How to Make a Pair of Cozy and Sweet Ballet Slippers

Click here for PDF version and patterns

These pretty ballet slippers -- a most enjoyable and fun sewing project -- can be made in a leisurely afternoon. Rummage through your left over fabric scraps and notions, get started and before you know it, you will be admiring your handiwork as you pad around in your cozy new slippers.

What you need …
**unless the yardage is noted, lay your patterns on the material to determine the yardage
• Re-cycled denim
• Cotton fabric (pink gingham) for lining
• Cotton fabric (eggplant floral print) for piping, heel trim and ruffles
• 24” x 5/8” wide velvet (raspberry) ribbon, cut in half
• Iron on interfacing
• Cardboard
• Leather, vinyl, denim or another durable material, for the sole
• 1 yard x ¼” wide elastic, cut in half
• Thread, scissors, pins, pencil, needles, sewing machine
• PDF (click here) upper, sole and ruffle patterns

Check the fit before you start …
The pattern included is an adult, medium size. To check the fit, stand on the sole pattern. It should peek out around the perimeter of your foot. If you need to reduce or enlarge the pattern, cut the pattern in quarters down the middle, and then extend, or overlap the pieces to fit your foot. Tape together, smooth out the new lines, and apply the changes also to the upper pattern. Then cut an upper and sole out of some leftover fabric, gather the toe and baste the two pieces together. Slip it on, check the fit, and apply any further adjustments to your pattern pieces.

Cut your pieces …
• Cut two denim uppers + two upper interfacings.

• Cut two soles from the durable material.

• For the lining, cut two soles and two uppers out of the pink gingham + two sole and two upper interfacings.

• Cut the floral accent fabric: Cut two bias strips 1” x 24” wide from the floral print for the piping + 4 x half-moon pattern for the ruffle + 2 strips 1 ½” wide x 3” long for the heel trim.

• Transfer all pattern notches.

• Cut two cardboard soles (cutting 3/8” smaller all around the perimeter of the Sole
Pattern. (If you like your slippers more cushiony cut out a pair of foam liners as well.)

Easy to follow sewing instructions…
Denim Upper and Sole:
Iron the interfacing on the back side of the denim uppers and soles.

Sew a row of basting stitches between the toe notches.Stitch the heel together with a 3/8” seam allowance and press open.

Reinforce the heel seam with the cotton floral fabric as follows: Interface 3” strip floral accent fabric. Fold back ¼” seam allowance along each length and press. With wrong sides facing each other, center strip over the heel seam. Pin and trim any excess off the top and bottom so strip aligns with denim edge. Edge stitch along each length. Pull the toe basting thread, easing gathers, so that the toe will curl under softly. With right sides facing, pin the upper to the sole, matching notches. Baste and remove pins. Stitch seam with 3/8” seam allowance. It is a wee bit tricky, so take your time to stitch a neat, curved line, with toe gathers evenly distributed. Turn right side out. With something firm, like a pair of blunt scissors, press firmly on the seam, to give it a pressed finish.

Make Lining:
Iron interfacing to the cotton lining upper and sole.

Following above instructions for the denim, stitch the lining upper to the sole.

Assemble Slipper:
Slip cardboard soles inside slippers.
*If you like your slippers cushiony then slip the foam soles on top of the cardboard.

Slip the linings inside the slippers, smoothing neatly in place. Pin.

Baste together all around the perimeter of the edge.

Trim off any lining that extends beyond denim.

Make the Ruffle:
With wrong sides facing, stitch one pair of ruffles together, sewing ¼” around the half circle shape but not the bottom.

Turn ruffle inside out and press.

Stitch a row of basting stitches ¼”, along the bottom edge. Pull the basting stitches to form soft gathers.

Pin ruffle, centered, aligned with denim edge, to slipper front. Baste and remove pins.

Add Slipper Piping and Elastic:
With right sides facing each other and edges aligned, pin the bias floral fabric all around the perimeter of the slipper edge. Baste, remove pins. Stitch ¼” around the edge.

Zigzag stitch the elastic around the slipper edge as follows: Align the elastic with the slipper edge on the inside, pinning it all around with a little ease. (You only need a little elastic ease for a good fit.) Zigzag stitch down elastic center.

Press the floral bias piping up. Fold it over the edge, and tuck the seam allowance under. Pin it around the perimeter so that you have a neat piped edge.

Hand stitch the piping closed, with the stitching line following the seam join point on the right side, so that your stitches are hidden. Be careful to pull the elastic as you stitch, to maintain the ease.

Velvet Ribbon Bows:
Tightly tie two small bows. Cut bow ends at diagonal angle.

Hand tack bows to cover the join point of the ruffle.

Pad around with a big smile and enjoy!

