Try-it Tuesday: Reversible Baby Booties

Have you ever tried to photograph an almost-17-month-old toddler doing, well, anything?

It’s kind of like trying to use chopsticks to spear Jell-o while it’s revolving on a pottery wheel.

But more on that later.

Have you heard of Joyfolie?

I first discovered Jessica’s delightful shoe line for infants and littles (though I think she’s expanding to Women’s too) two years ago when I was pregnant with Della, and I was immediately smitten with the fabrics, the flower details, the exquisite style in which my girl’s newborn tootsies had the potential to be shod if only I weren’t so cheap.

Because, seriously, Jessica’s creations are magical, and back when I first found Joyfolie, her shoes were only about $30 a piece—an absolute steal for handmade (GORGEOUS) baby shoes.

Lest you think I’m exaggerating, here are a few examples that the website would actually let me grab images of. They’re not even my favorites, but Joyfolie does not make a bad shoe, folks. (Just click on the pic, and it will take you to the link):

 

Throw in names like “Luna” and “Gabi” and “Farrah” and the fact that Jessica styles and takes all of her pics, and I have to say, I’m in awe.

But no matter how much I love her shoes, I simply cannot make myself plunk down $60 a pop (the average price now that Joyfolie has achieved limited mass production) for an article of clothing that will grace my child’s feet for a mere month or two.

(Although I did indulge in one pair from the Joyfolie FB fan page—a great place to get gently used Joyfolies at discounted prices—before Della was born, and then squirreled them away for the “perfect time,” which only occurred AFTER she’d already outgrown them…doh!…no worries, though, I can easily resell them for what I paid).

So, what’s with the Joyfolie plug?

Is Jessica sitting beside me, slipping me crisp Benjamin Franklins for every sentence I write?

Um, no.

Pretty sure she hasn’t a clue of my existence.

Also pretty sure she wouldn’t love the fact that I’m praising her shoes but not buying any. : \

HOWEVER, I do enjoy letting people know about quality products that I love (even if I am too cheap for them), AND all this Joyfolie talk is a great tie-in to today’s Try-it Tuesday…

…which is all about baby shoes.

Because, as you probably already know if you’ve been following along at 5D5W, my typical response when I find something I love but am not willing to shell out for is to think, “Hmmmm…so can I do that myself, for a lot less?”

In the case of baby booties, the answer is a resounding yes, and the possibilities are endless.

I found a basic bootie pattern…this one, actually:

And got to work.

Here’s Della at 6 weeks wearing the first pair of shoes I ever made her:

(I cannot get over how tiny she is here).

And here she is 15 months later, absolutely fascinated with what Mama is doing with that fun, shiny, pointy thing:

{This is what a lot of the crafting at our house looks like}

So, how hard is it to make baby shoes?

Not hard at all.

In fact, all you really need is cute fabric, a sewing machine or thread + needle, maybe some ribbon or elastic, and a little patience.

As you can see from the shot below, there are really only two pieces to the pattern:

I got my Simplicity pattern on sale for around $7, but you could easily make your own by tracing around the sole of a baby bootie you already have and then cutting a horse-shoe shaped piece of fabric for the shoe body.

For this pair of shoes, I wanted the most bang for my buck (which is maaaaaaybe how much it cost to make these…that may be a bit high actually), so I decided to make them REVERSIBLE!

How?

Easy!

But first, remember this:

Yup, that’s about all you need to know. As long as the material you use for your sole works on both sides, you’re good to go.

Here’s the process I went through:

1. Cut one pair of shoe soles out of the GAP leather skirt I used to make last week’s Leather Flower Belt (aka: Nadia).

2. Cut TWO shoe bodies—one out of one fabric style and one out of another.

3. Match up right and lefts of shoe body patterns, with right sides of the different fabric styles facing each other (in other words, I took my two “right” shoe uppers—one brown polka dot and one floral felt—and lined them up with right sides facing, wrong sides out).

4. Sandwich a piece of ribbon between the right sides of your fabric about 1/4” from the back of the shoe upper (the back will be the end of the “horse-shoe”), with the ribbon end flush with the inside seam of the shoe and the ribbon tails extending in the opposite direction (in other words: if the inside edge of your shoe uppers is to the left, then the ribbons tails will stretch out to the right, and then rest will be sandwiched inside the uppers). Repeat with another piece of ribbon for the other end of the “horse shoe.”

4. Pin and stitch along the inside edge, leaving an 1/8” seam allowance (this will attach the fabrics to each and secure the ribbon in place…you might want to go back over your stitch for durability).

5. Flip right sides out and iron flat against each other, which will hide your seam.

6. Sew a vertical seam up the back to close the “horse-shoe” shape and make it a “shoe shape” instead.

7. Stitch the shoe upper to the sole, using an 1/8” seam allowance and making sure that you’ve paired the right side of the sole with the right fabric pattern (I wanted the cognac side with the bright pattern and the nappy side with the polka dot).

