My first felted shoes

[halay]

So proud that I managed to make my first felted shoes! Recently I attended a workshop with Tatiana Danilova from Ukraine who taught us how to make felted shoes and boots. So far I've made a lot of slippers and thought they were OK but in this workshop I realised they had a lot of deficiencies. I acquired new knowledge , especially in terms of making smooth felt without "cellulite". This is impossible without using some wooden tools which the teacher brought with her and we could buy the tools in the end.

Well, there are no shoes with proper soles and we used rubber soles which we first glued to the shoes and then, using shoemakers waxed thread sewed  (by hand !) the soles onto the shoes. This was the most difficult part. Immagine poking through rubber and through felt using a kind of sharp crochet needle then making a loop inside the shoe, pulling the thread out and making a knot and so on. 
So here is a picture of my first wine red shoes. The boots in the other picture were made by the tacher. They are very warm and comfotable to wear. If they get wet you simply dry them but since they are fulled to its maximum water does not penetrate the felt easily.

www.ipernity.com/doc/724735/45526220  
www.ipernity.com/doc/724735/45526216 
www.ipernity.com/doc/724735/45526244

[lyn]

Wow! Such beautiful shoes Nada!

[tracey]

Wonderful Nada, looks like a lot of hard, precise work, very neat, I can see why you are proud of them!

[Pandagirl]

Wow, Nada!! They are terrific. I can't imagine sewing on those rubber soles by hand. A great job! Will,you make more on your own?

[pamster]

Your shoes are wonderful Nada and I love the colour! I saw your slipper tutorial on the forum and think that might have to be my next project, thanks.

[magzie]

Your shoes are absolutely gorgeous! I love your color choice! How lucky to be able to take such a class. You're very talented!

[jwugg]

Amazing! So pleased that you love them & that you learnt useful things in the class. I Love her boots, oh how warm & cosy & comfortable they would be. What a lot of work, I'm very impressed

[MTRuth]

What a professional pair of shoes! And such a lot of work I'm sure. I can't imagine the work needed to attach the soles. Great job.

[halay]

Thank you all for your comments. I'll see how the shoes wear. Our teacher said the boots can last as long as five years. Actually I'm quite encouraged to make more shoes. I'll leave the difficult part to my husband who learned how to attach the soles and I'll do the rest.

[Pandagirl]

Smart woman Nada. ;-)

[Shepherdess]

wow, great shoes. they look amazing. What kind of wool did you use? You need a shoe makers all for swing on your soles. poke the all through and it makes a loop on the inside. you then thread another piece of waxed thread through on the inside and pull the loop back to the middle of the felt and move onto the next hole. Requires more brute strength then technical skill. At least that's what everyone who got finished during the on line class said. I haven't got there yet. A third try at making boots that fit me is still on my list. You will have to show us your new tools.

[koffipot]

I saw your shoes on Facebook Nada. They look great. A good idea to get your husband trained up on attaching the soles!

[zed]

Wow! They are ace, Nada! Attaching the sole sounds like a lot of hard work!

[carole aka craftywoman]

These are wonderful Nadia!!

[blythwhimsies]

These shoes look fabulous and very sturdy and practical. But can I ask, what's that about making them without "cellulite"?