Make Your Own Flip Flops - myDIY

I'm having a bit of a clear out at the moment and going through a whole load of old clothes, shoes and craft materials. Whilst I'm keen to get as much stuff out of the house as I can, I also have a lot of things which I don't use very much any more, or haven't used for ages, but I'm still a bit loath to let them go. 

And to coincide with this I've been having a look at crafty bloggers and trying to get into pinterest and so on, to find ways to use the stuff that I have to make things that I want and will use. Over on My New Leaf, Kira was talking about a new collaborative online crafting party called myDIY! The idea is that every month there will be a new material idea to work with. Bloggers create tutorials to share, or get creative with inspiration from other people, everyone links them together and everyone gets to see what everyone else is doing. They also have a giveaway for everyone who enters as well, which is a lovely extra treat.

This month the material of inspiration is flip flops! The three bloggers hosting the party this month have all done projects using foam-soled toe-post style flip flops, which are super cool and really cute. I never wear toe-posts, however, because they hurt my atypically shaped feet, so I don't own a pair already. I also didn't feel like I could justify buying a pair of flip flops to turn into something else when I'm trying to clear things out! So I had a bit of a think and came up with this - I took a pair of old trainers which were en route to a charity shop, and turned them into a pair of flip flops! They're super comfy, and I love them so much. I'm already thinking of a hundred and one different ways to style them with different outfits, I'm just waiting for the glue to be 100% dry before I wear them anywhere.

See the tutorial below - I hope you like it! If you want to have a browse, all the projects are linked up here on Inlinkz.

How to Turn Trainers into Flip Flops!

1. You will need: Old trainers, a craft knife or Stanley knife, thin and thick matching ribbons, needle and thread, scissors, PVA glue and multipurpose adhesive.

2. You need start with clean shoes - pop them in the washing machine with something fluffy like some slippers or a towel. Use the synthetic cycle because it has a reduced spin - or your machine may have a shoes programme.

3. With your shoes clean and dry, use your craft knife to cut through the rubber round the front of the toe cap. Make sure that you leave the continuous rim all round the edge of the shoe so it'll be the same height all the way round.

 4. Use your craft knife to cut through the stitching which hold the tongue to the sides.

 5. Use your craft knife to cut the tongue piece close to the sole and remove it completely.

 6. Use your scissors to trim the sides and cut off the fabric all round the back of the shoe. If there's a rubber heel support, cut away the fabric to leave it bare, as this will make it easier to work with.

 7. Use your craft knife to cut off the rubber heel support.

 8. At this stage you will need to assess the structural integrity of the sole. If the upper sole is lifting away from the lower sole, you need to reattach it. Make sure everything is dry inside - especially if you just machine-washed them - and follow the instructions on your all purpose adhesive to stick everything back down.

 9. Snip a triangle out of the end of some of your wider ribbon to make a chevron. Fold the ribbon over the existing piping on the shoe and sew round, attaching the inside and outside at the same time, curving round the shape of the shoe.

 10. Trim a chevron at the other end as well, and tuck the points between the rubber and the fabric at both ends. You may have to use your craft knife to cut a little space here for the ribbon to fit into.

 11. On the inside, use your PVA glue to stick the points down.

 12. Draw round each shoe onto the reverse of the denim scraps and cut it out. Put the piece face up inside the appropriate shoe and use a pen in a similar colour to mark where you need to trim to make a exact fit. Cut off little bits at a time, checking the fit frequently, to make sure you don't cut off too much by accident.

 13. Use your all-purpose adhesive to stick the denim to the inner sole. Spread the glue over the reverse of the fabric, and make sure you go right to the edges, so that every little bit will get stuck down.

14. Put your foot in the shoe and lace it up with the thinner ribbon. I decorated my ribbon with a few beads I found in my stash, but they're optional of course. Tie a bow at the top and trim the ribbon diagonally to the right length. Use PVA glue to seal the ends so they won't fray.

You are now the proud owner of your very own pair of flip flops! Leave them somewhere warm and dry for 12-24 hours to make sure the glue is properly dry, otherwise the sole might slip when you walk in them.

Love and hugs

Itty Bitty Baby Booties!

