Make your own...... boots?

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Bethany:

My feet are claustrophobic. Maybe it's because I've always run around barefoot most of the time, maybe it's because my feet are super wide, but whatever reason, I hate wearing any sort of shoes that don't slip off easily. (Not that I want to! I have some lovely stiletto oxfords I always intend to wear more often.)

Anyway, when Esther started telling my about her new boot fascination, I didn't at all sympathize. Over the knee socks? Pure wonderfulness. But over the knee boots sound like some kind of torture device, or at the very least a leg prison. I have a pair of amazing Merrell calf boots that wear like a dream and leave my feet feeling ache-free after hours of walking, but even in such comfort I can't wholly shrug off the feeling of confinement.


So after one of our many recent conversations on the subject of over the knee boots, I was thinking through the reasons that I had thought they wouldn't possibly work for me. And then I realized there might be a compromise.


I started with a pair of shoes I never, never wore but had kept because they do seem so nice and cosy, and I was always sure that when winter came I would actually wear them.


The only other essential ingredient was.... old sweaters. Impressive how many uses there are for musty cashmere.


I cut the arms off along the curve of the darker sweater for the main body of the boot and the arms off straight across the lighter sweater for the upper/cuff.


The curved end of the sleeve connected to the shoe perfectly. I turned it inside out, slipped it on, tucked it in, and pinned in back to make the shape more leg-friendly. The other end of the sleeve had been cut across for some other project.


Just a quick serged edge finished up the shaping of the leg portion. Well, it would have been quick if my serger hadn't attracted a fanatical stalker. The poor machine was groped and grabbed and beaten, which in turn meant I had to rethread it multiple times while attempting to fend off the unwanted attentions. But in the end, the seams were serged.


Next came the lighter sweater. I trimmed off the lower sleeve so that the width was about the same as the top of the darker sweater.


Right sides of the darker and lighter sweaters together, pinned, serged.

All that was left really was to attach the leg portions to the foot portions. I decided to add a little stretch lace to cover the seam though. Then I glued sweater to shoe.


The finishing touches were buttons and fabric paint.

They don't really look 100% like the real deal, but I think they'll accomplish all the marvels of over the knee boots without causing my feet to hyperventilate. So thank you, Esther, for convincing me to at least give the concept a try.


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