Making Shoes

How to Make Sandals Guide

Many of you may know about my struggles with shoes... I have small feet that are very wide. This means commercial shoes give me two options; 1) Buy a size that is MUCH too long that I will slide around in, but that are wide enough or 2) buy the right length and hurt my feet on both sides. So, I tend to hate shoes. And really hate shoe shopping, because it always ends up being an expense that isn't worth it since no matter which way I go, it still won't be quite right (even wide shoes don't work).

So...I have been hunting pinterest for ideas. I like sandals, and they look like the easiest shoe to make, so I decided to give it a try.
I found this great instruction for some that looked pretty nice. But I don't own any flip flops and all the ones I have seen are the wrong size anyways.

So I traced my foot and made a loose draft, then cut it out of the last of the super hard leather. I had an old cotton shirt that had some holes, so I cut it up to make the straps and I starting trying.

Can you tell this was not a successful experiment? I need to cut them down a LOT, they are way too big. I need to sew the fabric into longer strips that connect instead of knotting everywhere. I need to add some kind of sole too.

I plan to pick up a dollar store or cheapie mens flop (that way it will be wide enough) and then cut it down to the right size. Then I will just glue my leather and fabric to it (once I do the resizing and the fabric fixing) and Voila! There shall be tolerable summer shoes!

Wish me luck?