Halloween fantasy mask

This magical mask, has been posted before - but I've decided to make it my signature statement for Halloween on both of my blogs. It wonderfully fulfills and stimulates the desire to create something unexpected for any mysterious parties or trick-or-treating as we head into October. Originally, named a Venetian Fantasy Mask, it was created for Denim Revolution, but when we couldn't squeeze it in - it became a freebie. All the how-tos are right here, on craftzine.

Soft and southern, heirloom style

Creole Sha explained that my post triggered the idea -- but this design duo gave it their signature, romantic touch - turning a pair of old denim jeans into soft feminine panties.

I adore them and wanted to share them with you.

All their designs on their etsy shop have that feeling of a hot, carefree, late afternoon in the south. 

The lazy luxury of hand-dyed family heirlooms … makes the last of the hot summer days feel lost in time and especially cool … .

Thank you Creole Sha for sharing your New Orleans style.

August 2010 fashion screensaver is here!

(as a fellow blogger, just click here to download

and use this month's screensaver or to print yourself a copy)

August always feels like back-to-school mode no matter how many years have passed since one last registered for classes.  The stores and magazines are filled with dreamy designer inventions styled and chosen by the editors.  They hope that we will take the delicious bite and wrap ourselves in something new - that we will be infused through their creativity with fresh energy and glamour as we prepare to pounce on the new fall challenges. Just the right pièce de résistance is so very invigorating.

In sketching this month's calendar, my thoughts drifted to denim worn simply with white cotton camisoles - the timeless way of dressing.  The look that found its way into brush and paint are from my book, Denim Revolution -- the ornate poet's beret with brass buttons and elaborate ribbons and the harlequin trousers with their plush ruby insets and gold braided bows.  Fun to make and so cool to wear.

Wishing one and all to enjoy August's gracious, grand finale,

of the sweet summer,

Nancy

DIY cropped, denim joggers

I wanted to let everyone know, that over at my other blog, the new, pure denim one,

I've just posted these cozy, cropped, rather smug, denim joggers.

I can attest that they are perfect

for sailing through the spring and summer.

Re-cycling hats and dresses like Gone With the Wind

Gone with the Wind is and will always be a most favorite fashion inspiration. Tattered or dripping in gold, either way, the clothes play a supporting role. This week two associations with this movie popped up.

In the last room at the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition “American High Style,” one finds the hat created by Mr. John in 1939, for Vienne Leigh. With a can-do spirit, this hat was industriously re-fashioned with proud determination and glamorous style.

Perched on top is a rooster feet ornament (barely visible in this photo due to the dimmed lights and no flash.) They have been lightly dusted in gold, blending artfully with a grand swash of gold cord, fringe and green velvet upholstery fabric.

Then in “My Mother’s Clothes” by Jeannette Montgomery Barron, on page 45, the writer explains that her mother, who wore only the finest designer clothes, fashioned the below elegant dress from upholstery fabric.

Suggesting that it was motivated by …perhaps a divorce, Barron connects the curtains of Tara to her mother’s defiant creation of this re-cycled dress as her vehicle to show she can conquer a painful personal war.
I just posted a review here on Barron’s book – which I most highly recommend. Visuals and prose combine high style with human thoughts and feelings about mothers, daughters and life and loss.

Re-cycling, re-fashioning with energy and resolution is tremendous and beautiful.

Denim slipper tutorial and Making time

The Making time column of the Guardian has featured my denim slipper tutorial.  Do skip over, as there are many wonderful and original tutorials for home crafters, with interesting reader comments that spur thought and needle.

Don't be surprised if, like me, after you make those slippers, you get the bug and stitch up a few variations.  Above are ones made with denim soles, which I call my shaggy dog ears.  I have discovered that once you've cut all the slipper pieces, the project packs small, just right for taking on the road when you're traveling and bored in transit.

Alice in Wonderland denim pedal pushers

This photo, of the “Alice in Wonderland” project in my book, “Denim Revolution,” captures the magical, upside down images of the beloved children’s story. I have always loved everything Alice, and couldn’t resist including a design named in her honor. It also demonstrates how you can take an old pair of jeans, in this case, ones with out-of-date flared legs, and playfully morph them so to speak, like Alice, into something new and fun. These pants after they were cropped, patched and stitched have all the charm and delight of a spring flower garden. 

… and then why not make yourself a - Lollipop Power Belt—a waist cincher with the leftover denim.  Happy sewing.

