I made shoes!  The pair of Mickey Mouse shoes above was my first “test” pair, just to see if I really could do it and if the fit would need adjusting.  I’m pleased with them and wear them around the house constantly.  Since they have a simple fabric sole, I think of them more like slippers.

But when you love to sew, it’s rarely enough to make something just once, without throwing in your own little changes. If you think about it, there’s really a lot you can do with that little area of fabric that becomes a shoe upper.  I decided to try a mismatched pair, using the quilt-as-you-go method with fabric strips.

If you’d like to try it, you can buy a great How to Make Shoes PDF pattern from Shoeology.  Shoeology also sells a very nice waterproof soling material with a nice grip, if you’d like to wear your shoes out into the world.  There are instructions for making insoles included in the detailed pattern, but since I’ll likely end up with several pairs of homemade shoes I thought I’d try an insole I could easily switch out, something with a little more arch support.  So far, these are very comfy and they only cost about $6.

And the finished shoes:

Forrest Gump knew, “Momma always says there’s an awful lot you could tell about a person by their shoes.”

I may have ended up with shoes only a quilter could love, but since I am a quilter, I’m OK with that.  :)