i know i know i know…it’s been an unacceptably long time. but the school year i over and even though my own schooling is just getting underway, i really have made it my mission to accomplish LOTS this summer break. and by break i mean really only 1 month. I will be in san clemente in just a few days (!!) and then off to Indy for 3 weeks. THEN I’ll get to accomplish some stuff.
I did get some new shoes accomplished prior to the beach trip…and here’s the scoop!
“Indie” flip flops:
I made 2 versions of these cute sandals, one for Makena’lei and one of course for myself. This is the PERFECT season and super cheap redo of knock offs.
I’ll show you my version first:
Step 1: get yourself a super cheap pair of flip flops ( or as my mom calls them:thongs)
I seriously love this time of year when spending $2 on a pair of old navy flops isn’t giving me guilt! I picked gray only because I have shoes in basically every other color..When I bought them I had no clue what I would use, fabric wise for the straps but that’s how I roll….
the ones for Kenie were cute and obviously Kenie is obsessed with the whole princess thing…but the plastic straps were KILLER and those back straps never seem to stay on her little feet. I really thought to myself “self, at $3 i’m sure you can make something work..”
And that’s exactly how that went down!
Step 2: Use a scissors or exacto to cut off the tabs that hold those nasty straps to the soles. These particular ones were wretched and required some brute force.
Just like in algebra: whatever you do to one side, do the same to the other!
(ie. cut the straps off the other shoe too…)
Step 3:
Ok, here’s where you can take some artistic liberties… For my pair (i made mine after I made Kenie’s so I knew what I was doing..) I used a vintage scarf that was given to me by my dear friend JenKraftRodewald which she used as gift wrap for some holiday gift years back… Needless to say it’s awesome and I’m glad I’m a hoarder and saved it. It was the PERFECT length, cut in half for a strap for each shoe.
OR..
Take an old t-shirt and cut off the bottom hem, with stitches in tact. It’s ok if the edges fray, once you pull the shirt strap taut it will all roll up a little and hide any bad cutting jobs…
Depending on how big your kid’s feet are, especially width/the crest of the foot, this is where the shirt stretch will help you out. I used the hem edge of the shirt because it rolled less and I didn’t want the straps to stretch out too much.
Using a super soft shirt will help with blisters, training young feet to get accustomed to flip flops and for our purposes: the beach, they will dry fast and the sand will brush off
Step 4: Push one end of the strap through the toe hole. I used a girl’s best friend (a bobby pin) to push the strap through the hole and then tie a double knot near the middle of the length of scarf. A big knot is important because it keep the strap from being pulled through the hole. Then get that hair pin back out and push the rest of the scarf back through the hole so you have the knotted center on the bottom of the sole and both ends of scarf coming back out the top.
Step 5:
This is again where you can take liberties..For these particular flops, I took both ends of the scarf straps and twisted them around each other up to about the top of my foot crest. I knotted the twist so it would stay in place and then split the strap ends to make a T and knotted each through the holes left over. Again just like before making a big double knot under the sole.
For Kenie’s I couldn’t decide which would be best suited for her. I did the braided T strap for one, and tried another method for the other. The secondary method would work better for an older person’s shoe. You again take the tshirt straps and make some smaller loop straps. Working the same way, tie them under the sole and then loop the hem edge of the tshirt strap through. I made loops for all 3 holes and then tied the strap around the back of the foot, or ankle depending on how long you want the strap to be. See example A:
So..her feet tended to slip out of the back strap…surprise surprise. I think that method would’ve worked better for me. Here are the final shots of both sets of new shoes….bring on the Pacific!
To finish the shoes off, I just dab some hot glue to the knots and into the holes where the knots sit. I’ve been wearing mine all day and no shift or stretch so far, but it’s always good to have some adhesive backup. I decided on the braided T strap for Kenie’s and finished hers up too.
Now go give it a shot! Or just message me and I’ll whip some up…..
Mahalo!
imogen.ius 