Thrifted sweater slippers for Toben

I bought a wool sweater at the Arc Thriftshop a while ago, thinking I'd felt it and use the felt for something or other. I've not felted thrifted sweaters before and wasn't sure how it would work.

I felted it yesterday and it made a wonderful, thick felt--probably about 1/3 inch thick.

I've wanted a new pair of slippers for myself since my all-time favorite slippers that Sarah knit for me have holes in the soles. (Note to self: need to order leather soles to put on them!) So I thought I'd use the felt for new slippers and see what happened.

I've long wanted to try this pattern from Martha Stewart.

So I printed it off and blew it up and then cut it out of the felted sweater. (First I cut the sweater apart along its seams and ironed it flat.) The felt was hard to cut through!

The next problem was that the two pieces of felt put together were too thick to fit into my sewing machine! So I threaded a darning needle with some red wool and went to town with a running stitch along the heel seam and the top seam of the uppers. Then I came back the opposite direction to give it more stability.

I pinned the upper to the sole and sewed the two pieces together.

Finally, I added a simple running stitch along the top opening to make it look a little more finished.

Then I made the second slipper just like the first. It does fit me pretty well, but the top is a little loose. So instead of ripping out the top seam and stitching it tighter, I decided to give them to Toben since they fit him perfectly!

Don't they look nice with his new cowboy jammies?

***

With felt this thick, the slippers are more masculine looking, I think. To make them for me, I'd trim the top of the upper to fit closer to the foot and use a thinner felt. And then I'd add some embroidered flowers or something fun to make them look a little more girly.

Also, because felt tends to stretch some, I'd make the pattern a half-size or full size smaller than the shoe size I normally wear. All in all, this pattern worked really well. (And with thinner felt, it would run through the sewing machine, making it a really quick project for a last-minute gift. That said, I'd still use wool felt rather than the craft felt you see at the craft store. That felt would be way too thin--especially for an adult's slipper.)

Comments

[Sam]

Wow! Your craftiness amazes me. My mom-in-law taught me to knit about three years ago while I was pregnant with the girls and didn't feel like moving much. I am still knitting, but I am still knitting dish cloths! I really need to try something a bit more challenging. Very nice slippers! Happy New Year.

[mens slippers]

Wow nice can i buy these in the u.k

[Lee]

Ordering leather soles is expensive! Go to a thrift shop and buy a suede jacket for a couple of bucks, and you are good to go ... for several pairs!

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