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Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers: Add fancy DIY felt soles with no-slip grips to your favorite knitted or crocheted slippers!

Add fancy felt soles with no-slip grips to your favorite crocheted or knitted slippers!

Crocheted slippers are one of my favorite cozy DIY projects. But, since I work out of my home studio, mine always get a whole lot of wear. (That’s great for my toasty toes, but not so awesome for the yarn under my feet.) So to protect my handmade work—and to prevent slips on hardwood and tile—I made a set of custom slipper soles, and now you can too. Make a pair of your own with this fancy felt sole tutorial! (For the knit-and-purl crowd, this tutorial will work with knitted slippers too.)

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Supplies:
* A pair of crocheted or knitted slippers
* A pair of well-fitting shoes
* Several large sheets of scrap paper (plain copy paper works fine)
* 3mm thick wool felt (an 18" x 18" piece should be plenty for most shoe sizes)
* MATTE® dimensional fabric paint, one 1.25oz tube
* Bulky-weight yarn in a contrasting color, 2-3 yards

Tools:
* Permanent marker
* ⅛" paper punch
* Leather punch or tailor’s awl
* Fabric scissors
* Paper scissors
* Sponge brush
* Masking tape
* Chalk pencil
* 16-20 safety pins
* Darning needle
* Ruler

**Please note that the links provided above are affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you choose to make a purchase after clicking through.**

Want to make a pair of slippers just like mine? Here are the tutorials that you’ll need to get the job done:

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 1
Grab a pair of well-fitting shoes, then use a marker to trace the shape of the sole onto a piece of scrap paper. Cut out the template with a pair of paper scissors.

Note: If your soles are particularly chunky or wide, make your template slightly smaller by measuring in ½" or so from the edge and marking a new line all the way around the sole. To make sure that the re-sized template will fit, ensure that your bare foot fits within the new line before cutting it out.

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 2
Starting ⅛" in from the edge, place a dot every ½" around the edge of the sole. At each dot, punch a hole in the paper using the paper punch.

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 3
Trace the template you created in steps 1 and 2 onto the wool felt, then flip the template over (for the opposite foot) and trace that onto the felt as well. Cut out each sole with fabric scissors.

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 4
Place the template on top of each sole. Mark each hole around the sole with the chalk pencil. (Use a twisting motion with the pencil to make marks on the felt.)

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 5
Use the leather punch or tailor’s awl to punch a hole at each mark from step 4.

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 6
Arrange both soles on top of a layer of scrap paper, then use masking tape to create lines on each sole.

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 7
Use the sponge brush to apply a thick layer of fabric paint to each exposed line. Apply 4 layers of paint in total, allowing the paint to dry for a few minutes between each layer.

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 8
Let the paint dry overnight before moving on to the next step.

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 9
With the painted sides facing down, stretch the slippers out evenly over the soles, pinning them in place with safety pins at regular intervals.

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 10
Starting on the inside of the back of the the heel, use the darning needle and yarn to backstitch through each hole, attaching the slippers to the soles. (The first stitch should start from the inside of the slipper, leaving a 3-4 inch tail.)

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Step 11
Once you’ve stitched all the way around the slipper and back to the heel, pull the darning needle through to the inside of the slipper on the last stitch, then tie the two ends of yarn together. Trim any extra yarn length and weave in the ends.

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

Tutorial: Fancy Felt Soles for Crocheted Slippers | Red-Handled Scissors

You’re done! Enjoy your comfy, reinforced slippers with no-slip grips!

44 comments

  1. Anna says:

    Great tutorial! I will follow you for a while, I did too a couple of crochet slippers, but I didn’t know how to make non-slip soles! You’ve got a great idea! And are they really original with the embroidery! Bravissima!

  2. Sister Diane says:

    I was so curious about what you used for the non-skid material. Who’d have thought fabric paint was the ticket? You are a genius. I adore these, and I need new slippers. Plus, now I have an ironclad excuse to buy a leather punch, so… WIN!!

  3. Allison says:

    This innovation is fantastic! Even though I am so appreciative of all the wonderful crochet designers who share their patterns for free on the web, I’m kind of ashamed to admit that I’ve never posted a thank-you comment before this. I can’t wait to buy the felt so that I can add soles to the slippers I’ve made. I’ll just have to temporarily take them back from the people who have gotten them as gifts!