Tutorial for mending jeans with designer style - technique # 4

Awhile ago, White Oak Cone Denim gave me a small book about an historic collection of denim clothing found in an abandoned shack near Greensboro, North Carolina. The images and information that denim historians have gathered about this clothing helped me to understand from another angle, and more deeply, an era of American history. The clothing, dating from the 1930s, tell the story of a family, living in poverty, working as tobacco sharecroppers. The clothing has been beautifully repaired and mended, by one person. Overalls have been cut into pants, newer denim has patched old, worn holes and resourceful combinations of patches and hand stitching have created an unintentional but beautiful, folkloric patchwork. Above is a scan of a pair of children's overalls. I have seen actual samples, and they are powerful, for the life that they document and also the thoughts and images they bring to mind of this homemaker, who worked to maintain the family's clothing with respect and durability.

As some of you may already know, I am writing a series of articles on mending, repairing and patching jeans with designer style. Fashion is driven by many different events or ideas, and when something is compelling, like this collection of denim clothing, it bound to have a strong influence.

The technique that I have written up for this particular post is inspired by this collection of historic clothing. With respect to this nameless family, I have tried to capture their spirit of resourcefulness and craft, and named the technique "Sharecroppers" patches.
Above is a photo of my final jeans. Patches are put where the denim was totally worn and ripped and where it needed to be re-enforced. Stitches, thread and denim scraps were chosen for how natural, practical or beautiful they looked.

Part of the goal was to make the inside as beautiful as the outside. This would make the jeans more durable, preventing the necessity of repeated repairs. Below is a photo of the finished inside of one of the legs.

Below is a photo of overalls from Ralph Lauren's spring 2010 collection that wonderfully capture the spirit.
For the entire tutorial on the "Sharecroppers patches" click here.

Make yourself a pair of Valentine earrings

What is more lovely than fresh flowers as an expression of love? I’m spotting people all over the city carrying single roses or lovely bunches of pink and red flowers. It is those tempting, pretty, flowers, that seem to be everywhere, that have inspired me to make these golden, pink and red earrings. Only you will know that they are only a slip of paper, as don't you think that they look much more valuable and important? If you want to make yourself a pair, below is the artwork -

and for the entire, very easy, for all abilities, tutorial - click here. Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day.

Mending and patching jeans - the "soho-boho" patch

click here to download tutorial

Welcome to chapter no. 3 and my project to write a series of articles about mending and repairing jeans. When mending jeans, different techniques come into play from mending other kinds of slacks. One needs to respect the special qualities of the fabric as well as understand the individual style of the wearer. There are many ways to incorporate these elements when you patch and mend. In chapter 3, you will find a technique for hard worn jeans, that need durable patches to endure continued hard wear. It’s been named “Soho-Hobo” patches, for how it is inspired by the look of the youthful rebel, the poor but resourceful artists, who founded Soho in the 60s in New York. It's a cool one.

How to hem jeans with designer style

click here for tutorial

Even though hemming jeans is one of the most common clothing alterations, surprisingly, it is rarely sewn correctly (and when it’s wrong it’s truly glaring, like a billboard wrapped around your ankles.) The widespread mistake is to just fold the excess length back and stitch it like any other pants. This is in conflict with the stitching and washed details on the cuff that need to be seen and not hidden.
When jeans need to be shortened the hem should be durable, invisible and not change the style or look of the jeans. The hemming technique in this tutorial is designed especially for denim. I love to give names to techniques and this is named "For Your Eyes Only" due to how it blends so seamlessly, that only the seamstress knows it’s there. As you will discover, it is simple and easy to do, or, if you’re not a seamstress, then to explain, to the person who will shorten your jeans. Repairing jeans is a pleasure because the material sews beautifully and the wearer is so appreciative.
Click here to download or print the tutorial.

Velvet slipper tutorial

If you want to make yourself a dreamy pair of slippers, click here for my tutorial posted on my most favorite crafting blog - craftzine. Craftzine has formatted the instructions with plenty of sketches, into an easy to use, nice to keep and to re-use or pass to a friend, pdf file. And once you make a pair in velvet -- you may start to make more ... ...such as the ones above made with a Liberty cabbage rose print, re-cycled denim soles and antique lace and fringe trims ... and when you finish, just put your feet up and gaze at your lovely handywork. Ahh, all is a day's work.

Shower Bonnets made from retro scarves or lace

"California Dreaming" is made from a retro scarf and some gingham ribbons.

Named "Coco" this version is made with white lace, layered on top of plastic lime plastic lining, and finished with pleated and polka dotted ribbons, black jet and crystal buttons.

It all started with a family heirloom, a fun, souvenir scarf printed with charming scenic spots in California. Even though it was colorful and intriguing, it was never worn because it is synthetic. Now it has been recycled into my every-morning-most-favorite-shower-cap named "California Dreaming" and as I write this post, is hanging on a peg in the bathroom! If you want to make one yourself, here are the easy steps. It only takes about an hour from start to finish.

