firstwalker tuto

8/18/2019 Firstwalker Tuto

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Twinkletoes First Shoes + Giveaway

How to Make a Pair of “First Walker” Shoes

By Sharon Raymond of SimpleShoemaking.com

How many pairs of shoes does a child grow out o f before he or she is f ully-grown? I don’t know the number,

but I do believe if we were making some of those shoes, the cos t o f raising a child would plummet (a s light

exaggeration) and our children’s feet would be healthier. And, if we use recycled materials to make them, our children’s shoes would have a smaller “fo otprint” on the earth.

Here’s a pattern and directions f or making simple children’s shoes in a “f irst walker” size. The pat tern can be

reduced or enlarged on a photocopy machine by about 8 percentage points without becoming too distorted to

be usable.

I think these shoes make great baby shower gif ts . There will, no doubt , come a time when these “f irst walkers

will fit perfectly.

Consider checking the s izing of this pat tern by making a “mock-up” f rom inexpensive felt to try on your child

before cutting into your actual shoemaking material.

Pattern and Materials:

Pattern: twinkletoes shoe pat tern by Sharon Raymond

Uppers: Make the upper parts of the shoe f rom thrif t- shop leather goods, leather or f abric upholstery

remnants, hand-made f elt or f elted wool coats , recycled denim or canvas.

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Soles: To make children’s f oo twear as f lexible as bare f eet, there are a couple of materials I use. For t hose

who want t heir children’s shoes t o be made of all natural materials, natural rubber so ling is available on my ets

shop. A child wearing shoes with natural rubber so les can f eel the topography of the earth, yet will be

protected. This so ling must be st itched with a st itching awl as described below, as holes pre-punched in it sea

right up.

Another option, readily available and thin enough t o provide that baref oot f eel, but in no way “natural”, is the

grey hall-runner available at home building centers. It has rubberized material on the backside that can serve a

soling. If you put a f ew layers of f abric or f elt, o r a single layer of leather over the f uzzy side-up, the texturewon’t be noticeable underfoo t.

A third option is to cut them f rom thrif t store leather go ods. If you use leather, I sugges t that you use two

layers, with the “fuzzy” sides f acing out. The f uzzy side on the bot tom provides traction and the one on the

top absorbs perspiration. This is the option I have used on the sample pair of shoes shown here. If you prefe

rubber bottom soles, cut t hem f rom bicycle inner tubes.

Thread: I use heavy-duty waxed braided cord f rom Tandy Leather. Four-ply waxed Irish linen or s t itching-awl

thread can also be used. It’s best to use a synthetic thread when st itching the upper to the so le, as o rganic

materials deteriorate when in contact with the ground.

Elastic: For this size shoe, I use six inches of 3/8″ elastic for running through the channels. To get t he elast i

through the channels, make a little too l f rom a piece of plastic milk carton, about 5″ long and 3/8″ wide. Cut a

litt le slit at one end. Use like a sewing needle or bodkin to pull the elast ics t hrough the channels.

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To make colored elast ic, I use permanent markers t o “dye” the elastic in the area where it is exposed, between

the t oe piece and the heel piece.

Tools:

The tools for making these shoes are simple – a decent pair of scissors, a “scratch” awl from the hardware

store f or punching stitching holes, a couple of layers of corrugated cardboard to place below your upper

material when punching holes with the awl, a glue stick, a marker appropriate f or your material, permanent

markers for “dyeing” the elast ic and a couple of tapestry needles f or s titching leather shoes, or sharp needle

for stitching fiber shoes.

If you want to make proper round s titching holes in leather, the 00 round-hole drive punch f rom Tandy Leather

# 3777-33, is the to ol f or you. You will need a plastic cutting board to place under the leather piece while

punching, and a rubber mallet o r other non-metal hammer f or pounding on the punch. The litt le “spring punch”

# 3236-00, f rom the same source, can punch holes nicely if they aren’t more than 1/2″ or so f rom the edge.

A st itching awl (Tandy Leather # 1216- 00) can be used f or stitching the upper t o the sole. A video showing its

use can be seen at www.simpleshoemaking.wordpress.com.

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left to right: spring punch, stitching awl, 00 drive punch, scratch awl, rubber

mallet.

Cut out the upper pieces: Draw around the to e piece and the heel piece onto your upper material, then cut

the pieces out. Be sure to f lip the patterns over when drawing the second shoe.

