Slippers!

A couple of years ago now I got a fantastic pair of ugg boot type slippers for Christmas.  They're Doctor Who inspired Tardis slippers and have been worn basically everyday since I got them.   I love those boots soo much.....however after being worn for two years straight they are starting to smell, and not just a little, and the fluff has all worn off the inside of the boot.  I tried throwing them in the washing machine but even that didn't entirely eliminate the smell, plus it meant I was without slippers for a good week or more whilst they dried out again.

And so I decided it was time to make myself a new pair of slippers.  And into my inbox one day popped this tutorial for sewing a pair of slippers.

I printed out their pattern, used some scraps of fleece I had lying around, and quickly made up just a single slipper to see how it fit.  Unfortunately the answer was not very well.  The problem is that I have a foot that is very short but very broad across the ball, so the seams along the side were slipping under my foot at the ball, but it was really pouchy around the instep.

So I decided to take the basic idea but modify it to get exactly what I wanted.

The first thing that I did was to compare the pattern with the pattern for my ballet flat shoes. The obvious difference for the sole was that it is much wider across the ball and thinner across the instep.  For the vamp piece my piece is shorter but wider at the bottom.  

I traced both the slipper pattern and my pattern on top of each other on a new piece of paper and came up with new pattern pieces which I then tested on some scrap fleece and was happy with.  My new pattern has a right and a left foot, unlike the original slipper pattern, but otherwise it's just a few minor variations in widths.

The new pattern is on the right. 

Now that I had the basic pattern I wanted to make these slippers really wearable.  The original pattern just used fleece for the soles and then some glue stuff to make it non slip, I decided that I would use my sole material that I use for all my soft soled shoes, that way if I need to run out to the bins or letter box or what not I can without having to change into shoes.  Plus, non slip and hard wearing.  I also decided that I wanted these nice and super snuggly so used a double layer of fleece for the vamp rather than just a single layer.  The final change was to the binding around the inner edge.  I wasn't sure how well the slippers would stay on with just a binding around the top edge, plus it provides no ankle warmth, so I decided to use a ribbed cuff instead. 

Now I was ready to cut out.  I decided to use the left overs from my latest fleece sweater (not on the blog yet - still need to get photos of it).  It's a really nice think fleece so will make nice warm slippers, plus its a great use for the small piece of left over fabric I have.  for each foot (right and left) I cut an inner sole piece, plus 2 vamp pieces out of fleece, an outer sole piece out of my sole material.  And a cuff out of black rib knit.  The cuffs are 10" long x 5" wide.  The final step was to cut an insole out of 6mm thick craft foam to use between the outer and inner sole pieces to provide extra warmth and comfort.

The makings for one slipper

To put the slippers together I started by attaching one long edge of the ribbed cuff to the inner cut out of the vamp.  I sewed this with a lightning stitch for a little extra stretch.  I then sewed the other long edge of the cuff to the second vamp piece.   

I then sewed the back seam starting at the outer edge of one vamp, going right along the cuff and ending at the outer edge of the other vamp.

Now when I fold the cuff in half lengthwise and match the two vamps together all seams are nicely tucked away inside.  

I placed my vamp piece right sides together with my outer sole material matching the notches at toe and heel and sewed the two pieces together with a 3/8" seam allowance.

The inner sole piece was then sewed, right side down, over the top of the vamp, leaving a hole on the straight side to turn everything inside right. 

 Once everything is turned inside right, I (not very easily) stuffed the insole into the gap and hand sewed the gap closed.

Then turned the vamp up over the sole.

Simple, but effective.  I love these slippers.  They're so comfy, so warm, so easy to slip on and off.  Everything you could want in a slipper - and all in under 3 hours!