Cosy Toes Blog Tour – Tie Back Boots for Grown-Ups!

Welcome to my stop on Day 1 of Twig + Tale’s Cosy Toes Blog Tour!  I have to admit that sewing footwear was one of those “final frontiers” of sewing that I somehow always assumed would be too complicated, so until recently I had never tried.  But when I kept seeing irresistibly cute pictures of tiny Wayfarer Shoes, I just had to give them a try.  It turns out there is nothing complicated about them at all – they are quick, fun, and satisfying to make, and use only small scraps of fabric.  In no time at all I was amassing an impressive collection of cute little baby shoes (keeping in mind that my “baby” is now 7 and well past the tiny shoe phase – but I am set for baby shower gifts for years to come).

Then, the opportunity to make Twig + Tale’s new Tie-Back Boots in adult sizes came up, and I couldn’t wait to try them.  I don’t usually sew for myself, so the chance to make something just for me was very exciting!

The first pair I made were these charcoal-grey wool ones, with embroidery inspired by the sweet floral print of the cotton lining fabric.  The embroidery is composed of very simple stitches – the most challenging part was getting the flowers on both slippers to more-or-less match.  Hand embroidery is so relaxing, and I thoroughly enjoyed taking a couple of quiet hours to work on these, adding flowers randomly until they felt just right.

I braided wool and alpaca yarn in grey, white, and aqua to make the ties.  I find that there is enough give to the yarn that it is still easy to pull them on and off without having to re-tie them.  What you can’t see in the pictures is that after the slippers were finished, I decided to stitch sheepskin insoles to the boot lining – cosy toes indeed!

Then, Lisa of Twig + Tale announced that she was also including an option for high boots in the pattern, and late one night my busy insomniac brain came up with an idea for another pair, so I just had to give them a try too.

These ones are olive-green wool lined with tan-coloured fleece.  I cut leaf shapes out of some of my favourite tiny scraps of linen, silk and wool, and machine stitched them to the outer boot pieces before sewing them up.  The tie-backs on these ones are finished with suede loops and leather ties.

The tall fleece lining means that these boots are ever so cuddly and warm on the feet and legs, and the colour and design appeal to my inner forest fairy:)  They work well pulled up tall, folded over, or slouched a bit.

I love the fact that I was able to sew something for myself that is comfortable, fits well, and will get worn on a daily basis.  I can see making many more of these as gifts for friends and family.  It’s a bonus that they come in women’s and men’s sizes, making them a perfect gift for the impossible-to-shop-for men in my life.

The brand new Tie Back Boots in adult sizes are available on sale until midnight PST on Friday, June 9th, and you can also use the code COSYTOES for an extra 15% off any of Twig + Tale’s footwear!  Thank you for joining me, and be sure to visit the other stops on the Cosy Toes Blog Tour for some beautiful and inspiring Twig + Tale footwear!

Tuesday: Fliegfederfrei – Createnic – Sew Snippet – Sew Many Adventures

Wednesday: Sew Shelly Sew – She Who Sews – Life in our busy household – Naeh connection

Thursday: Skirt Fixation – Sprouting Jube Jube – Needle and Ted – Just Add Fabric