Everybody needs monkey slippers!

Today I have been mostly making monkey slippers!

I promised to make a pair of slippers for a friend, so I thought I'd better make a prototype for myself first, to figure a few things out. I had just enough monkey fabric left from my Superbuzzy order, so I couldn't resist using it up.

I have plans to make some more, probably out of fleece, and a slip-on/mule style with some of my leftover fancy fabrics. This is all part of the Grand Shoe Plan, but I figured that slippers would be a good starting point.

This is how I made them...


Here you can see (almost) all of the necessary pieces. For the uppers, there's the monkey fabric. For the lining I used some cream poly/cotton, which is fused to a piece of batting. (That's the squashy stuff.) For the soles, there are two pieces of cream poly/cotton, each fused to heavy interfacing. Between them goes a piece of 1" upholstery foam.


These are the upper pieces, sewn together and turned right sides out, and the sole pieces with the foam sandwiched between them.


The uppers and the soles pinned together. I learnt a few things at this stage:

• Press the uppers before you sew them on to the soles


• Don't bother pinning and machine basting. Hand basting is actually quicker and easier for this.


• If you have a fine upholstery needle.

I also left out the elastic which was suggested for the back of the heel. The slippers do stay on without it, but I think I'll be adding it in next time, to stop them from gaping.


Ta-daa! They look finished!


Until you turn them over...

I'll be buying felt for the soles tomorrow! I might also add a bit of decorative top stitching around the uppers.

And there you have it. Monkey slippers!


[edit] I forgot to say - I made these using Burda 7978 as a starting point, and then getting creative with a book about making your own shoes. Feel free to make your own!