Friday, March 09, 2007

These boots clogs were made for walking....


Believe it or not it took almost a week for my Fiber Trends Felted Clogs to dry. Normally when I have felted anything (only purses) I have felted them in the washer with hot water and a load of sheets letting them go through all the cycles including the spin cycle. With the felted clogs it is rcommended that you remove them before the spin cycle and rinse by hand which means even after squeezing out the excess water with a towel they are still sopping wet. I kept turning them and eventually they dried to a perfect fit.

Once dried I had to make the decision as to what I was going to put on the bottoms of the soles to make them non-slip. I am such a clutz that I knew I had to do this one last step. Next came my research.

Here are my options:
  • Ruth from my Monthly Yahoo Dishcloth group uses "Shoe Goo" which can be found in the shoe dept. at Walmart for about three dollars and some change. You can put dots of this liquid plastic type of material on the bottoms. Drawback - smell is foul and potentially harmfull to one's lung. No thank you, that is not for me.
  • You can use puffy fabric paint. Sounds easy, but how long would that last? No, not willing to try.
  • http://www.peak.org/~spark/BottomsFeltSlippers.html has some good ideas. Iron-on patch material for slipper bottoms - durablity would be questionable. This website has other paint on latex or plastic compounds listed. Once again harmful odors are problematic. They also mention leather bottoms.
  • Leather slipper bottoms an be purchased directly from Fiber Trends. Unsure of the cost, probably expensive. Elann sells leather soles too. Click here to see the elann slipper soles which are very nice, but again the draw back is cost.
  • Lastly, I found a latex product that I can cut out and sew on the bottom -- Easy Liner by Duck. I found this big roll of shelf liner in the housewares dept. of Walmart for three dollars and some change and comes in a few basic colors. Sounds good to me...so I took the plunge and this is what I tried.Here are the soles finished. You could probably glue the custom cut soles on, but I chose to sew them on. Should the material wear out I can easily remove the worn sole and replace it with another. Pretty easy and for me the best solution. No slipping now, but the test will be how long they last. I will only wear them in the house so hopefully they'll hold up :) I really enjoyed knitting these clogs. I highly recommend the pattern. If you follow the pattern step by step through all the twists and turns it's very easy. I know there will be more felted clogs in my future.

Happy Knitting :)

18 comments:

  1. oooh, i love the clogs! they look so comfy and warm! i have some of that liner for keeping my microwave from sliding and it seems to work pretty well. my problem would probably be that dog hair would stick to the liner, but then, that's probably because my dog has crazy hair. : )

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  2. I love love love them! I also love your sole creativity!

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  3. OMG I have to make some!!! Oh I love thoughs. COOL!

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  4. They look great! You are so niffty when it comes to find stuff, which is not commonly used. I like that. I would have gone with the paint on, because it's fast and easy and fun, but your's looks much better. Hope you can enjoy them for a very long time! ;o)

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  5. they look great! and what a great idea to use the shelf-liner for the soles!

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  6. Oh I love the clogs! I just got the pattern recently and haven't made them yet. I really love your clever non-skid solution too. So crafty! :)

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  7. Very cute! Seeing how cute yours turned out makes me want to start a pair right away!

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  8. Great idea! I have the pattern but have held off on knitting a pair up because we have hardwood floors and I didn't know what I would do to make the bottoms non-slip. I'll have to look around for that shelf liner....

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  9. these look fantastic! and how creative with the nonslip thingy on the bottoms.

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  10. you've turned a work of art into very functional footwear!

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  11. Your clogs look fantastic. I made a pair for my sister for Christmas. I will have to make a pair for myself now. Love the non-slip info.

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  12. Hi!
    You have been invited to play GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER?
    Please go to www.theknitoriousmrsb.blogspot.com
    for further directions.
    Take care!
    Linda
    P.S.
    Stroke of genius-rubbermaid shelf liners for bootie bottoms!

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  13. Wow, your clogs look great! Your non-skid soles are genius!

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  14. Perfect solution!

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  15. oooh.. your clogs look great! I love what you did to the bottoms and am going to have to get some of that stuff. The clogs I made have a hole in the bottom already from over-use :-) Will just add some of this... Thanks for sharing!!!

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  16. So how are these soles working out for you? The clogs look great, by the way:)

    Ang

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  17. GIRL, YOU AR A GENIUS! AND A THRIFTY ONE TOO!~

    THANKS FOR THE TIP!
    I JUST MIGHT MAKE THESE!!!!

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  18. Wonderful!!! I've done the puffy paint, and while it is durable, it isn't really all that non-skid unless you really slather the stuff on. I love the shelf liner idea!

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Thank you all for your comments! I really appreciate them. I usually don't follow up with an email, but if you do have a question please make sure you include a way to reach you within your comment so I may answer your question. Thanks and happy knitting :)

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