The topic of shoes is never far from any doll collector's thoughts especially in regards to dolls that do not have a ready source for shoes available. This often happens with smaller dolls or dolls with particular outfits that just cry for matching shoes. So what are the options in these instances? Well, either one commissions someone to create some perfect shoesies for your doll, you scour the world (wide web) for a pair of ready-made shoes in hopes you actually will stumble across the perfect pair or pairs in the price range you are willing to accept or (and this 'or' is not for the faint of heart!) you painstakingly construct your own. In the case of the first option, there are many artisans that are quite willing and able to whip up something utterly magnificent for your doll. In the case of the second option, it is actually possible to spend some time scouring the internet and it may be quite possible to serendiptitously stumble across the most perfectly perfect pair or pairs of shoes for your wee maniken. Yet in the case of the third option-- although there are scads and scads of tutorials for dolls shoes freely (and not so freely) available for shoe construction-- the actual creating part can get a wee bit difficult especially when working on smaller dollhouse scale sizes! I confess to having done all three options at one time or another in my many years of collecting dolls. Even though option three is by far the most time consuming it is also the most satisfying in my opinion. Admittedly, as I noted, option three is not for the faint of heart but truly when you sit back and look at what you created for your doll you feel a warm glimmer of accomplishment and satisfaction. Imagine it, making your own doll shoes, you now have the most perfectly matched pair of shoes for your doll that you made yourself! One word of warning if you embark on creating your own scale doll's footwear the other dolls could get jealous and scream for a few pairs of their own! There are several options in the DIY category available offering pay-for tutorials that focus on hand-crafting your own dolly footwear. There are several I came across that looked appealing to me but until I personally try some of these myself I will not share any of these I came across on this blog until I purchase and use them myself. I think that is only fair when suggesting pay-for items on this blog-- personal experience. *one caveat when creating your own doll shoes-- If not noted in any of the following links, I suggest covering your doll's foot with a good layer of plastic cling wrap if you are not using an unattached foot form. I also recommend using a clear drying fabric glue for constructing parts of your doll's footwear rather than a white pva or tacky glue (test to confirm that the fabric glue is a better option first and foremost though!). | Firefly Faerie Radio One's We've already addressed option one and two but since this blog is supposed to more accurately focus on D.I.Y. that is what we'll do. So what is the best way to start? With a plethora of available free-tutorials online it is as easy as one, two, three to find instructions from the easy=peasy-kind to the more advanced-type to attempt in the creation of footwear for your dolls. Yeah, I could make this step more labor intensive and send you off on your merry way without sharing a link or two but here are a few tutorial links for you to choose from. I mean, seriously, why make you have to look if the looking has already been done for you? This is not to say there are not many more tutorials available for you to choose from but these are the ones that looked the most promising for the beginner to advanced shoe-making elf-people out there: 12 pages regarding shoe making for individual dolls: miniatures.about.com/od/dollclothing/ss/Make-Custom-Shoe-Patterns-For-Dolls.htm removable shoes or slippers: miniatures.about.com/od/dollshousedolls/ss/dollslippers.htm My Froggy Stuff video slipper tutorial (she has a ton of fabulous miniature tutorials btw!): www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTEfQRXFamc a pinterest pin that I could not find the original link for: www.pinterest.com/pin/442126888389623780/ translated Russian page (I like their idea using foil for a sloper): translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.livemaster.ru/topic/69146-obuv-dlya-kukly%3Fmsec%3D38%3F the untranslated link from above: www.livemaster.ru/topic/69146-obuv-dlya-kukly?msec=38? Foxy Belle simple felt shoes on flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/foxybelle/9262521661/ Ukelele's sandal tutorial on DeviantArt: theukelele.deviantart.com/art/Cute-BJD-Sandals-Tutorial-260785978 ballerina shoes: fashiondollshoes.blogspot.fi/2011/02/ballerina-shoes.html a bunch on shoe and shoemaking links from the above blog (did not check them all for relevance): fashiondollshoes.blogspot.fi/p/doll-shoe-patterns.html fashiondollshoes.blogspot.fi/p/basic-instructions.html I want to reiterate these links are by no means the best or the easiest but they may be worth attempting for the brave shoemakers out there! If you find the courage to create either from a posted link or from your own efforts I would love to hear from you... I will also gladly showcase your results in a future blog post! Love, laughter, joy and hugs to you all! |