Punch out t he stitching holes: Punch out the stitching holes on the patterns and transfer them to your sho

pieces. Also , mark the center of the heel and the to e, and the location where the heel piece meets the toe

piece, indicated on the patterns by a spiral. On fabric or f elt, use whatever mark-maker that is suitable f or you

material, to mark the location where stitches should go through the f iber.


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For leather, I like to use a silver gel pen to mark the location of st itching holes, it usually comes of f with soap

and water applied with a cloth. Aft er marking, punch out t he holes. To accomplish t his, either place your shoe

part on a f ew pieces of cardboard and punch down with an awl, or use the 00 punch as described above.

Make the channels for the e lastic to pass through: if you are using leather, punch out the st itching holes

along the two lines shown on the pat terns. If you are using f elt or f abric, you have made st itching marks. You

can turn the channel either to the inside or the outside. Use the “simultaneous running st itch” to s titch the

channel.

For the simultaneous running stitch, cut a piece of thread about four times the length of the distance you are

going to stitch, and put a needle on each end of the thread.

For stitching fiber shoes, attach a sharp needle to each end of the thread. Stitch into the first mark on one en

of the heel piece, then down through the corresponding mark on the sole. Bring that thread back up in the

second mark in both so le and heel piece, and tug on your threads so they are the same length. Pass the

second needle down into that second mark, while holding the thread that is already there to the s ide, to prote

that f irst st itch f rom being split.

Give a good tug on both threads after each stitch to create a nicely-seated seam.

Keep repeating this process .

Hiding knots: Each time you s titch, at the end you have two loose threads. To tie the threads in a hidden kno

put each needle through only one layer of your shoe material so the threads meet inside the area st itched. T

a tight square knot , then run the ends o f the threads under a f ew st itches before cutting them of f .

When working with leather, you will have punched stitching holes. Proceed as described above, and f or the

neatest appearance, develop a pattern of which thread goes into the hole f irst (f rom the top or bot tom) and

whether the second thread goes to the right o r lef t s ide of the f irst. Consistency is the key – and that’s why

your work won’t loo k as neat if you make a running st itch with one thread all along the seam, then f ill in the

gaps with the other thread; you’re missing that tug on both threads after each step that makes the threads

grab each other and sett le in.


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Embellish: Embellish the shoes if you like – embroider, applique, reverse applique, stamp, paint. Since I made

shoes f rom leather, I punched holes along the decorative lines on my pattern, about 3/16″ apart. I then

transf erred the marks to my toe piece, punched them out , then st itched with 4-ply waxed Irish linen. It’s f un to

add a litt le touch of embellishment to the heel piece also .

Run elastic through the channels: Use the plast ic bodkin to pull the elast ic through the channel so it

emerges at the other end. Put one end of the elastic through the slit, then pull it all the way through with your

plastic strip. Once the elastic is through both channels, check f or twist ing, then overlap the two ends about

3/8″ and stitch them to gether. After s titching, pull on t he elastic until the st itching is hidden inside a channel.

Stitch toe-piece and heel-piece to t he sole: Now that the uppers and soles are complete, stitch the shoe

together. I usually start s titching on the inside of the shoe, where the heel piece meets the toe piece. Cut a

length of non-degradable thread about f our t imes the distance around the shoe, which is about 12 inches x 4

= 48″.


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For f iber or leather so les, use the “simultaneous running stitch” described above to stitch the shoes t ogether

unless you are using a natural rubber sole. As described above, a stitching awl is needed to st itch a naturalrubber sole to the shoe.

In the toe area, the distance between stitching holes or marks is greater on the to e piece than on the

corresponding holes on the sole; this causes the toe area to “pop-up” and not press down on the child’s toes

I usually wet leather when st itching in this area so it’s moldable, and do my best to gather the leather so it

doesn’t overlap on itself .

If you are concerned that stitching through the so ling might result in these stitches wearing out soo ner than

you’d like, remember that the part of the f oo t that touches the ground is the part you can see when walking

barefoo t in wet sand. However, if your child does wear through stitches, you have the skills to re-stitch!


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When you’ve st itched all around the shoe, hide your knot as described above. Spray water inside the t oe piece

of a leather shoe, and stuf f it hard with f abric or paper bag scraps. Let it dry fo r a f ew hours until it keeps a

nice, rounded shape.

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Sharon

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