As the UK moves into summer, with some scorching temperatures already by June, I have felt like I needed an in-betweeny shoe that is cooler and lighter than my usual trainers but not as exposing as sandals.
I've seen some lovely looking creations on Instagram of people making sandals, but all made of leather. Last summer I bought myself a set of Prym Espadrille soles (available from Amazon or Prym website) in the hope of making some kind of sandals. I wanted to recreate more of a formal sandal-shoe look rather than a casual Espadrille style, and thought that faux suede would be a great fabric for this. However, of course most faux suedes are made of synthetic fibres and aren't great for the environment, though I would argue much less harmful than leather, environmentally and regarding animal welfare. I wanted to try to find some deadstock faux suede to try to shop more sustainably. I was lucky that I came across the New Craft House's online fabric shop where they sell only deadstock fabric, much of which is ex-designer. They had some brown ex-designer faux suede for £7 half a metre, I only needed a small amount so ordered 1/4 metre (spending £7 total including postage). The fabric is lovely, it has its suede side which feels and looks so nice, then a wrong side which is smooth and woven. It has a real body to it while still being flexible and soft, it's not the weight of faux suede you'd make clothes out of.
Making
I used this tutorial from Bust for their free espadrille pattern and modified it to be more like the sandals I had in my mind, and less like the classic espadrille shape. I traced the shape on paper, then pinned it to the espadrille to check that it would fit my foot by sliding my food gingerly in. I didn't take a photo of this bit, but you want to pin it like I've pinned on the real fabric below.
Do this for all the pieces you are going to be using so that you can check it fits more or less. I changed my pattern a bit from doing this, I made it slightly tighter over the middle of my foot.
Trace out your pieces onto the wrong side of the suede which is easy to draw on, making sure you flip over each piece for the other foot. Because this is a woven fabric, and not someone's skin, it frays as you can see. So you can't just cut it out and leave a raw edge and work with a single layer like suede or leather. I decided that I would line my pieces, and luckily I had some lightweight poly cotton (I think) remnants in my stash in a terracotta that went well with the brown. You therefore need to add your desired seam allowance around all pieces, and cut out the same pieces in your lining.
I sewed the suede and lining pieces right sides together, trimmed the seam allowance, cut corners, turned them inside out and finished the gap with the machine.
I then ironed them on the lining side, as faux suede can melt, to make them flat. You can see the before and after here- one is bouncy and has body before ironing and topstitching, the other is much more like a piece for a shoe. I then topstitched their circumferences to keep them flat.
With all your pieces done you can then start to construct the shoe. Pin one piece at a time on the espadrille and start sewing from left to right using a thick tapestry needle and some tapestry thread.
You'll need a thimble to help you push the needle out because it gets very stiff. Even using this, my thumb and index finger were sore from pulling the needle out after the thimble had pushed it as far as possible. I used blanket stitch. To make the stitches look neat, I used as my guide this line in the side of the espadrille sole and the line of topstitching on the shoe.
Make sure you securely tie your thread at each end, I tried to hide it from the outside.
As you sew, the espadrille sole does start showing some cracks in its lines of 'stitching' a bit, but hopefully this won't break up the shoe, I am yet to find out.
Sew on all your bits, check the first shoe fits before doing the second.
The last thing I did was to make the fastening, as the style I've made needs something to tie the two wing bits together over your foot. I inserted an eyelet (from my stash) in each wing, close to the edge.
For the ties, I wanted something that kept the shoe looking a bit more smart, so didn't want classic laces. I really wanted the look of suede ties too, with the raw edges and stiffness. I was so lucky that I just happened to find these faux-suede fabric ties in my local haberdashery that came in all sorts of colours! When I saw them I thought they'd be leather, so was overjoyed when the owner said they were fabric. They were only 35p each and such lovely colours so I bought a few incase I make some more sandals, and also so that I can swap my colours around if I want to!
I haven't yet worn these out, it hasn't been the right weather ironically. But they are comfortable to wear around the house, I don't think I would wear them to do the food shopping or anything too strenuous, I'm not sure I have that much faith in their ability to act like real shoes. I'm dreading them falling apart or my stitching breaking from the weight and movement of my feet. The only criticism I have is that Prym soles are very narrow! I got a size 38, and while this is long enough for me, it could be so much wider to be more comfortable.
It was really enjoyable making my first pair of 'shoes' and doing some hand sewing. It didn’t even take me that long, as the pieces are small. I would really like to make some more but with a different style of sole- you can buy different thicknesses and even Espadrille heels. I'd like to try a chunkier flat. I have dreams of one day making my own proper shoes out of wooden soles and faux leather but that's a-whole-nother level.
The best thing about these sandals is they are cruelty free! You can still achieve the look you want without harming animals and the environment. I recommend sourcing deadstock suede so that it is more environmentally friendly. I haven't yet found any other UK based deadstock shops like the New Craft House, I hope more pop up in future.
Supplies
Fabric: faux suede from the New Craft House (at the time of writing they still have some left)
Soles: Espadrille soles (choose the right size for you!)
Eyelets: I used small 1/4 inch golds eyelets that I bought this a while ago, and they are a nice little pack. All you need extra is a hammer.
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