DIY felted clogs with leather sole

As anticipated in my round-up...

SLIPPERS.

So far, I made two pairs of the same pattern from FiberTrends: a pair for my husband and a pair for my mom (I'm the one still without proper slippers). For this time, I decided to knit the pattern with a single sole.

My mom's pair

My husband's pair (still without the leather sole)
I didn't have the exact yarn required by the pattern, therefore I made few samples as advised on the pattern: casting on 15 stitches and work in stockinette for 20 rows, then cast off.
After felting, the sample with the right yarn should be a 4" to 4-1/2" square.
I have a front loading washing machine, which makes things a bit tricky when it's about felting.
So I set the maximum temperature, load my washing machine with 4 large towels, and placed the clogs in separate mesh bags.
After the first cycle, the slippers were still big, so I did a second turn.

This is my sample, using a mix of royal blue and grey
of the same kind of wool.

This is the clog before felting for a sie 11 men's:
I used the grey and royal blue for the sole and cuff, and plain grey for the top.

After felting, filled with plastic bags to keep the shape while drying!

DIY // making leather soles for slippers:

I made the leather soles using an old bag that was no longer usable due to stains. Cut the shape of the sole on a piece of card-stock, and measure on the sole of the slippers to make sure that is the right size. Trace the shape of the sole using the card-stock template: once on the right side, once on the wrong side, so you'll have a perfectly matching right and left.

The pattern says that although the two clogs are knitted the same way,
whit use, there will be a right and left.
I decided to cut the leather soles already with a right and left side,
so I wouldn't leave any room for confusion :)

marked the soles with a dot every 1/4"

to save time, I put the two soles together
(and secure them by placing double-sided tape on the inner side)
and used my Punch Hole Plier

to punch the holes on the marks

I decided to take the extra steps of punching the holes because
the felt is really thick, and even using a leather needle would have caused me
severe bleeding.
I promise, 15 extra totally worth it minutes!

I proceed to sew the soles with a double strand of heavy duty upholstery thread

(because the thickness of the felt, use the smallest needle you can thread: will make life easier)

Leave the "wrong" side of the leather on the outer side:
the suede will add grip to your steps.

These are my mom's knitted slippers before felting.
My mom wears a size 5, so I used the pattern of the size 6, with a smaller size needles.
Worked out perfectly.
For the cuff, I used a contrast wool... which didn't felt the same way as the rest of the slippers.

Added the leather soles.
And as you can see, the cuffs aren't perfectly shaped because of the
different yarn.

So I decided to keep the cuff in place and add a red stitching.
Worked out well at the end!
xox, d.

keep in touch!

facebook * bloglovin * pinterest