How to sew felt slippers

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Warm and fuzzy

Add a touch of warmth to your winter with these felt house slippers. Felt is traditionally a non-woven fabric, formed when wool or fur is subjected to heat, moisture and pressure or agitation. Soap helps the felting process, as heat and moisture cause the outer scales along the wool’s fibres to open, while soap allows them to slide easily over one another and become irreversibly entangled.

Felt is still an important fabric in many parts of the world, especially in areas with harsh climates. In Mongolia, nomads live in felt tents, while in Turkey, rugs, hats and other items are made of felt. Nomadic tribes in Asia use felt for tent coverings, rugs and blankets, and in Scandinavia and Russia, felt boots are produced and widely used.

What you will need

Slipper template – download the base and upper template - then photocopy and adjust to fit your foot size, allowing for a 1.5cm seam allowance;
Industrial-grade felt (ours is a dark grey felt from Felt Distribution);
Fabric scissors;
Fabric pencil;
Wool;
Upholstery needle;
An old newspaper

Styling: Angela Haughton.

How to...

Place the template on to the felt and cut out pieces. Soak felt pieces overnight in water � this will loosen the fibres, and make it easier to sew the slippers together by hand.

Use your fabric pencil to make dots at 20mm intervals around each slipper�s sole piece, 10mm in from the edge (these points mark the places your needle should sew through).

Thread wool on to your needle and begin sewing sole and top of one slipper together, starting at the front and working towards the heel on both sides.

Once you have sewn to the heel, continue up the heel seam in a zig-zag pattern. Repeat with remaining slipper pieces. Stuff shoes with newspaper to help retain their shape then set aside to dry.

Published in Notebook Magazine

Issue: July 2006

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Latest comments:

jasmineg

commented on How to sew felt slippers at 5:42am Fri 20th March, 2009

These look simple enough that anyone could follow.

Would be great at my home, as we have wooden floorboards all throughout the house, and can be hard on sore, tired feet at times.

Definitely linking to this from my blog (www.thesuburbansentiment.com)

timeolife

commented on How to sew felt slippers at 6:01am Sun 24th September, 2006

great idea I want to make some for my new grandchild and will use bright colours

oliver

commented on How to sew felt slippers at 10:47pm Sat 22nd July, 2006

Dippyflowers

commented on How to sew felt slippers at 10:52am Thu 6th July, 2006

My daughter is adapting this pattern to fit herself, hubby and children. I can't wait for the results as this pattern allows for everybody's creative side to flow. What a great idea.

Stellaluna

commented on How to sew felt slippers at 9:24am Fri 16th June, 2006

Thanks for this lovely idea, I could just see the finished slippers with some very pretty embroidery on them, I like the cushions too, very creative for budding crafters, great ideas for older children on holidays, if they are into craft.

Very easy designs, you could have alot of fun with, by using your own imagination to add to them.