in that I learned to sew when I was younger and from time to time, though I don't sew often, the "need" arises and I'm thankful that is one skill I learned.

The process to make the shoes did take a little bit of research and effort. First, I needed to establish the sort of materials I'd need. The shoes needed to be breathable and durable. A leather bottom was, of course, needed to protect the bottom of the foot outside; however, the entire shoe needn't be made of leather as long as the material used was sturdy and breathable. Next, I planned on examining the shoes he'd worn previously to see how they were made and then I would create my own pattern. Luckily, I was saved from this effort by my sister-in-law who helped me locate a pattern for cloth infant "booties" that were put together very much the same way as the shoes my boy was wearing. A change in materials used and an increased size was all that was needed to adjust the pattern for shoes that were safe to wear for walking outside and appropriate for his size.

I measured his foot in comparison to the size of the pattern and calculated the scale difference and was able to enlarge the pattern to fit his foot. I then started with a practice pair of shoes. For this, I used some sturdy materials, but I did not have the leather on the bottom (as this was the most expensive part of the shoe). For the practice shoes, I used scraps of materials that I'd used for other projects in the past. Mostly, I wanted to work out any kinks and see how the shoes came together. I also wanted to ensure that I had scaled up appropriately so that the shoes would be comfortable for my little one to wear. This is a picture of the practice shoes. I'm happy with the way they turned out, though I did run into issues with the thickness of some of the materials I used and it may certain aspects of the shoes difficult to sew together. As an added bonus, they fit well and my little boy loves to wear them around the house.

I decided it was time to proceed with the actual shoes so I purchased the materials I'd need. I purchased the leather, heavy duty thread, and a sturdier needle (to use with the leather) which were items I didn't have to ensure the shoes would hold up and function as intended. Since I had already gone through the entire process before, it only took a couple of days (during naps and after bedtime) to complete the shoes. I did experience some tension issues when using the leather, but I managed to work it out and ended up with a pair of shoes I was proud of. A few days after I completed them, they experienced their first real test. We went to a crawfish boil at a friend of my husband's and we spent the afternoon outside. My little one was able to get his shoes scuffed up and worn in and had no problems. He even got them soaked by walking in a puddle of water. I left his socks and shoes on and they dried out in no time, which I think is a great testament to the breathe-ability of the shoes. The "real" shoes fit well too, though they have more extra width than they have length. When it's time to make the next pair, which won't be too long from now, I'll probably adjust the pattern more for length and keep the width close to where it is currently is since he has a lot of side room.

My little one is definitely happy to be in shoes that fit again which is nice. I'm happy because I can keep him in the optimum style of shoe for his stage of development. I really wish they were available and more affordable at larger sizes for other moms that are in the same position with a larger munchkin like me, especially if they don't know how to sew. If you do sew, or if you know someone who does, this is definitely an option to try out. I'm definitely happy I did.