American Girl Doll Slippers

Julia loves her new American Girl doll, "Ruthie," recently acquired for her birthday, and her grandma and I have been making clothes and accessories for her. The cute green plaid flannel jammies were made by Grandma, and I thought Ruthie needed some fuzzy little slippers to wear to bed.

I used my baby shoe pattern that I previously posted about, and shrunk it on the scanner. I left the back part of the pattern off and curved the top down to meet the sole. I cut another strip of wool felt to make the back strap and needle-felted natural wool roving for the fluffy trim and in the footbed to make them nice and cushy.

If only I could make them in my size - they look comfortable!

Needle Felted Ball - Jingle Frog!

Ribbit! I had a blast making this fun wool felt project. I imagine there must be a faster way to make wool felt balls, but I just figured out a way to make them on my own, and built up some arm muscles in the process.

I was envisioning a baby toy or rattle for the frog, so I scavenged the house for a large jingle bell, and found none. I had some teeny tiny jingle bells, so I put 3 tiny bells inside an aluminum cap for cloth-covered buttons and began winding wool roving around and around. Occasionally, I'd tuck wool fibers in using my felting needles, tiny, barbed needles used to mesh the wool fibers together into a felt.

When it would get a bit lumpy, I'd stop wrapping and begin needle felting, jabbing the needle repeatedly and rotating the ball as I went to ensure an even felt. I did this about 3 times before I wrapped the ball with green roving (I used a natural wool roving for the center as it is cheaper than the dyed wool).

After felting the green roving evenly, I formed little green balls for the eyes and attached them, then created little balls of the same, slightly darker green wool for little warty spots on his back. A bright yellow ball of fluff was added for the eyes, then a chocolate brown for the center of the eyes. I decided I wanted him to have a protuberant nose, so I sculpted a mass of green wool to his face until I had a gradually sloping face.

Lastly, I twisted some chocolate brown roving into a long string and needle felted it in place as the mouth. It rattles quite satisfactorily, and even rattles continuously if you roll it across a table because the loose bells inside the button cover tumble as it rolls.

I'm not sure who I'm going to give it to yet, or if I'm going to sell it, but it was fun to make!

Handmade Mary Janes

Completed! I had to run to Michael's last night for more thread, but I finally completed the pair. I think I'm in love with them.... I wish my daughter was still small enough to wear them (but then I remember that she can now use the toilet by herself... I guess that's a good trade).

Size 6-9 months, velcro closures, completely hand-stitched! 100% wool exterior, and silky soft 100% cotton interior - they are just beautiful!  Love them too?  Get them here: pammydawn

Apples 'n Chocolate - Wool Felt Baby Shoes

I'm in the process of making another pair of baby shoes, but I ran out of brown embroidery thread.  I thought I'd post some photos in the interim!

I'm so pleased with how this pair is shaping up.  I broke the tension knob on my sewing machine yesterday, so this pair is completely hand-stitched, lining and all.  

The exterior is 100% wool felt and are size 6-9 months (approx. 4.25").  Apple green for the body, and chocolate brown for the sole.  For the lining, I used an upcycled natural 100% cotton baby onesie.  It is butter-soft knit cotton in a natural cream color.  My daughter actually never wore this particular onesie; it still had the tags on it!  I was about to take it to GoodWill, but decided it needed a new life as shoe lining instead.

After placing the lining inside the shoe and stitching the strap in place, I used a blanket stitch around the top opening to secure the lining and give the shoes a decorative edge.  I hope to finish them today after purchasing additional embroidery thread!

Red Cherry Mary Jane Baby Shoes

Red Cherry Baby Shoes - $22 by pammy dawn

I was curious to make a pair of fabric baby shoes, but wasn't sure how to create a pattern.  I had a pair of crocheted and felted baby shoes that were a bit irregular, so I cut them apart and traced the pieces.  I added about 1/4 inch all the way around to allow for seams.  After cutting out the pieces using 100% wool felt, I hand-stitched them together, trimmed the edges and flipped them right-side-out.  

The shoes resembled little ballet slippers, minus straps.  The seams on the inside were a bit bulky, so I decided to line them with some lovely cotton cherry fabric I had by designer Robert Kaufman.  I also fashioned straps of the same fabric and applied velcro tabs for closure.  I think they will look darling adorning some sweet baby feet!


Sweet cherries for sweet baby toes - 100% wool exterior, 100% cotton fabric lining and strap. Velcro closures for easy fitting. Sweet and soft, the cotton lining is pink, red, and green swirling cherries by Robert Kaufman. Hand-stitched exterior, machine-stitching and hand-stitching on lining and straps. Approximately 3.75 inch footbed, about size 3-6 months.

Chocolate Brown Crocheted and Felted Wool Baby Booties Mary Janes

In my ongoing crochet quest, I searched and searched for a cute pattern for baby Mary Janes.  More than 3 of my girl friends are pregnant and having girls, so I thought these would be fun shower gifts.  I finally found a pattern that I liked at Michaels, of all places, in a baby book of crochet projects.  

I had to tinker with the pattern a bit for sizing because I planned on washing the booties to "felt" them (make the fibers dense and fabric like, losing the crocheted look).  First I tried enlarging the pattern, but the resultant shoe was floppy and oddly shaped.  I finally just increased my hook size by 2 sizes and lengthened the strap a bit.  I washed the booties in ultra hot soapy water (the sanitary setting in my washer) and checked on them frequently for amount of shrinkage.  After they came out, they were so tiny!  I had to stretch and shape them up a bit, and they ended up at about a newborn to 3 month size, perfect for a baby shower.  I have yet to stitch on the velcro closure for each strap, but I anticipate that step to be pretty quick.  

If you'd like any tips, I'd be happy to share what worked best for me.  Leave me a comment on this post for further information on felting!