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| Lauren Mackey's kimono slippers... |
I had seen a similar kimono slipper pattern for sale at Craftsy, but upon doing a Google search, this free tutorial/pattern by Lauren Mackey came up.
Free, yes, but there is a "price" to be paid. Unless you happen to wear a US size 9 to 9-1/2, you'll have to do a little work as this pattern is "one size only". Lauren does offer a table of shoe size values for you to work out your own requirements, however tricky that may be.
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| Shoe size chart (image courtesy of laurenefabrications.blogspot.com)... |
As you can see in the photo below, the pattern piece for the sole that accommodates the size 9 is just over 11.5" long.
According to her table of shoe sizes, a woman's US size 9 is roughly equivalent to a 10" foot length. I wear a size 7, which the table tells me is a half inch shorter than the size 9. By that logic — and given that seam allowances won't vary — I can adjust the pattern piece by a half inch and it should work out, right?
Right.
So I made a muslin pair (using just old poly cottons) with just that one simple adjustment and they turned out quite well...
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| My muslin kimono slippers fit me fine... |
Here's what I did with the two pattern pieces.
I folded off a little over half an inch from the heel of the pattern on both pieces. The straight edge of the top facing pattern piece (B and C) was easy enough to fold off; for the sole pattern piece (A), I made sure that the largest part of the fold (i.e., where the half inch is measured) was situated right where the little triangle was, and then I folded along a curve on both sides, tapering off progressively. (The reason I folded off more than a half inch was that I was going to use straight cottons; a smaller fit would likely be better. And as it turned out, I would say that the sizing is generous.)
I then followed Lauren's step by step tutorial. It's a decent tutorial (especially considering it's free) and in general, it wasn't too bad to follow. There were parts that could have used a bit more clarification, but it still turned out fine. (I'm sure that after doing one pair, the next experience will be less confusing.) Oddly enough, it seemed to come together intuitively at the end. And timewise, the muslin only took me a couple of hours.
The seam allowances are very generous (perhaps too generous), so I think you can go into this project confident that you'll be able to make a pair to fit you.
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| I actually paid a lot more attention to this muslin than I usually do... |
Anyway, after the successful muslin, I think it's safe to proceed with an actual pair. As I said up top, I'm going to use some of my recently acquired Robert Kaufman Satsuki fabric. This is the Kimono Floral in Blossom from his Satsuki 2 series.
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| Robert Kaufman Satsuki fabric... |
I'll follow up with a post next week to show you my "real" pair of kimono slippers.
But before I sign off, I would like to draw your attention to this chance at a most excellent Christmas present for you... as long as you live in Canada or the U.S. AllFreeSewing.com is running this 12 Days of Christmas giveaway until December 19. Enter daily for your chance to win all of this marvellous "stuff"!
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| The 12 gifts that you can win from AllFreeSewing.com... |
Those slippers are nice and I look forward to seeing them in that beautiful Asian fabric you chose.
ReplyDeleteI love your kimono slippers and am looking forward to making a pair for myself. I wear a ladies size 11. If I am successful with mine, I would like to make a couple of pairs as gifts. My husband and I like to travel and I think these would be awesome to keep in my purse. Thanks so much. Btw, I am a sister Canuck and we also take our shoes off when in the house.
ReplyDeleteGreetings, sister Canuck! I think you'll be able to make these just fine and have plenty of time to hone your skills and make more for gifts. I really found that having the pieces in my hands helped in terms of understanding the instructions, so just go for it. Good luck!
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