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How to make sandals with silk tie straps
Materials:
– flip-flop soles that can’t be worn because the straps have ripped out of them.
– two cool silk ties from a thrift shop that look good together.
– waxed braided nylon cord, it lies down so nice and flat, and doesn’t twist while in use, but other nylon thread or cord will do
– piece of leather cut from thrift shop handbag or upholstery shop scraps to use for topsole
– double-sided-tape or double-sided duct tape – preferably at least one inch wide, or contact or other cement
– silver gel pen (usually easily-erasable on leather) or other marking pen
– 12″ thin piece of wire or stitching cord
Tools:
– awl or other tool with sharp point
– 2 harness or tapestry (blunt-point) needles
– tape measure
-belt sander; if not available, use sand paper or a rasp
Never has a flip-flop sole been so up-scaled: it’s going to become a sandal with a leather topsole and silk straps! Since one tie isn’t long enough to make ankle straps for both sandals, the ankle straps will be made of different ties. Or, you could cut both straps in two and make both straps for the outside of the foot from one tie, and for the inside of the foot from another tie. I combined both ties for the band across the ball of the foot.
Preparation of sandal components:
1. Bottom Sole: Stand on the sole patterns to find the right size sole for you, or create your own shape, or use a pair of flip-flop soles that fit you already. Cut out your sole – don’t chop to the end of the blades of your scissors, try to take little “bites” and push the scissors forward with force. If you have access to a belt sander, sand the edges smooth. If you don’t, use sandpaper.
2. Topsole: Cover your sole with double-sided tape or apply cement, and lay it on the topsole leather, topside down. Most handbag and upholstery leathers are shiny on the top surface and don’t absorb perspiration very well, so I suggest that you put the “fuzzy” side up towards your foot.
3. Cut out the topsole along the edge of the flip-flop sole.
4. Placement for the band and strap: Stand on the sole and determine the placement for your ball-band and your ankle strap – mark these points with a silver gel pen or a piece of tape. The ankle strap will pass under the heel of your foot between the two layers of the sole, then around the back of your heel before being tied in front of your ankle. Use your tie to help you find the ideal spot for it to pass under your foot.
5. Ball-band: Use the wide end of the tie to make the bands, saving the long skinny part for the ankle strap. Iron the wide area flat. You are going to make two silk tubes for the bands, so plan to cut the bands twice as wide as you want them to be – plus a little extra – about 1/2″ – for the seam, and place the part you want to be visible in the center. My bands were inches wide for the larger one and ?” for the narrower one.
To determine the length of the band, measure across the ball of your foot with a tape measure, from the floor on one side to the floor on the other. Add about 1″ to that measurement for the ends of the band that go under the foot. For my size 8 sandal, I cut two strips about inches long and inches wide.
I made the band that goes on top narrower than the bottom band, but of course you can design the band any way that you want – beads etc.
When you have the two bands arranged in the way you want, stitch their ends together at both ends of the band.
6. Ankle straps: Use the long skinny part of the tie to make the ankle strap. Determine how long you want the straps to be: my straps are inches in length, and I simply tie the ends in a knot. Remember that a few inches of the tie will be passing under your foot.
7. One end of the ankle strap is already finished for you with a nice point. I used a different finishing technique for the unfinished end of each sandal strap: one has a beaded tassel, the other a leather one.
8. Assemble the sandals: Pull up the topsole where the ball-band is to be inserted on the outside of the foot (the side with your big toe attached to it), and secure about 3/8″ of the end of the band onto the flip-flop sole with tape. Tape the topsole back in place.
9. Do the same with the ankle strap; lift the topsole, insert the center of the ankle strap at the center of the sole in the area you previously marked, and re-tape the topsole in place.
10. Punch stitching holes all around the edge of your topsole and through the flip-flop sole with a sharp tool like an awl or an ice pick. Make the holes 1/4″ from the edge of your sole and 1/4″ or so apart. Put a piece or two of corrugated cardboard underneath the soling while punching down through the sandal components. Where you have inserted straps, punch right through them.
11. Start stitching: Begin stitching the sandal together at the toe end of the ball-band. Cut a piece of cord about double the extended length of your arms (for me that equals. Put a harness or tapestry needle (in other words, a blunt-tip needle) on each end of the thread. To get half the thread on the bottom and half the thread on the top, poke one needle down through the band and both sole layers, and pull on the ends of the cord so one-half is above and the other half is below the sole. Use the simultaneous running stitch, described below, to stitch the end of the band in place, then continue stitching toward the heel of the sandal.
The simultaneous running stitch is simply a running stitch (down in one hole, up through the next hole, repeat) but with one needle going up through a hole, then the needle on the other end of the thread goes down through that same hole. Give a good tug, then on to the next stitch. The line of stitching won’t have gaps in it, whereas if you simply do one running stitch it does have gaps.
12. Stitching the ankle ties in place: Stitch around the heel of the sandal, through both ends of the ankle strap. Continue stitching around the edge of the sandal until you get about one inch from the inside end of the ball-strap.
13. Stitching the inside end of the ball strap: Insert a thin wire or cord about twelve inches long from the outside of the stitching on the “toe-end” of the ball strap that was previously stitched in place. Loop it through the stitching at the “inside” end of the ball strap that holds the two strips together. Then, thread the other end of the wire or cord through the stitching that secures the “heel-end” of the outside of the ball strap.
Stand on the sandal, and pull the ends of the wire or cord until the ball band has been pulled sufficiently to make the band very tight across your foot. When the band is in place, pull out the wire or cord, smooth out the topsole again, and finish stitching around the edge of your sandal. To stitch through the end of the strap, first pull the strap as far as you can to the toe end while you stitch one-half of the distance, the pull the strap as far as you can toward the heel, and stitch the other half.
14. Once you have stitched back to where you started, your sandal is complete!
I would love to see a pair of these sandals made with higher-quality soling, such as natural rubber or leather. I imagine they could be quite stunning. If you make a pair, please send a photo.