My first sun sandals

Well one thing I have never made is shoes. At least until now anyway and since its Me Made May I thought I would show you these. 

I need to practice doing up the ties. They are the same length just I was wearing these and never adjusted for the photos! 

Well #MMM22 is supposed to be about real life and wearing what you make after all!

Just glimpsed here - probably I should have got better photos - is my navy Steampunk Skirt which of course is also Me Made but never mind that.

 I always thought I would have a go at the crochet boots pattern from Lion Brand yarn but when I came accross this pattern, for what are basic Viking shoes a couple of years ago I just had to buy it. 

At that time it was 75p so even if I never made these it was not much to risk losing. Well the hardest part of making these is finding some second hand leather large enough to cut the shoes from. Most leather clothing is made from small panels and I had to buy a few things to get a large enough panel to do this. 

I did though previously make some armour from some of my panelled leather so all is not lost in my efforts to upcycle old leather garments. That was fun, 

Though I must admit this armour is worn very little, but it has become something I care for and keep, despite the craziness of owning armour! 

I intend to learn how to add studs and rivets in fact and make some more armour thats a bit more "armoured".  Thats for the future though.

Back to these very comfortable sunny weather shoes.

Anyway these are my very first pair of Sun Sandals. Pattern is from Etsy though the price has now gone up. Still if you do fancy making shoes this is worth it. 

I used a second hand skirt in a lovely lilac colour which is probably totally impractical and will get dirty quick but its what I could find that I can fit both shoes onto so this is whats available to me right now. They will be nice summery shoes I think. I never took any photos of the skirt before jumping in and cutting I am afraid but its just a second hand skirt from a charity shop. There will be enough leather for another pair too and I think the skirt cost me £3.

You have to remember to draw on the wrong side of the fabric - so I chose the dirty outer side and to cut two mirror images.

Then you just tape the pattern to the cut out shoe and hammer holes all round it - they are marked on the pattern.

Cut the laces which is interesting cos you start with a oval/spud shaped piece of leather and cut in a circle to the thickness you need. Test its strong enough - one of my laces broke so I actually made 3 of these, but best you break it now not when wearing and I used the smaller bit  from the broken lace for the heel join. Then you need to thread everything together and you have an amazingly easy to make pair of sun sandals.

I would certainly reccommend people have a go at making these. They are only any good when its not raining and really are slippers but once you have them worn in you can add soles which I will do. You need to wear them first though  they say for around 2 weeks, to decide where to add the second piece of "sole" leather. You can stick rubber soles on which I may try but even then I do not think they would be very waterproof unless you can get hold of something like sofa leather. I am now keeping an eye open for anything like that I can find/ beg/ be donated to make more of these.

These are also the most amazing dance slippers you could have, because they are like ballet shoes.

Have a great day and thats for dropping by. See you tomorrow

Bracken