Repurposed Baby Shoes

This project started out as one of necessity. Well, maybe not necessity because what baby actually needs shoes, but I wanted London, my five-month-old, to have some shoes but her feet are so tiny that I couldn't find any already made that fit her. Even the newborn sizes were too small. So I decided to make some.

Side track: I love garage sales. I have just recently started going to them and trying to see potential in all the junk/unwanted stuff out there. I went into one of the thrift stores in town looking for a leather purse that I could cut up for the leather for the shoes. I couldn't believe it when they wanted nine dollars for a leather purse. I tried to talk them down but they wouldn't budge.

A few days later, I found this beaut at a garage sale for fifty cents. Take that, Rainbow's End.

I bought this pattern because it had ten sizes and got busy sewing. Since I was using leather, I didn't line them. The leather is soft enough inside.

I also bought a pack of leather needles, but I think that might have been a waste of $5 because after I got them home, I realized that they are just a size 90/14, which I found in a multi-pack in my sewing table.

Don't you love them?! They are so tiny!

That lit a fire in my pants and I have been on the lookout for cheap leather purses ever since. I went into other thrift shop in town looking for purses and found their prices to be reasonable. (I live in a town with 4,000 people and two thrift shops.) I think I hit the jackpot when I found these pants for $2!

Using the same pattern and felt for a liner, those hideous pants became these sweet little shoes.

These ones are actually for my next door neighbor's baby who is five days older than London. We have been trading my sewing skillz for babysitting my two kids so I can exercise. I love it!