DIY Baby Shoes (recycled from old jeans)

When babies are tiny Robeezare great shoes for keeping little feet warm and cute.  BUT they can be a little pricey, so I attempted to create a DIY version by recycling denim that, in all honesty, was just never going to fit me again. After a few tries I think I nailed it, I'd love to know what you think if you try it out.


I think these recycled denim baby shoes would totally work for a boy, and they would also be super adorable in corduroy or even fleece, or maybe with a cute applique or iron-on.  Scarlet wants a pair so I am going to make a toddler version with Jacinda's hot glue sole too as some around-the-house slippers.  

Get the free baby shoe pattern and full tutorial after the jump...


DIY Baby Shoe Tutorial

1.   Print out our free baby shoe pattern on a letter size sheet of paper and cut your pieces out. Click here for the Prudent Baby Shoe Pattern.

Then trace around your pattern pieces on the leg of an old pair of jeans.  Hint:  You'll save time if you cut through both sides of the leg and get two pieces at once:

2.  Cut your pieces out, as well as two 4" pieces of elastic (I used 3/4" thickness because that's what I had but a baby might like something thinner):

save your old jeans for next year's shark-attack-victim costume:

3.  Take the heel pieces and fold the top edge under 1/4" then another 3/4" and iron:

4.  Sew the seam in place at the edge.  Put a safety pin through one side of your elastic and begin to feed it through the pocket you've created:

When you get it far enough that the un-pinned edge lines up with the edge of your tube like so:

sew it in place:

Now continue to feed your elastic through to the other side until your safety pin comes out:

Leave the safety pin on!  The risk of losing your elastic is too high.  I did it three times and had to recut my heel.  So leave the pin on and sew the edge of the elastic in place:

Remove the pin and repeat on the other heel piece.

5.  Now take two top pieces and place them right side up.  Turn your heel pieces right side up and pin the side of them to the top left corner of the flat edge like so:

Then pin the other side to the top right corner:

This is a good time to double check your two shoes match up in terms of heel placement.  Now take the other top piece and place it on top, right side down, and pin in place:

Now sew them all together along the straight edge:

You've created the top of your shoe.  Flip it around and it will look like this:

6. Now leaving your shoe tops right side up, take the sole pieces and place them on top, right side down.  Center them and pin in place at the top and bottom in the center:

Then pin them in place at the centers of the sides:

Now pull the rest of the edges together and pin them so they line up:

It will look like this from the top:

Now go ahead and sew around the edge to attach the top and sole:

7.  You're not quite done.  Denim might unravel and that would be a bummer.  Also you want the inside edge to be comfy on baby's toes.  I (very messily) serged the edges to help with that, but you can sew with a zig zag stitch or you can use some fabric glue.

8.  Turn your DIY baby shoes inside out and push the edges out, you're done!

Pretty cute, no?