I wanted to write this blog a long time ago, but I never got around to taking pictures of the shoes I made. Now that my daughter has outgrown them, I can’t find what I did with them. So still no pictures to share.

Ah well. I loved making them so much, and they were so nice to have, I’m going to blog about this free soft baby shoe pattern anyway.

The baby shoe pattern was created by Stardust Shoes, and they are both darling, and simple to sew. Even if you’re a beginning sewer, you can make these shoes.

Now I didn’t exactly follow the directions (I’m not normally a troublemaker, but I am lazy, and I don’t do things that I can get away with not doing). Also, I was not trying to make shoes that would last. I knew my daughter wouldn’t be wearing the shoes I made for very long, so I didn’t worry about cutting corners a little. While the shoes I made turned out very nice, and actually held up very well, if you plan to put them to serious use, or want them to last awhile, I recommend following the pattern’s directions more closely.

I didn’t use the bonded fleece for the sole; I just used canvas for the whole outside of one pair, and vinyl for another pair. I lined both pairs of baby shoes with flannel, and didn’t bother with any interfacing since both the fabrics I was using were fairly thick. I liked how the fleece made the insides soft and cozy. The vinyl pair of baby shoes was cute, but probably wouldn’t have been a good choice for a baby that was beginning to walk, as I think they may have been a little slick on the bottoms.

Soft baby shoes were much easier to make than I thought they would be. If you’ve ever been tempted to try it, download the free baby shoe pattern and give it a try. If you like the look of these dhows, but don’t want to make your own, I know several great EtsyKids sellers have some really adorable baby shoes in their Etsy Shops.