DIY Leather Crafting: How to make leather baby shoes by hand (no sewing machine needed!)

1. Introduction : Hi, am [inaudible] Dutch fashion designer with a passion for sustainable products. I started a brand called Piple, which is focused on up-cycled fashion into timeless design. Nowadays, a lot of fashion and clothes are just thrown away because they are broken or not trendy enough to keep. You can easily up-cycle your wardrobe by using things that you don't wear anymore. I've made a lot of baby shoes lately and it's not hard at all if you know how to do it. In this class, I teach you step by step how you can make this cute little baby shoes. I've made a template you can download for free so you know the exact measurements. All right, let's get started. 2. Tools: You don't need any machines, but you need a few special tools you can buy at a local craft shop. What you need is good scissors, an A3 cutting mat, a marking pencil, a single two millimeters perforator and a one millimeter double or triple perforator, a hammer, waxed cotton strings, a large hand needle, the template printed out on scale, and some small clippers, and of course you need a piece of leather. I will tell you more about this in the next video. 3. Materials: We use a lot of leather in fashion. There is a big chance that there is an old jacket that you can use. Leather jackets usually have the perfect leather, and it gets your little baby shoes a special story to tell. I usually use thin cow leather or cow skin, which is flexible but strong. Make sure you clean the leather with a little bit of green soap and lukewarm water. You need a piece of leather by 30 by 30 centimeters or 12 by 12 inches. 4. Template: I've made a template you can print out. You can find it in the project folder. The size of the baby shoes are made for babies between zero and three months old, but they can usually wear them a little bit longer. So print out the PDF and make sure you don't scale the paper. The shoes needs to be 10.5 centimeters long. Check this before you start to cut out the pieces. If you want to re-use the pattern for a second pair of shoes. You can also draw them on a strong piece of paper or cardboard. 5. Lay out: Once you have cut out the pieces, you can lay them on the letter. Use the marker to draw a line around the pattern. Of course, you need to do this twice because you need two shoes. Once you've done that, you can use the scissors to cut out the pieces and cut out the leather by following the edge of the leather. Now you have all the pieces you need. Place the paper parts from the template on the leather and attach them with the clippers so they stay in place where you are punching the holes. 6. Punching: Now you can use your perforator to pinch the holes in the letter. Once you have reached the corner, it's better to use a single or a double pipe to make a more rounded corner. Use a two millimeter perforator for the holes, for the laces. You need a bigger hole than the cotton string. 7. Stitching: Cut a piece of about 80 centimeters or 31 inches from the waxed cotton string and attached the needle to it. Grab the toe of the shoe and place it on the sole. You can find the two indicators on both the sole and the toe. Make sure they are aligned and even. We start with the toe on the third hole. Leave 10 centimeters or four inches. You need this in the end for the finishing. Grab the sole and place it backwards on the toe. Work from the bottom to the top. Don't tie in the string two much to keep the right shape. Go around the sole, and once you have reached the opposite side where you started, you grab the heel of the shoe. Now you sew the three pieces together. After this, you follow the sole to the point where you have started. Now you make sure you finish in between the two layers of leather. This is where you bind the two strings together. Take the inside of the shoe out, because now you can start on the finish. First you make two nodes, and after this, one side of the string goes between the two states shifts, and you make a final node to finish this. Now you can cut off both ends. You can fold back the shoe and check if everything is even and tight enough. 8. Finishing: Grab the laces. This is the last part. Cut off a small piece from the laces. Start with a bottom and turn the lasers backwards and make them even. Tie the shoe to the top on both sides and make sure that there is enough room inside the shoe. So don't tighten them up to heavy. Finish with a knot so the laces stay in place. Now you have made your own baby shoes. How cool is that? I'm so curious what you have made and please share a picture with me in the project folder. I hope you enjoyed this course and I'll see you next time.