Make Your Own "Barefoot" Ballet Flats

I really love my Merrell barefoot running shoes and was really wishing that I could afford a pair of their mary jane style barefoot shoes to wear with casual outfits. The problem is that they are very expensive and I couldn't justify the expense. So, I got creative and figured out a way to make my own "barefoot" shoes. Here is my tutorial for barefoot ballet flats.

This is the Merrell Pure Glove shoe $89. This is a picture of the pair that I made($15)

Materials:

a pair of super cheap ballet shoes on ebay ($9 including shipping)

a can of plastidip (Home Depot $6)

masking tape

foam brush

Step 1:

Put the ballet shoe on and use the tape to mark where you want the edge of your sole to be.
Step 2:

Paint the plastidip onto the soles of the shoe. Wait until it dries between coats. I ended up putting about 5 coats on. Try to get it as even as you can.

Step 3:

Wait until the sole is completely dry and has had time to "cure" which is approximately 4 hours. Try on your new shoes!
I didn't like the placement of the elastic on the original shoes so I cut it off and resewed it on straight across the top of my foot.

Here is a side view.

Another option would be to purchase some Vibram sole material and glue that to the bottom of the shoe. I might try that next if if the sole starts to wear out. I've read posts of barefoot runners using the Plastidip on the bottom of socks and of other people using it for the bottom of those soft baby shoes. It seems to hold up pretty well and still allows you to feel the ground for proper foot placement when running.

I'm so excited for how they turned out. They are super comfy and feel like slippers but with the new rubber sole, I can wear them out and about and most importantly to chase kindergartners all day. I think that they would work well for yoga too. We'll see!

P.S. If you've never heard of barefoot running and are wondering what I'm talking about, here is a link to some info about the benefits. http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20100127/barefoot-running-laced-with-health-benefits

Baby Girl Swim Cover Dress

I've been experimenting a lot lately with elastic thread and fell in love with this towel dress for adults. My friend's daughter is turning 1 soon and I thought it would be fun to make her a swim coverup too. I wanted to do something special with the straps for the dress so decided to repurpose some parts from a shirt my daughter had outgrown.

Essentially, I turned this: an outgrown shirt and a hand towel into the swim dress.

I shirred 10 rows along one edge of the hand towel.

I sewed the short ends of the towel together. At this point you'll have what looks like a strapless towel dress. I made a 1 1/2 inch slit on each side of the towel dress where the arm holes would be. I cut the ruffled sleeves off of the t-shirt and sewed them onto the towel dress. I cut a strip of fabric from the bottom of the t-shirt and sewed it on the bottom of the towel dress as an embellishment. It would be just as cute to cut a flower out of the leftover t-shirt fabric and sew that on or anything else you can think of.

Sorry this isn't a tutorial but I hope you'll feel brave enough to experiment on your own!

Diaper Bag set with tutorials

I made this for my daughter when she was a baby and I thought I would share all of the tutorials that I used to make this just in case anyone else was interested. I made a lined diaper tote with 4 inside pockets, and one outside pocket. I made a matching wetbag with attachments to hang off the back of the diaper bag. I made a lined accessories pouch, a matching changing pad, and a snack pouch, similar to the snack sack. Here are the pics!

Full set:

Side view with wetbag attached:

View of the d-rings I used to attach wetbag:

An inside view of the bag showing pockets:

Here are the tutorials I used:

Diaper bag: Easiest Diaper Bag Ever I made the bag slightly bigger for cloth diapers. I also added the front pocket between the sewn on straps and the d-rings for the wetbag. Dimensions: The finished rectangle for the bag is 29" long by 19" wide. The pocket piece measures 18 1/2" x 14". The channel for the bottom of the bag is 5" wide in the center of the pocket panel along the bottom of the bag. The straps are 48" long, 1 1/2" wide, and sewn 7 1/2 inches apart (inside measurement) on each side of the bag. These are all finished measurements so be sure to add seam allowance. Here's a layout diagram I put together, ignore the lines at the top of the handles. It's not to scale but shows the measurements I'm talking about above.

Changing Pad:

I made the changing pad with the print fabric, a layer of fleece, and a bottom layer of pul. I sewed a big rectangle, turned inside out and top stitched. It's not perfect but works fine.

Wetbag and accessories pouch: http://www.twelve22.org/2006/07/zipper_tutorial.html

I made the wetbag with cotton fabric outer and pul lining. I made it bigger than the tutorial bag, of course! I also used this to make a lined accessories pouch which I use for bib, spoons, etc. Could also be made with pul lining for wipes bag.