Today's blog post is a tutorial on how to make these origami baby booties! They are the most adorable little things, suitable for all manner of baby-related decorative uses. For example, you can make them small, like this, and attach them to your gift wrapping for a cute personal touch. For small presents, you can make them bigger, and then put the presents inside them before tying them up. That would be adorable.
If you have far too much time, or a rainy day and a bunch of kids, you could make lots of them and make a garland. You could make a mobile, you could make them in gold and have them as Christmas tree decorations (write your kids names on them and put sweeties in for an extra treat), you could use them on your nappy cake.

I used these to wrap a gift for my friends' new baby (who is the most adorable creature on the planet with his tiny tiny fingernails and his wrinkly old man head) but as my blog links go on my facebook, and so do my friends, I won't tell you what the gift was in case they see!

But the booties, I will show you.

Fold a square of paper in half, top to bottom, wrong side facing you. My paper was the same on both sides but if you are using origami paper or cute gift wrap, it makes a difference.

Then, fold the top and the bottom over by a little bit. I used the edge of my ruler to make sure this narrow fold stayed straight and even.

Then fold in half from side to side.

Then fold each edge into the middle.

Mark the centre of the top half by folding the top to the bottom and just creasing over the centre line. This isn't a fold, it's just a marker, so you want to keep it small.

With the assistance of the mark you just made, fold the top right hand corner into the centre of the top half, so that the corner is in the middle of the little crease-cross.

Fold the left side in as well, so that the left top edge meets what used to be the right hand edge.

Fold back the sloping left back edge twice, so it rolls over itself - this will be the channel for your ribbon in the end.

Fold in half backwards. Or, flip the paper over, fold in half top to bottom, and flip it back. Either way, half the height, with the ribbon channel still at the front.

Lift the ribbon channel and fold up, to make the heel of the bootie. The middle of the channel should be the left hand edge, and this part should look the same on both sides.

In the same manner, lift up the sloping edge on the right hand side and fold up to make the toe. The bootie should now be entirely the same on both sides.

Fold up the front section of the bootie on a line between the two side points.

Then fold down the top to the middle, and fold up the bottom to the middle.

Then fold the top to the bottom, to get back to your bootie shape. Is this not adorable? Well you're not finished quite yet...

Fold the bottom right hand corners up inside the shoe to shape the toe.

Now to make it 3D! Push the sole flat and persuade the ankle part to stand up straight.

Inside the shoe you will see two edges which nearly touch in the middle, lying flat against the sole. Lift each of these out to the side and form the toe.

You also need to shape the ankle/ribbon channel by making little creases, so that the ankle makes a nice curvy shape.

Unfold the top-most part of the heel.

Slide a piece of co-ordinating ribbon underneath the flap that remains, then fold the top back down again to keep it in place.

Tie a bow in the ribbon at the front and trim the ends.

If you wish to hang your booties off something, like a garland, a christmas tree, or through the knot of the ribbon on your wrapped gift, thread a needle with a piece of thread in white, or a coordinating colour. Push the needle through the heel of each bootie, and tie a double knot in each end. You can use a dab of glue to secure this as well.

Now try not to drown in cuteness.

Love and hugs

Selective Colouring Tutorial

Ok guys, here's the tutorial I promised. I use Photoshop CS but I think I kept it simple enough to be transferable.

1. Open your image in your program save a new copy of it before you start editing.
I picked this one because the focal part, the long building, is not very obvious, but I don't want to crop the photo. Selective colouring will highlight the building without losing the rest of the scene.

2. Duplicate the layer
3. On the top layer, select the portion of the photo that you want to be in colour - just do a basic square just now, if you want to make it shaped you can do it later.

4. Reverse/invert the selection (in Photoshop, there is a Selections menu at the very top...) and delete, so only the part of the image you want coloured is visible. (it won't look different yet because the same image is underneath!)

5. Select the lower layer by clicking on it in the layer palette. Desaturate the whole thing. Now you should see your coloured part against the b/w part.6. At this stage, you may want to keep the colour just to your focal object - the building in my picture. Select the top layer again, the coloured one, and make sure there are no marching ants indicating selections. Then take the eraser and simply rub out all the bits that are coloured which you don't want to be. If you make a mistake, simply undo.
If you know how to use masks, you can use those instead of erasing and deleting parts of the top layer. That way if you rub out a bit you don't mean to, or you change your mind and want more of the image in colour, you can just draw it in. If you don't know masks, there are loads of tutorials on the web, so just google it!

Thanks for looking
Katie