Kimono Baby Shoes – how to and how not to

Ok so I made some kimono shoes for Mon’s baby, except they turned out kinda crap so I made only one of each size. :)) I used these instructions (pdf) from Homespun-threads. As I found them kinda incomplete and misleading at times, I thought I’d write down some additional notes for anyone who might want to try them.

1. Don’t repeat the mistake I made: fleece is way too thick for what you’re meant to do at the end of the instructions, which is fold the shoe flat and sew it on the inside sole inside out (so that piece of fabric is stretching over the whole shoe scrunched up inside), then turn it out. It’s kinda insane. In the end I did finish the fleece one anyway since I’d already cut the sole, but by just sewing it in “the right way”, which results in a kinda ugly inside finish as you can see here.
2. Make sure you read the whole thing! Make sure you understand what she means with the last point! *lol*
3. There are additional pics from someone else at the end of the pdf, these make some of the steps clearer. Please note that whoever made those did not follow the freaky “fold flat and sew” instructions as far as I can tell.
4. The patterns don’t mention it so in case it’s not obvious, the “Top” is cut with the straight, short end on the fold. Also, please ignore that it says “cut 2 outside, cut 2 inside” for now, see point 5 below.
5. In the cutting info she says “You can cut all pieces individually or cut only the parts shown below. I like to cut my Inside Top and Outside Sole with the pattern and then use larger pieces. I’ll show you how below.” This is never really made that clear further down but quite helpful, so definitely do it that way: Cut only the inside top and outside sole to size before starting. You then basically sew those onto bigger pieces of fabric in step 1 and 3, which are only cut to size after stitching. In step 3, this is pretty much unavoidable, and in step 1 it also helps a lot cuz it’s an awkward shape anyway.
6. In step 1 she says “Lay top fabric face down on inner fabric, wrong sides together.” It’s actually right sides together, tho this is pretty obvious from looking at it.
7. “Sew around all rough edges to tack down.” This one confused me for a bit, but basically it means sew the edges that aren’t yet sewn (after pressing) together so they stay in place. I did this with the longest length setting, basting-style. Also, make sure you keep really close to the edge for this as this stitch will later be visible if you have it on the inside of the next one.
8. “You’ll sew and ease all the way around the shoe bottom as shown above.” Yeah, this one’s a bitch. *lol* You can choose to start at the heel and basically do it in two steps (heel to front left, finish, then heel to front right in a separate step), or you can pin the whole thing in place and just go around once. I tried both and each have their advantages and disadvantages. *lol*
9. As for her step 3: “Then fold the shoe flat and pin down to inside sole fabric. Outside soles, wrong side will be facing up.” This is fairly clear once you’ve understood that yes yes, she really wants you to have the whole of the shoe on the inside now, and you’re “stretching” the sole over it. I made sure to stretch the fabric quite a bit as I was stitching it, to make sure it wouldn’t be all loose and flappy once all that shoe on the inside was gone. *lol*
10. Er, that’s it. I’m only adding another point cuz 10 is a nice round number. For sale: baby shoes, never used!!! *lol*