  4. Ashley says:

    Swoon! I have a pair of boot-slippers I made but I hate wearing them when I have to walk up/down stairs holding my daughter. I’m sooooo excited to go buy some felt and make a few pairs of these!

  5. Wilma Pérez says:

    Felicitaciones. Maravillosas y protegen del frío del piso y también al tejido. Me encantaría saber hacer las Alpargatas de tela con hilo de yute sobre la suela y es de cuñita. Las venden demaciado caras y la tela muy engomada que daña la piel.
    Necesito pedirles un favor. Quiero o mas bien Necesito hacer cortinas con cenefas para la cocina (la ventana es de 3 mts ancho y alto 1.30. y para toda la casa. Si pudieran publicar ideas y como poner los cortineros.
    Mil Gracias por Toda la Colaboración al Compartir tantas útiles y bellas Labores. Un Gran Abrazo con Inmenso Agradecimiento desde Venezuela.

  6. Linda says:

    I can not wait to do this!!! I just made slippers for my little girl and was thinking I would-be have to find some way to reinforce the soles…. Perfect! Thanks so much for the tutorial!

  7. Di Sturgess says:

    Many thanks for this brilliant solution to a problem I have with all my crochet slippers, not only the anti-slip aspect but also the durability. Now just wondering if it would be more long-lasting to sew the soles on with some sort of string, or twine …

    • When it comes to strength/durability, high quality polyester/synthetics will almost certainly hold up better than wools or cottons. If I were sewing the soles on slippers that were going to see especially heavy use, I’d probably swap out the yarn for a high quality nylon twine.

      I’ve also toyed with the idea of winding some heavy duty outdoor polyester thread in with the yarn to make the stitches on the soles more durable while preserving the yarn-y aesthetics, but I haven’t tried it yet.

  8. Maggie says:

    Love this idea! I am in the process of making slippers for friends that I will be visiting. Will the “puffy dimensional fabric paint” have the same non slip effect as the “Matte?”
    So glad I found you. I can’t wait to make a pair for myself.

    • I use felt because it gives me a sturdy, thick sole that stands up to heavy wear for much longer than slippers with plain yarn bottoms. With fleece, I’d be concerned that they’d wear through more quickly than the felt soles. That said, I haven’t used fleece, so I really don’t know for sure. If you decide to try it, I’d love to hear how it works!

  9. Jacki Cushway says:

    I have used shelf liner on top of the felt for traction It works super. I also blanket stitch around the felt for a more finished look but the original idea of the felt soles I got from you. Thanks so much

  10. Pam Ailes says:

    Getting all my supplies to try this out! I would like to know the size of the leather punch. It looks like an awesome idea and I can’t wait to try it. Thank you so much for sharing!

  11. Manya says:

    This is such a great idea – thanks for the tutorial. A lot of felts say that they aren’t machine washable….do you throw your felt bottomed slippers into the washer?

    • If you’re using wool felt and wool yarn, the slippers won’t be machine washable. (I hand wash all of my handmade items with Wrapture wool wash.) But, if you happen to come across some synthetic felt for the soles–and if you’ve used synthetic yarn for your slippers–you might be able to get away with machine washing.

  12. Edna says:

    Excellent post! I had experienced this same problem with slippers wearing through. My solution (prior to seeing your post on making soles) was to buy pre-made felt insoles from the dollar store. I had just whip stitched them to the bottoms and they have held up well, even through machine washing. I’m going to try adding some paint for non-slip treatment and dig out my leather punch for the next ones! Thanks for the great idea!

  13. maha says:

    hi your tutorial is best but I have some confusions.1) where to start holed.2)on different sizes soles how can I make upper 3)or height of upper toe in different sizes. guide me the formula .I am a beginner . thanks

  14. maha says:

    hi your tutorial is great .I have a question where is first hole start you dont mention .i purchase a rubber sole for
    crochet slipper but I dont know where I start marking first hole

  15. Eva E Purdy says:

    Hi Haley, thanks for your wonderful post. One suggestion: maybe painting the fabric paint over the yarn stitches around the edges will help stop the yarn on the sole from wearing out. Also- any suggestions for where to buy 3mm felt? I have never seen it.

    • I wash mine the same way that I wash all of my handmade woolens–by hand with a wool-specific wash in room temp water. (If you’re looking for something potentially machine-washable, you might want to try using some synthetic felt.)

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