Shoe Biz: Dollar Store Flip Flops

 Last week I was on the W-Club forum where the subject of finding flat shoes for dolls came up once again. Well, you know me...I suggested the possibility of making your own. The push-back was well expected... "I wish I did have that skill." For all of you who are still convinced you cannot make shoes for your dolls.....this post is for you. It is entitled "Dollar Store Flip Flops" because, like the merchandise sold in these super discounted mass market stores, the flip flops and sandals here are put together inexpensively, quickly and most of all easily! Better yet....this tutorial is good for creating flat footwear for both the divas and the dude dolls! 

For this project you only need craft foam sheets (sold in a variety of colors and thicknesses), elastic bands, scissors and glue. For the sandals you will need a needle with a super large eye (tapestry needle) and a bit of ribbon, embroidery floss, or thin strip of leather. 

1. Trace around the doll's foot.

2. Design the sole of the shoe. Add length and shape above the toes.

3. The red indicates how I have reshaped the sole

4. Place the foot back onto your new sole. Make whatever adjustments needed to create the final sole.

5. Trace the sole onto the craft foam. Create 2 sets.

Place the doll's foot on one set of the foam soles. You might want to add a piece of double sided tape to hole in place while you work. Wrap the elastic around the foot, joining the edges together underneath. Here I have used a single row of elastic, but feel free to add a double row.

6. Sew the ends of the elastic together.

7. Generously slather on super strength glue on the underside of the insole. Add the second foam sole.

8. Press and hold the two layers while the glue sets. The bulk of the elastic will be absorbed into the foam.

9. And voila....my shoes. I used a contrasting color for the bottom layer. It is just that simple!

Let's do it again. This time for Pierre and this time we will do a criss-cross 

1. Start off by tracing around the foot of the doll, then creating the definitive shape of the sole by designing the toe.

2. Wrap the elastic around the doll's foot. I decided to do this in one piece instead of two for ease and to make sure the straps don't pull away from the shoe later on. 

3. Under the foot, the elastic looks like this.

4. Remove and place one set of the foam soles onto the doll's foot.

5. Wrap the elastic around the doll's foot and sole. Underneath will look like this.

6. Add a generous amount of super strong (gel) glue to the underside of the upper.

7. Add the second sole to the upper. Or you can glue the top layer to a bit of craft and cut away the excess.

8. Press well and hold

9. Here, I used clips to hold the bulkiest areas around the elastic until set. When you remove them, there will be pressure marks, but eventually they will go away as the foam regains its shape.

Pump Up the Volume

There are numerous variations you can make. For instance, for Imaan, I made platform flip flops. For my first layer (attached to the elastic bands), I used a thin layer of black. Then I used two layers of foam to create the platform soles.

The problem, of course is that there will always be irregularities between the two layers. I sanded the sides, added a bit of white paint, but ultimately it still needed something. So I drew a design around the sides for an urban touch.

Sassy Sandals

If we leave the Dollar Store and head a little ways uptown, we land in H&M where there is a tad bit more "design" to our basic footwear. Swap out the elastic and use ribbon, tiny strips of leather or embroidery floss for the straps. 

Again this starts out the same as the first steps featured at the top of this post. Prepare 2 sets of soles from the craft foam. 

This doesn't really require this many steps. I just thought I would handhold you through the procedure as I wrap the ribbon through the holes and around her foot.

1. Start out by making two sets of soles. The take one pair and mark the holes where the ribbon will be threaded through. The first set should be about 1/3 down from the top of the sole (enough to cross over the top of the doll's toes). And the second set is about 1/3 down from those.

2. Cut a minimum of 11" of ribbon. You can make this longer if you want the straps to wrap further up her legs.

3. Thread the ribbon through the eye of the needle. You can apply a small dab of white glue to the tips of the ribbon to keep them from fraying while you work.

4. Poke the needle up from the bottom of the sole and through to the top.

5. Pull though then poke down through the hole on the opposite side.

6. The top of your shoe will look like this--a loop that will cross over the top of the toes--at this point. Make sure each side of the ribbon remains equal in length. Remove

7. (For the right shoe:) take the ribbon from under the left side of the shoe and bring it up and over the foot. Thread the ribbon back into the needle and poke it into the lower right hole.

8-10 Go back to the top and take the right end of the ribbon cross it over and thread up the left lower hole poking upwards. The underside will look something like this. 

11-12. Wrap the straps around the doll's ankles and tie to one side.

13. The front of the sandal looks like this.

14. The back view.

15. Glue on the second set of soles using a strong (gel) glue.

16. Trim off the excess.

17. Using the coarse side of an emery board, sand the sides, particularly in the middle where the two layers meet.

18. You can also add a layer of paint around the sides.

19. Here's the front.

20. Here's the back view.

In reality, you can use any of the uppers we created in our other basic Shoe Biz posts for a fancier pair of sandals. What's nice is that you can custom make dolly's shoes to match her outfit. 

1. Cut a pair of insoles from bristol board and glue down to a bit of fabric. Glue stick works here.

2. Clip  using pinking shears or cut zigzags around the edges.

3. Bend everything over the edge and glue down.Using a needle with a large eye, thread the ribbon through the insole and wrap around the ankles as shown in the demo just above. 

4. Use a strong (gel) glue to glue the insole to the foam soles. 

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