Parents love dressing up their little angels from head to toe. Photos of babies glammed up with beautiful headwraps, fashionable tiny dresses, and matching artsy footwear are everywhere on social media. If you’re looking for some inspiration for your babe’s next OOTD, the internet has it in abundance. You can search for RTWs for your baby’s next photoshoot or even pull off a DIY. You don’t even have to be artsy-craftsy to create baby stuff yourself.
You’ll be surprised at how much you can do for your baby’s outfit just by knowing how to glue materials – the only skill you’ll need to make baby shoes. Also called footless sandals or barefoot sandals, these cuties are baby’s must-have. Here’s how to make baby shoes out of ribbon for your baby’s next dolled-up look.
Materials for Creating Footless Sandals
These materials are all you need to pull off a DIY – “how to make baby shoes out of ribbon” project.
- Elastic ribbon – For this task, you’ll be needing elastic ribbons. Make sure it’s the stretchy one that you buy, as non-elastic one won’t work. These ribbons come in different colors, sizes, and thicknesses; you won’t find it hard to match your baby’s OOTD.
- Shabby Flowers – There’s a wide variety of shabby flowers of different colors and sizes that you can choose from. You’ll surely find something to match the design you have in mind.
- Beads and pearls – You may also add these pieces for a more classic look.
- Velcro – Using Velcro will allow you to change flowers without having to change the lace.
- Felt Circles – This piece is where the flowers will attach. Felt fabrics come in various colors. Choose one that goes with the color of the flowers.
- Hot Glue Gun – Be careful when using this device. It can get really hot to the touch.
- Scissors
You can also buy a footless sandals kit complete with flowers, ribbons, and felt in it, so you don’t have to buy each item separately. You can search for these kits from your favorite arts and crafts online store or brick-and-mortar shops.
How to Make Footless Sandals
In the early months of a baby’s life, their feet are too small; they’d barely fit market-find shoes. DIY barefoot sandals allow you to adjust the size to fit snugly on your babe. Customizing is the way to go for babies that are yet too tiny. It also works for moms who like to dress up their babies differently without having to spend much. Here’s how to make baby shoes out of ribbon.
- Shop for shabby flowers and felt circles and match the color of your elastic ribbon.
- With your scissors, trim the netting on the back of the shabby flowers if there are any.
- Measure the elastic around your baby’s foot for accurate measurement. To do this, make a loop around the foot, starting from midway the Achilles and the heel bone. Wrap it around the foot to form a figure 8.
- If the baby isn’t around for measurement taking, you can follow a foot sizing chart. For newborns, cut an 8-inch long elastic ribbon. For infants 2-6 months, use a 9-inch elastic, and add an inch for babies 6-8 months. Use a 10-inch ribbon for babies 9-12 months old. You can use this chart if you’re gifting these sandals for someone else’s baby.
- Take the ribbon and form figure 8, keeping the ends of the elastic in the middle.
- Bond the ends of the ribbon using the hot glue. Make sure to put enough, so the elastic does not come off quickly. If your baby is a little too active, you can sew the elastic instead.
- Also, put some glue in the middle where the elastic meets to keep it in place.
- Get your felt circle, and with the use of hot glue, bond it at the back of elastic where it meets to form the figure 8. This is where your flower will adhere to, later.
- Take the shabby flower and put some hot glue at the back. Apply generously.
- Also, apply glue over the felt circle.
- Lay the flower over the felt circle, making sure you covered the edges with glue.
- You can also add other ornaments as you wish to achieve the design you have in mind.
- Let the flower set completely and voila! You got your baby a cutie footless sandals!
How to Make Footless Sandals with Modifiable Flowers
If you want to go endless with your babe’s barefoot sandals’ designs, you can use Velcro instead of permanently adhering the flowers onto the elastic. Choose your babe’s fashion wear for the day by simply snapping off and on a new set of shabby flowers!
- If you used a neutral color elastic, then you can alternate flowers of different colors.
- To do this, glue or sew the Velcro over the center of the figure 8, above the felt circle.
- Attach the other side of the Velcro onto the back of the flower.
- Doing so will enable you to interchange flowers as you wish, depending on your babe’s planned outfit.
After pulling off the task, share this quick guide on how to make baby shoes out of ribbon with other parents out there! Get more tips on baby shoes.
Conclusion
With this DIY guide on how to make baby shoes out of ribbon, dressing babies is made a little easier and more affordable. Enjoy your crafts and let your babe experience a fashionable childhood with those stunning tiny barefoot sandals!