Brown Leather Shoes

I had bought this fake brown leather stuff really cheap when our Joann's was moving.  I needed a brown pair of shoes for Mackenzie for church and decided to make this pair.  They turned out really big.  They are too wide and too long.  And I thought I would try velcro this time and I decided I don't like the velcro closure.  I sort of like these shoes and I sort of don't.  I don't particular like the brown leather, it was cheap and that's the only reason I got it.  And they are so wide!  Maybe if I made them skinner I would like them better.  But they still aren't too bad.  I like to follow the pattern the first time and then make changes.

I'm really tempted to go back and make a new pair, skinner and with the loop and button closure because the velcro just doesn't stay closed.

 I forgot to change the white balance when I took the pictures of Mackenzie and on top of that she would not sit still for the pictures...

 I tired my best to fix the white balance, although it's better, it's still not great...

Click here to go to the website with the pattern and tutorial that I used the base of the shoe, it's called The Modern Baby Bootie by Tao of Craft.  I used the 12-18 month size shoe and the strap was the piece that was left over from the middle of the outside piece.  I just cut it into a straight rectangle and folded it in half.  I first sewed the the velcro to the side that would be on the bottom (I made sure my folded edge was facing down, because it looked nicer), then I folded it in half and sewed around it to give it a more finished edge.

I would recommend putting a layer of quilt batting in between the two sole pieces for the bigger sizes, it gives the sole more cushion for walkers.  I did not do it in this pair but I did it in a purple leather pair I will post later, when I catch up posting.  And to make it easier to attach the soles, if you have basting spray... glue them together with the basting spray.  But obviously if you want to make them so you can't see the seams then you can't do it that way.  However with the leather being thicker and the ruffle, I thought it would be too hard to make this pair so you couldn't see the seams.

Also, I took a pair of shoes she has (size 4) that were skinnier and traced that sole over the top of this sole pattern and cut it to the skinner sole.  For girls this pattern is just really wide.

If you would like to see my loop (with elastic) and button closure instead of the elastic you can see how I did it here in this pair of pleated Mary Jane's that I made.  I also have a tutorial for the pleated Mary Jane shoes there too.
For the leather "ruffle" I kind of guessed the size.  I measured the width that I wanted, held a ruler up to the shoe and decided how wide I wanted it.  Then I cut a long strip and folded/pleated it and then held it up to the shoe top to decide how long I wanted it.  Before you sew the heel together you want to sew the ruffle onto the shoe top.  At first I thought I didn't want the ruffle part to get stuck in when I sewed the sole of the shoe on.  But then it did it by accident on the one shoe and I kind of liked it, so I went back and had the other one get stuck in.  They are only stuck in on the insides in the front.  I wish now that I would have made it longer and had all 4 corners stick in when I sewed the sole of the shoe on.  Live and learn, right?
Sorry I didn't take any pictures explaining everything.  Maybe that will give me motivation to make another pair, skinner and what not.  So I can take pictures of the steps.  However, you should be able to understand the differences I made and follow the tutorial that I linked too above.
Happy sewing!