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Baby Shoes

felt shoes for Lily

Lily is now walking to get around 90% of the time, which means she needs some shoes. Unfortunately, her feet (size 5 1/2) are bigger than I can find any soft-soled early walker shoes in. I couldn’t find any shoe patterns in that size either, so I traced her foot and made these.

I’m not completely happy with the end result, but it’s a start. They stay on, and she seems to like them. I kept all seams on the outside for comfort, but the design could definitely use some tweaking for cuteness.

Lily wearing her new shoes
Most importantly, I need to figure out how to make some that would work for outside – these are fine for indoors, but they aren’t at all weatherproof. Any suggestions?

If you’re wondering, this doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll have huge feet when she grows up. I think my feet were similarly large – I remember wearing a child’s size 3 at age 3, which looking back is quite large. It was the same size my five-year-old sister was wearing at the time – and her feet are half a size larger than mine as an adult.

I’m linking this post up to Make It Wear It at The Train To Crazy and sew & tell at amylouwho.

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

30 thoughts on “Baby Shoes”

  1. Have you ever tried that white stuff with the bumps? You know kind of like the bottoms of hospital socks? I did that once for a cover for a cast and the family that used it said it held up really well. It wasn’t that hard to sew.

  2. Andrea @ The Train To Crazy

    I love that you just traced her foot to make these =) My girls all had big feet at that age too. I should have left you some of our soft soled shoes! I had some great ones in that size from a brand I’m blanking on now…
    .-= Andrea @ The Train To Crazy´s last blog ..Little Cap Sew Along Day 3 =-.

  3. Hey MaryAnne,

    I haven’t forgotten about the Rhoost products… my computer crashed and I’ve been using my in-laws. My old one has the rep’s e-mail on it. Hopefully we’ll be getting it soon and I can get your info to them. So sorry it’s taking FOREVER!

    I’m thinking there aren’t many (affordable) shoe companies making soft-soled shoes for early walkers. We’ve had the hardest time finding soft-soled shoes for Cavan.
    .-= Tracye´s last blog ..Cullens First Day of School =-.

  4. So cute! My first thought was laminate fabric for outside wear, but I’ve never tried it, so I don’t really know how pliable it is. These are really great!
    .-= Vicki´s last blog .. =-.

  5. I had to add, her little legs and feet look so tiny and feminine compared to my Jesse’s big, wide, fat ones:-). They may be long, but they definitely look girly shaped to me!
    .-= Susana´s last blog ..Beach Finale =-.

  6. I wish I had suggestions, but I would be coming to you for those, not the other way around:-).

    These are ADORABLE! Lily is so, so cute. I love these shoes. You are so creative!
    .-= Susana´s last blog ..Beach Finale =-.

  7. I made some similarly ‘cute’ slippers for Rebecca out of a felted sweater, by tracing her feet too. Although then I made the top piece flare out to be wider so that it would arch up over her foot. Oh, actually, I’ve still only made one! Then I found some nicer patterns for slippers from Martha Stewart, but didn’t actually make any. She has some cute baby shoe patterns here: http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/felt-baby-shoes

    For the bottoms, sometimes the ground was too hot for Rebecca in Robeez, so I would use quite thick felt, or put in a layer of quilting batting possibly?
    .-= Katherine´s last blog ..Drawing Bugs =-.

  8. very cute design! Pediped makes great early walker soft soled shoes in bigger sizes. I bought a few pairs off Ebay myself. I also make baby shoes/slippers and put a non-slip fabric on the bottoms. For outside you can use leather or suede and double up on the thickness of your inner material. I’ve never done it, but it’s just a thought.
    .-= Kara´s last blog ..Back in the Saddle =-.

  9. For not having a pattern you have done a fabulous job. I would never have tackled shoes. They look cute. The love hearts are a great touch.

  10. Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog

    They look great!!! I love the little hearts — adorable! I’ve never made baby shoes for outdoors, so I’m not sure what would work well for that. Can’t believe how BIG she is getting!!
    .-= Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog´s last blog ..Bang on the Drums All Day =-.

    1. Thank you, everyone!

      @Valerie – I KNOW – what happened to my baby?!

      @Jen – Isn’t that the best? =)

      @Becky – I can’t believe I waited until baby #3 to give it a try! =)

      @Ida – I do want to try outdoor shoes, if I can figure out how…

  11. Have you looked at Bambino shoes? A bunch of us mamas here in Australia got together and ordered some as a coop to share postage. Love love love them, and the sizes go up to 8yo!
    .-= Elisa | blissfulE´s last blog ..kiddo quotes =-.

  12. These are cute–great idea to keep the seams on the outside. For outdoor ones, I wonder if you could cut down the soles they sell for knit/crochet slippers at craft stores? Have fun

    1. @QuiltyBee – that’s a great idea, I’ll have to take a look at those to see if it will work!

      @Ticia – Hobby Lobby sells leather? Hmm… Have you ever tried sewing leather? If so, how did it go?

  13. Wow – thanks for all the feedback, your comments this morning are super useful!

    @Jaimie – That’s a great idea!

    @Elisa – I’ve never heard of Bambino shoes, but they look like a great option!

    @Amber – the Kinko option is intriguing – and I’ll have to look for Target’s fake Robeez.

    @Monica – What a great, FREE pattern!

  14. A friend told me that you can take any baby shoe pattern to Kinko’s or similar and they can figure out how to enlarge it to make the pattern larger. Haven’t tried it yet, but I want to for the kimono slippers I make–Ingrid needs some :) And the leather slippers that Target has (fake Robeez) the xl is pretty big, Ingrid wore those last year when her feet were in 6s.
    .-= Amber Liddle´s last blog ..Labor Day =-.

  15. It’s a great start! What a nice prototype. For weatherproofing, could you grab a thin leather purse from the Salvation Army for a few dollars? You could use that for the bottoms. That would yield you a lot of pairs of shoes, more than she would need. I’m not sure about using it for the tops unless it was a nice color, but that’s where I’d start. Good luck! Update when you make more :).
    .-= Jaimie´s last blog ..Self Portrait Saturday 13- September 4th- 2010- Watching Fall Blow In =-.

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