Materials:

1 scarf (synthetic is best because the water just splashes off)

1 plastic shopping bag (this will be your waterproof lining)

1 yard of 1" wide, synthetic, turquoise ribbon

1 yard of 1" wide synthetic yellow ribbon

1 funky retro button

1 yard ¼" wide elastic

Red thread or another color that contrasts your scarf print

Your sewing basket and a sewing machine

How to do it:

-Cut a 20" diameter circle, out of the scarf and out of the plastic shopping bag.

-Pin the 2 circles together and stitch ½" from the edge, all around the perimeter.

-Sew the turquoise gingham ribbon around the perimeter with a zigzag stitch.
-Sew the yellow gingham ribbon, with a double row of zigzag stitches ½" apart, leaving an opening to slide the elastic through. And like in the photos, the turquoise ribbons in fluttering below the yellow ribbon.

-Attach a safety pin to your elastic; slip it through the opening, sliding it along, until you come out at the other end. Holding the elastic ends together, adjust the ease to fit your head, and then cut off excess and stitch elastic ends together securely.

-Form a loop from the turquoise ribbon (this is to hang your shower cap on a peg.)

-Pin the loop on top of the join point of your ribbon trims (so it hides the join.) Sew securely in place with a button. (My turquoise ribbon is a simple seam binding, pressed open, left with raw edges. )

DIY a romantic Halloween mask

Venetian Carnival

This is one of my most fun projects - to make and to wear -

(click here for the step-by-step tutorial)

Made with a scrap of re-cycled denim, it was posted last year, and just as lovely this year.

And here it is sketched with a re-cycled denim cape. Happy Halloween!

How to mend and patch jeans like a fashion pro

- click here for tutorial -

Sometimes jeans are literally hanging together by threads and it's time to express your fashion prowess, experiment with your sewing skills and start mending and patching. Not only will it improve the durability and life of the jeans ... but it is so fun to enjoy the results.

On this blog, I am going to share with you some mending and patching tutorials - starting right here (click here) with my most basic technique, and also a heavenly one - just for denim - that I call, "cat and mouse."

Hope you love it, and shoot me any questions or images!

Denim is our comfort clothing and more

(above and below - Ralph Lauren Spring 2010 collection)
Denim is our comfort clothing. And when it becomes shredded, worn, ripped and stained it is even more appealing and personal. That's the moment when our jeans take on a new energy – built around a romantic history of having lived, loved and traveled. Designers know this and try to find ways to satisfy and define their denim beliefs. Carine Roitfeld and French Vogue rarely let an issue go by without a denim story or at least the "model's own jeans." Currently, at the spring 2010 fashion shows on both sides of the Atlantic, designers are sending jeans down the catwalk, that look like they are the model’s own, accessorized like model’s do, with all the knick-knacks that they seem to inherit from the previous shows or fittings. The look is never more charming when it is authentic and you do it yourself, mending, patching or beading your own way.

Hobo jeans

Old rugged jeans have been reinvented into these lush, hobo jeans, by a quilter with an abundance of wonderful patches ... I love what she did and wanted to share it - as it reminds one to stash away fabric scraps and even old or stained clothing if the fabric is interesting, as they soon become our "new" treasures and the latest fashion looks!

Recycle household plastics into chic photo-stands

If, like me you are always collecting and gathering special mementos - like postcards, photos and sketches - that inspire thoughts and memories of events or ideas that you want to remember or reflect on, ... then here is a easy and fresh way to display them around your home ---

The 3-step 3-minute DIY Process:

--Sort through your empty household plastic or cardboard containers;

--Choose the ones in the colors, patterns or textures you love, that will also sit level on your table or shelf;

--Cut a little slit (I used an exacto knife, so this is only for adults,) slightly angled toward the back, about an inch deep, and slip the postcard through it. Finito!

Once I started I kinda went crazy with all kinds of version. At the very top image, on the library mantle, I used blue and green water bottles cut down, with yogurt and can tops; and in the image just above, from the left -- a feta cheese container, upside down; the bright yellow top of a windex spray; the top of a starch spray can; and an upside down chocolate dessert container. The photo of the model in the denim skirt, by the way, is from my book, Denim Revolution, of the diy back to school projects -- "schoolgirl charm skirt and waist cincher." The version above from the left is the top of a whipped cream container, the chocolate dessert container, the spray top, and the feta cheese container.
And here is a carton that some pears came in, with a postcard of Mark Rothko contemplating his Seagram paintings.

Pin cushion tutorial

Here is another cushy pot, and as I'm naming them, this one's called "Sugar and Cream." The base is a very old metal coffee filter and the cushion is made from vintage fabrics including an old pillow case, trims, and of course...denim.

Click the link here - and it will take you to a cushy pot tutorial.

Share your pin cushion creativity here - on flikr.

And here's still another cushy pot, this one named "Glam Pot."