By Fareeha Qayoom

am learning to sew. Not that I am any good yet. I still can’t sew a straight seam. However, I have managed to make quite a few items yet – a peasant top, a basic three panel cotton waist coat, pajamas for me and my niece and pajama shorts for my younger brother, a seriously non-functional tank top for my niece (!) and now a ballet flat slipper.

Jeans – fringed and laced by my fair hands a couple of seasons ago and my first attempt at ballet slippers – Hey I made this!

My oldest friend Sadia was making fun of my latest obsession the other day…she thinks I am mad.

I know I need to practice. Number of mistakes were made. For example, the pattern I ripped off was from an old ballet flats that were two sizes larger. I added denim as a lining and support instead of proper fusible interlining. I should have added a thicker support, especially in the heel area. The heels collapsed on the finished item. 😀

I collaborated with a cobbler as well. He helped me sew in the inner and outer sole with the upper. He added his two cents worth of mistakes too. The inner sole placement is off in the left shoe so the toe and the heel shape doesn’t look identical which is a prerequisite for a professional looking pair of shoes.

The slippers keep slipping off so I made holes and laced them. Should have evenly marked them and then should have added buttonhole stitches to reinforce the holes; didn’t do that…just made holes with my seam ripper/ clipper and inserted those laces. The bow doesn’t look picture perfect either. The slippers are functional though.

I know, I can only wear them as bedroom slippers. They don’t look professional, but what the heck, I am proud of myself and I want to share it with the world. Hey, look I made my first shoes! 😀

God willing, by the end of this year – I will be churning out stream lined professional looking ballet slippers…so help me God.

More later…

Ballet slippers – made by me with the help of my friends…

Another attempt at shoe making! This time a different design…upper made with fabric and interlining. I should have photographed step by step tutorial since I ripped off the pattern from my old discards. Also tested it on my feet before sending them off to the cobbler for sole attachment. Unfortunately, he’s not very neat (or he’s just jealous), he keeps distorting the shape. This time, he stretched the sides and heels while stitching the sole with the uppers. By the way, the  sole was a  repurposed flip flop, straps got broken. I saved the sole to make fabric straps but decided to use them for this instead…

Not bad huh?