Snack pouch: http://sew-ing.com/make/pouch.html

I made this exactly as stated but did a single cord with a plastic cord lock for closure and didn't add the fabric covered plastic pad because I planned on using a stainless steel bowl in there anyway.

Buckle side:

Other side:

Standing up:

Inside view (excuse the crumbs):

Stroller/Car Seat Cooling Pad tutorial

Stroller/Car Seat Cooling Pad Tutorial

This tutorial is for a cooler pad that is meant to go behind your child’s back while they are in the stroller. It cools by evaporation and will last quite awhile. It is reusable and all you need to do is soak it in water to activate it again.

Update: It can also be used to lay over the buckles of the car seat while the car is parked. It will keep the buckles nice and cool for baby when you get back. You can leave it in your car for quite a few days and just throw it in the seat when you need it. Just soak it again when it needs to be rehydrated. Do not use this while the car is in motion!  These are now available in my Etsy shop if you don't feel like making one yourself.   They are made to order so I can accommodate color choices.  Here is the link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/163402073/strollercar-seat-cooling-pad

Materials:

(2) 11” x 16” rectangles of fabric

(1) 11” x 16” rectangle of fleece. Any color. This is for stability and won’t show.

1 pkg Wide Single Fold Bias tape (optional)

Thread

Sewing machine

Pins

Scissors

Measuring Tape

“Soil Moist” granules for indoor plants or similar water absorbing crystals. I found mine in the garden section at the local department store.

Step 1:

Cut out your rectangles of fabric and fleece. Each needs to be 11” x 16”. Layer the rectangles in a pile with the fleece on the bottom. One rectangle right side up, then on the top put the last rectangle right side down.

Step 2:

Pin fabric in place on 3 sides, leaving one long side open. Sew around the 3 sides with a ½” seam allowance being sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of your seams. Trim your edges to ¼” away from the line of stitching. Turn your rectangle inside out.

Step 3: (Optional shoulder strap holes)

If you want to make openings for the shoulder straps to go through the pad, lay the pad in your stroller and measure where the shoulder strap openings need to be. You’ll be measuring the distance from the top of the pad and from the side of the pad. I opted to have the pad stick up 2 ½” inches above the top of my shoulder straps. Mark your fabric (you can see my markings in red pencil) and use the buttonhole feature on your sewing machine to make the openings.

Step 4:

Binding: Now you’ll be making the channels to hold the crystals. You’ll basically be sewing lines horizontally across rectangle that are 1 ½” apart. See in the picture where I made my pin marks. I started just below my button holes but if you didn’t do button holes you can just start your measuring from the top of the rectangle. Sew straight lines from pin to pin all of the way across. Trim all of your extra threads off.

Without binding: If you don't want to add binding, you'll need to fold in the edges of the unsewn side and iron them down before you start sewing your lines across so you'll have a nice seam at the end.

Step 5:

Stand your rectangle on it’s side with the open side at the top. Making sure to stay on one side of the fleece, put 1 teaspoon of the soil moist granules in each pocket except for the pocket with the button holes (if you did those.) Shake the rectangle so that the granules go down to the bottom of the pocket.

Step 6:

Binding: Using the “Angry Chicken” binding without swearing method, sew the binding onto your rectangle starting with the open edge. Check around the whole edge of the pad to make sure that you don’t need to do any touchups with the binding. It’s super hard to sew up little gaps once it’s soaked and expanded.

Without binding: Shake the crystals to the bottom of the pockets away from the open seam. Sew across the seam.

Step 7: Soaking

Fill up your bathroom or kitchen sink and soak the pad for a few minutes until the gel expands and fills up the tubes. You can smoosh it around with your fingers to make sure that it is evenly distributed along each tube/pocket. Here is what it looks like after soaking.

Side view

Step 8: Admire your handiwork

Put it in your stroller and stand back to admire your handiwork. If your child is still sleeping (Yay!) put the pad in your refrigerator to get it nice and cool before your walk.

Congratulations you finished!

You are welcome to make these for family and friends but please don't sell these for profit.

P.S. I'm also testing it out as a cooling pad to lay in the baby car seat to keep the buckles and seat from getting scorching hot while you are out of the car. (Absolutely do not use this in the car seat while driving!) I'll let you know how that works soon!