Sunday, August 19, 2012

My Purple Crochet Slippers



A couple of weeks ago, I came across the crochet pattern for these adorable slippers on Craftsy.  My mom and my aunt had loaned me their old Workbaskets from the 1970's, '80's, and '90's and I had found a pattern for making crochet slippers that I attempted - I say "attempted" because I only made one, and of course, you need two to make a pair!  I wasn't happy with the result (they were too large and bulky) and so I started browsing Craftsy and came across the "Crochet Rectangle Slipper" from MaryWright.  This is a FABULOUS pattern!  Very easy to follow and to customize!  And being double crochet, they crochet up rather quickly!

I made my two slippers and fell in love!  And then I tried them on and wore them around the house.  Because these are worked in double crochet from your toe to your heel, there are ridges that go from one side of your foot to the other.  After a bit, they became rather uncomfortable.  I was bummed!  I love my purple Mary Janes and had planned to make several of these for my craft fair inventory, but if they are not comfy, it'd be hard for me to "sell" them!

So, I plan to make a few modifications to the original pattern:
Instead of double crochet, I will do a half double crochet in between the stitches (I learned how to do this while making tote bags - which I will post here soon!).  This makes for a tighter "weave" and I think it would be more comfortable.  I am worried that it might not be as flexible, but will see.

Stitch the heel closed in a more streamlined fashion - on mine, I slip stitched from one edge to the other, and now have a little pucker at the bottom of the seam - making it more square than rounded.  I think I can fix this by just "tailoring" the seam a bit more - maybe go in two stitches when I get closer to the bottom of the heel.

The one change I did make while finishing up my purple crochet slippers was to use a more decorative reverse single crochet than just a single crochet.  I am still mastering the stitch and since these are for me, I wasn't too worried about the inconsistency in the spacing of the stitches.

All in all, I am pleased with how the crochet slippers turned out.  I think they are adorable and once I work on the comfort issue, I think I will be adding these to my inventory.  What do you think?