8. Trim the edges, so that your tabs (those pointy bits sticking out from the fabric) and your frayed edges are gone.

Obviously, with the reversible shoe option, one of your versions is going to be a little more “rustic” and unfinished than the other (because when you flip the polka dot to the inside, the seams are completely hidden).

But if you use fancy thread—I chose gold—or even a fancy stitch (if your machine has that option), it still looks great.

And it’s hard to beat two shoes in one—less time spent sewing AND fewer shoes to keep up with!

The last thing to consider is embellishments.

My patterns were cute by themselves, but my favorite things about Joyfolie’s shoes are the fun flowers, ruffles, and bows.

Obviously, I couldn’t put a flower on top of a shoe that would get turned inside out because then Della’s little toes would be constantly getting scratched, or they wouldn’t even fit at all.

What to do, what to do?

Oh, I know!

How about detachable flowers?

Yeaaaaah. That’s gooood.

I whipped up two matching sets of Layered Circle Flowers (from last week’s tutorial)

And then glued little felt squares and brooch pins to the back to make them easily attachable.

I grabbed the first cute baby I saw and started trying to spear Jell-o while it revolved on a pottery wheel get her to hold still long enough to actually get a picture of the shoes. (I told you we’d get back to that Jell-o reference sooner or later).

WARNING:

If copious amounts of cute little girl pictures annoy you, you’d best just keep scrolling to the bottom of this post!

Option 1:

The Maribel

Option 2:

The Odette

Clearly, I’m not even 1/100 of the photographer that Jessica is (she uses her daughter as the model for most of her shots too, but the results are *cough* slightly better), but the baby girl more than makes up for it, I think.

Oh, and speaking of Joyfolie, that adorable clippie in Adelaide’s hair came with the shoes that she never got to wear (*sniff*), so at least I got something for the 20+ hours I spent stalking the Joyfolie fan page two years ago while were on vacation (did I just type that “out loud?”).

See you tomorrow for Wardrobe Wednesday and Thrifted or Grifted!

_{The CSI project ~ Menu Plan Monday ~ C.R.A.F.T.  ~ The Southern Institute ~ Making the World Cuter ~ Thrify Décor Chick ~ Metamorphosis Monday ~ Sumo Sweet Stuff ~ Gunny Sack ~ Singing Three Little Birds ~DIY Homes Sweet Home ~ Dittle Dattle ~ 1929 Charmer ~ Everything Under the Moon  ~ ModMix Monday ~ Sew Stylish ~ Coastal Charm ~ Under the Table and Dreaming}

_{Tuesday ~ Get Your Craft ~ Tip Junkie ~ Blackberry Vine ~ Crafty Confessions ~ Me & my Boys ~ A Bowl Full of Lemons ~ Home Stories A-Z ~ My Uncommon Slice of Suberbia  ~ Carolyn’s Homework ~ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ House of Grace ~ Passionately Artisitc ~ My World Made by Hand ~ Uncommon Designs ~ Trendy Treehouse}

_{Wednesday ~ Blue Cricket Design ~ Somedays Crafts ~ Sew Much Ado ~ Sew Woodsy ~ Handy Man, Crafty Woman ~ Savvy Southern Style ~ {Primp} ~ Midweek Fiesta ~ Rae Gun Ramblings ~ Polkadots On Parade ~ Lollipop Cards ~ JAQS Studio ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ My Girlish Whims}

_{Thursday ~ Thursdays are Your Days, Transformation Thursdays ~ Somewhat simple ~ Show off your stuff ~ House of Hepworths ~ Delightful Order ~ My Simple Home Life ~ The Frugal Girls ~ Thrifty Thursday ~ DIY Diva Thursday ~ Tablescape Thursday ~ No Minimalists Here ~ Crafty, Scrappy, Happy ~ Thrifty Decorating ~ Between U and Me ~ 36th Avenue}

_{Friday ~ The Shabby nest  ~ Show and Tell Friday ~ Finding Fabulous ~ I’m Loving it ~ Simply Sweet Home ~ Whipper Berry ~ Chic on a Shoestring decorating ~ Spunky Junky ~ Delicate Construction ~ Homemaker in Heels ~ Family Ever After~ French Country Cottage ~ Common Ground ~ Young And Crafty ~ At the Picket Fence ~ Fingerprints on the Fridge ~ Miss Mustard Seed ~ Addicted to Decorating ~Bacon Time with The Hungry Hypo ~ Making Lemonade ~ I Can’t Stop Crafting ~ Over the Big Moon ~ Shabby Art ~ Answer is Chocolate}

_{Saturday ~ I heart nap time- Sundae Scoop ~ Tatertots and Jello ~ Be different Act Normal ~ Funky Junk ~ 2805 ~ Making Lemonade Blog ~I am Along for the Ride  ~ Lolly Jane}