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Friday, January 13, 2012

Slipper Socks Pattern Review & Helpful Hints

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I love coming up with my own patterns, but sometimes it's more practical to use a pre-existing one.  Like for these slipper socks.  Having 3 kids with ever growing feet, it was a lot simpler to buy a pattern with all the sizes included than keep resizing my own over and over.  I used The Green Pepper's Polar Socks pattern (bought at my local Jo-Ann's) because it had all the baby & kids sizes AND sizes for adults.


I really enjoyed this pattern.  And no, I'm not being compensated to tell you about it - I just thought this was too good not to share a great sewing find!  It's only got 3 pieces and is super fast to make - I whipped out four pairs in less than an hour total, so it's ideal for any skill level.  There are two styles to make (calf length and knee high).  And the sizing is just perfect - they even have wide versions included too.



I make some with ultra cuddle like the penguins above and others with anti-pill fleece. They all feel heavenly (the kids don't want to take them off!!).  All 3 pairs for my kids used fabric from my scrap bin, so that was an added bonus.  It also doesn't hurt that they look really cute on.



I did make a few slight changes.  The first being that I used FOE (Fold Over Elastic) as the finishing trim instead of fiddling around with making some ribbing like the pattern suggests.  FOE is way easier - just sew the short ends together and then fold over the edge and sew into place with a triple zig-zag stitch:


And to make a fun pair for my 9yr old I cut out some eyes and a forked tongue from some small scraps, sewed on some buttons to make his into some slipper snakes:


The other thing I did was to sew on some Odegon DeOdor Tags to the inside soles:


These patches neutralize odors, are totally washable & chemical free.  They seemed ideal for using in fleece slippers which tend to be worn a lot, but not exactly washed daily.  I mean how many people wash their slippers every day??  And if you have young kids you know they get some sweaty little feet running around.  So these tags will keep the stinkies at bay in between washings.


Add a little puff paint on the bottoms to give some anti-slip grip and they're all set!  I totally plan to make more of these slipper socks (my idea of a perfect & simple gift idea).

Have a great weekend everybody:)

Sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too so click HERE to check them out!

35 comments:

  1. Cute socks. This is a great gift idea.

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  2. I have a hard time keeping socks on my lil guys cold feet, these may be just the thing we need, very cute! I especially like the snake/lizard looking ones.
    Never heard of the deodor tags...very interesting

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  3. I love the tongue!
    you should join me for handmade 52! http://raisingoranges.blogspot.com/2012/01/handmade-52-2.html

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  4. Hehe! This are So Cute for kids.. I love the Angry Birds.. I am addicted to this game..

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  5. fantastic!!!!

    would love it if you could share this on my link party
    http://serenityyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Serenity%20Saturday

    Natasha xx

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  6. These are so super cute! Wonder if these are easy enough for my meager sewing skills. I'm going to pin them and hopefully try them eventually.

    Stopping in from Serenity Saturday.

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    1. Jenny, these are so easy you'll be able to whip them up in minutes (even with the most basic of sewing skills):)

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  7. very cute, love the snake ones! Am thinking I could dinos for my little boy... :)

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  8. I am so so in love with the little snakes how cute is that!

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  9. So freaking cute! They must be so comfy!

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  10. You are a genius sewing on those de-odor tags! I'd love a pair of these, I'm going to check out that pattern. Thanks!

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  11. Thanks everyone! I'm so happy you love the little snake ones (they are my favorites too):)

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  12. These are adorable! I'm hosting a winter theme linky party and would love for you to post this! www.serendipityandspice.blogspot.com

    -Melissa

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  13. I really like the ones with the tongues - my son would love 'em!

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  14. What gorgeous socks! - so great you could make them from fabric scraps - and love the snakey one with eyes!!


    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  15. So cute! I must make some - with the puffy paint n the bottom...my kids are slipping all over the house in regular socks!

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  16. Sew Cute!!
    One could really get creative with these and make all sorts of fun socks!

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  17. FABULOUS! Thanks for linking up at Thematic Thursday. Those DeOdorTags look interesting...I have a teen that could use those!

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  18. Those are so cute!
    And you really should be compensated for the post because I'm totally going out to get this pattern today! ;)

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  19. This is one of those things that makes me wish I had any creative talent whatsoever and that I had learned how to sew. Maybe it's time to learn. My kids would absolutely adore these!

    Brittney
    www.moms-heart.blogspot.com

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  20. Love the little tongue sticking out!! Adorable =)

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  21. Thanks for linking up to Serenity Saturday
    Hope to see you next time

    Natasha xx

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  22. These are so cute! My kids would love them!

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  23. Adorable socks with so many smart features! Pinning these too! I want a pair of the snake socks for myself!

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  24. Hi Cheryl, well you're the busiest person! your kids running around in those slippers really remind me of those days with my own! And those slippers are ADORABLE!!! I love that odor tag idea too...ewwww, I remember those stinky feet!!
    Hmmm, wonder if they'd work in my husbands wool socks!!!!
    Blessings!
    Doni

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  25. Adorable! I want to sew these for a class project and have the kids apply the puffy paint! Can you please direct me to where I can find the fold over elastic? Is it in the same area as the seam binding? If my machine doesn't do a triple zig zag, do you think that it will work with a small zig zag stitch?

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    Replies
    1. My favorite source has been FOEYourdiaper.com. They have great prices and LOADS of prints & colors. Sometimes you can find plain white or black in the ribbon/trim section of sewing stores. The trick is to use a wide zig-zag stitch so the stitching can stretch with the elastic, so if you don't have a triple zig-zag, I'd recommend making the biggest, widest zig-zag your machine has.

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  26. Hi there, I just have a question about this pattern -- I'm still new to sewing (been teaching myself for a couple years) and this is the first actual pattern I've worked with (which I bought after reading this blog!) -- I'm a little confused on the part that says "fold the seam allowance toward the heel... stitch to heel with zigzag" -- I assume it is just saying to fold the seam/edge of the fabric up and sew in place? I was having trouble trying to visualize it so I just sewed the top piece on, but I notice it's quite baggy in the heel so I think this step I'm missing is supposed to help with that. lol. Any advice or even a photo of how it's being folded would be super helpful. thank you so much! I love your blog! :)

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    1. Hi Meg, after you've sewn the heel and back pieces together, you'll want to push both raw edges of the seam allowance to point downward and then stitch over it to hold it in place with a zig-zag. It will keep the seam allowance from flipping up or rubbing on the heel and will add some give since that area is going to get some stretching. I hope this helps - I'm planning to make some more of these in the coming weeks so if you send me your email address, I can always send you a pic when I do:)

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  27. Thank you for this review! I am in the middle of making this pattern now and was thinking of using FOE since I have some on hand. I know it's been a few years, but do you recall how long you cut the FOE? Did you just measure the length off the pattern piece for the ribbing?

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    1. I just measured the top of the finished slipper and then attached the FOE.

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  28. I read your article very carefully. I think you should also write an article about it preloved socks. This will be beneficial for others I guess thank you.

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