About

Mary Corbet

writer and founder

 

I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

Contact Mary

Connect with Mary

     

Archives

2024 (28) 2023 (125) 2022 (136) 2021 (130) 2020 (132) 2019 (147) 2018 (146) 2017 (169) 2016 (147) 2015 (246) 2014 (294) 2013 (294) 2012 (305) 2011 (306) 2010 (316) 2009 (367) 2008 (352) 2007 (225) 2006 (139)

Little Project: Embroidered Baby Booties

 

Amazon Books

I like these little booties – they aren’t finished yet, but here are some photos so far. I’ll tell you what I did, and then didn’t do, and then did again….

I’ve got the embroidery finished on half a baby bootie – it’s not really very complex embroidery, as you can see! Just lazy daisy stitch, French knots, and tiny straight stitches.

Hand Embroidered Baby Booties

They look Humungous, don’t they? More like whomping Baby Boots! Keep in mind that the cuff on top folds down (see below), and all the area that isn’t stitched (around the base and up the back) is the seam allowance. I kept folding the seam allowance in, because I had to convince myself they were little, teeny tiny booties, not massive toddler whomping moon boots.

Hand Embroidered Baby Booties

This is the cuff pinned down, so you can see the contrast. The red dots will be eyelets.

Ok, what I did about the violet:

I didn’t like the match of the purples – I thought the floche was just “off” – so I matched and bought a skein of DMC that I thought I would like better. It seemed ok in the store. I picked out all the violet flowers. I started stitching with the new DMC color.

I cringed.

I picked out all the new DMC color.

I started stitching again with the floche.

And in the scheme of things, I like it much better, even if it’s not quite the same color – it’s close enough!

My favorite part so far, though:

Hand Embroidered Baby Booties

I’m quite taken with the little eyelets. They look like nostrils.

 
 

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*


(12) Comments

  1. Mary, You’ve inspired my to follow up on the booties pattern I found online. I think my expectant daughter will appreciate some for my first granddaughter due in February. She’ll be heading into our Winter so she’ll get to wear some warm booties while still tiny.
    Hope I can still find some fleecy fabrics in our stores, we’re heading into Summer fabrics instore already!
    Thanks for sharing your progress,
    Hooroo,
    Christine
    http://missmuffettwo.blogspot.com/

    3
  2. Hi, all!

    Thanks for the comments about the booties -they’re really quite fun to make. (So far – I haven’t started the sewing part yet, which might end up being rather a bear!)

    Christine, I’m using two relatively light flannels that I’ve fused together with misty fuse. It’s working out well so far, but I am not sure how well it’ll work with the sewing up. I figure, though, that together the two pieces of flannel are about the weight of a good wool felt, which is what the pattern called for in the first place. Hopefully, you’ll be able to track down the right fabric for yours. I suppose that just about anything can be used, with a little tweaking! Good luck!

    MC

    4
  3. Mary excuse to ask for Neuve, is using two types of fabric, one for the pink and other points in the half and a fabric fusion? it? are very beautiful … I want to see them ready …. Queiro make a few. already… Gracias por compartir su progreso…..

    5
  4. Mary, the booties are just beautiful. I too am expecting my first grandbaby in March of 09. What do you think about using felt? I realize there would be a washing issue, but if you just wanted a fancy pair for an outing do you think that felt would work?
    Thank you again for this wonderful site. It makes my day!
    Annie in Michigan I forgot my password

    6
  5. Thanks, all! They’re quite fun to work on!

    Nelapx – the fabric is actually two layers of flannel, fused together with a very fine fusing bond called Mistyfuse. I’ll show you the finished pair of booties soon!

    Hi, Annie – sorry about your password! – I think felt is good. In fact, most of the patterns I’ve seen call for felt, but I noticed that people have had luck with flannel, so I thought I’d give flannel a try since it’s softer. But then, in fusing the two flannels together, I found that, though the hand is definitely softer, the fabric itself is now pretty stiff.

    I think the felt would work great. And if you’re concerned, for example, with the “scatchiness” of felt, my sister duly reminded me that that’s what socks or tights are for – especially in cooler weather!

    I’ll post the finished product – actually, I plan to post a step-by-step on sewing them up. We’ll see how that goes. I’m no wonder on the sewing machine.

    Thanks again!
    MC

    8
  6. LOve, love, love the booties so far! The spray of little flowers is just amazing. They remind me of the little wild meadow flowers that come up in the spring around here. And you know, the color difference between the flannel lining and the flowers isn’t distracting at all. What a fun little project! I can hardly wait to see them finished. Are you planning to do any sort of edge treatment?

    Hugs!
    Lori

    9
  7. Adorable! I must put baby booties on my to-do-list, even though I don’t know anyone expecting. lol Is there a template for cutting the fabric, that you can point us to?

    11
  8. Hi, All – Thanks again for the comments!

    Lori – Yes, the edges will be worked in a buttonhole (closed) in white and I’m thinking of doing a needlelace scallop along the buttonhole. That may be a bit ambitious, though, for something so small. We’ll see.

    I blogged about the pattern here:

    Needlework Carrot. You can see a picture of the pattern and the number there. I think it’s McCall’s, but I don’t remember the number!

    There are also plenty of patterns online, if you google “baby booties embroidered” or something to that effect. I think I also linked up to an online pattern in the post mentioned above!

    Thanks! Can’t wait to give an update that shows serious progress!

    MC

    12
More Comments