06 December 2007

Something to Slip Your Feet Into (More Slippers)





I have so many projects to blog about, I had a hard time choosing where to start. Then I remembered the old maxim to start from the ground up. Slippers seemed the natural place.

I've been making slippers for awhile now. I originally started with the Fiber Trends crocheted ballet slippers pattern, and have slowly morphed that pattern into my own. It probably isn't obvious in the way the finished product looks, but I've changed some shaping in the heel to make it more fitted, moved the decreases in the toe for a cleaner look, integrated multiple colors and completely redesigned the straps (when I use them at all). I now say that my slippers were inspired by Fiber Trends because the construction has changed so much.

In any case, on to the project. I'd been wanting some Goddess Wrapz for quite some time. Gabs likes to pull on my hair and I hate it when she does it, so I needed a way to cover up my hair. A Goddess Wrap looks at once elegant and hippie, so it seemed the perfect fit.

We settled on a trade of slippers for wrapz. Aly had seen my slippers here on my blog, and wanted a set for her own. I knew she liked brown, green, and purple, so I set about making a slipper that incorporated all three of those items. And, of course, I knew she was granola, like me (although I'm more like Kudos granola than Bear Naked granola).

My final slipper was crocheted from pure wool, a change for me, since I usually use Brown Sheep Lambs' Pride, a wool/mohair blend, for my felting. I can say now that I will never go back. Pure wool creates a warm, semi-smooth finish that asks to be touched. No fuzziness. Just warmth. I loved the way it looked. The brown slippers looked like chocolate sculptures that were begging for me to eat off the toe!

I then turned to embellishments, and decided on purple flowers with button centers. I felted the flowers and their corresponding leafs, and sewed those on with some fabulous buttons I picked up at TacTile. Then I embroidered a few vines around the body of the slipper and finished it with a wooden bead to fasten the instep strap.

Aly loves her slippers. I've received many convos from her proclaiming their awesomeness. She's even been gracious enough to send a few more people my way for slippers.

Looks like there'll be more slippers in my future! If you'd like a pair of your own, just contact me and we'll make a set perfect for you.

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