Here’s how to make really soft, fuzzy and lovely house slippers to gift to someone you love!
Or to keep to yourself, if that’s what you choose. They are great to wear around the house. And you can make them in different colors and looks too.
Supplies Needed
- Two colors of fuzzy fabric (say, pink and off-white)
- Sandals or flip flops that fit the person for whom these slippers are intended
- A yoga mat you no longer need
- Faux leather
- Thin foam
- Contact cement
- Marker pen
- Pencil and paper
- A pair of scissors
- Pins
- Tape measure
Step-by-step instructions
Place the flip-flops / slippers on the yoga mat. Use the marker pen to mark the outline of the footwear on the mat.
Take the scissors and cut out the yoga mat along those marked lines.
If the yoga mat you are using is fairly thick, you need only one layer of each such cut out. On the other hand, if the mat is quite thin (as some are), then cut out TWO slipper outlines for each foot.
If you are using two layers of cut out yoga mat for each foot, then you need to stick them together. To do so, apply contact cement to both layers of each foot and let it dry for about 15 minutes. Then stick them together. Do this in a well-ventilated area.
Of course, if you are using only one layer for each sole, you can skip the foregoing step of sticking two layers together.
Now take out the foam and mark the outline of the slippers on the foam using a marker pen. The foam is for use as padding.
Again, if the foam is thin, you could use two layers of foam instead of one.
To make a pattern, on the paper, mark the outline of one of the soles. Mark around this outline about a half-inch outside to give it some allowance.
Place the sole on paper. Mark out the top and the mid-points on both sides of the sole. Use the ruler to mark points one inch out from the mid-points on either side. Draw curved lines (imitating the shape of the sole) from the top marks to these points.
Connect the mid-points with a slight curve pointing inwards towards the top. Draw an outline one-half of an inch around the shape you have so drawn. This forms the top of the slipper.
Cut out the two pieces you have marked above.
Place the first paper piece you cut (with one-half inch outside the sole’s outline) on the fabric. Mark the outline and cut out the fabric.
For each sole, you will need to cut out outlines as above on the vinyl, one out of the fuzzy fabric and two similar pieces out of the main fuzzy fabric.
Now, if you flip the pattern pieces (of paper) over, you can similarly cut out vinyl and fabric pieces for the other foot.
Cut out the half-inch allowance you made on the bottom of the paper pattern piece. With the resulting pattern, trace out two similar pieces on the foam.
Stack the two foam layers for padding on top of the sole. Measure the thickness of the assembly. Also measure the length right around the outer length of the sole.
Add one inch to these measurements. Cut out two pieces of the main fuzzy fabric with the resulting expanded size.
Hold the smaller pattern piece of paper on the larger piece representing the sole. Hold in such a way that it would seem they are sewn together. Now mark out where the top piece touches the sole pattern piece.
Use the tape to measure the length from one of those marks around the back of the sole till the other mark.
Add one inch to that measurement. Cut out a piece of the main fuzzy fabric that is as long as this new measurement and 6 inches wide.
Take the heel piece fuzzy fabric and fold it in half lengthwise. Pin it on one of the top pieces of the fuzzy fabric with the non-fuzzy side facing out. Pin the other end of the piece to the other side of the fuzzy sole piece.
Place the pin the fuzzy faces of the other piece. Sew along the bottom curve.
Flip the whole thing out so that the fuzzy sides are facing up / out.
Take the foam piece (of the front portion) you cut out earlier and insert it between the two fuzzy layers of the front side. The foam piece will likely stick out a bit, but we’ll trim it later.
You may find that you get fluff all over the work area when making these flip-flops. Use a lint roller to get rid of them.
Take the sole piece of the fuzzy fabric of the other color and pin it all around the sole to the top piece you just made. Sew around the edges. Pull the pins out as you are sewing. You may have to sew slowly and carefully since this is fuzzy fabric.
Take the long piece of fuzzy fabric and sew together the short ends with the fuzzy sides touching. Pin it around the final piece above with the fuzzy sides touching. Then sew them together.
Around the curved portion of the vinyl, cut out small triangles. Make sure to not cut the stitches.
This is useful to ensure the fabric does not bunch up when it is flipped around.
Now, take the fuzzy piece you made the pin it to the sole piece starting at the toe. The right sides need to be touching. Mark out the points on the heel where you need to stop sewing. This should leave a gap that is large enough to insert the layers of yoga mat and foam sole. Sew around from one mark to the other.
When you are done sewing, flip the whole thing out so that the fuzzy sides are outside.
Insert the sole layers in the space you created while sewing. Fold them up a bit to make the insertion easier. You may need to trim out any pieces that stick out. To close the heel, hand sew it together.
Repeat these steps to make the other slipper.
Your slippers are now ready! You could add further decorations / embellishments to them as appropriate. You could cut out heart shapes or other shapes from fuzzy fabric (of various colors) and hand-sew them onto the top of the slippers.
These slippers are very comfortable to wear and look great too!