How to Make a Quiet Book: Shoe Lacing
About Bobbi:
Hi, my name is Bobbi Keese and I am from the charming suburban community, Richardson, TX. My husband John and my son Jaxon are the joys of my life; so to keep it short and sweet, I am blessed!
How to Make a Shoe Lacing
Quiet Book Page
Inspiration:
I was so excited to be a part of this quiet book swap organized by Laura and Susan. These ladies were gracious enough to assign me the lacing page which I believe was one of the easiest pages to make, lucky me! I had a solid place to start, thanks to Laura and all of her great resources on how to make the page. Although there are many themes for a lacing page, I chose to do a simple shoe. The process was fun and I am pleased to share how it was done. So here we go!
Page Assembly:
Materials I used:
- Pellon cut into 8 1/2''x10''
- Stiffened felt
- Slouchy felt in fun colors
- Sharpie Markers
- Rotary Cutter and Mat
- Eyelets 3/16''
- Eyelet Setter
- Shoe Laces (36'')
- Coordinating Thread
- Sewing Machine
1. My first step was to unwrap all of that beautiful Pellon and begin cutting it to size; we decided 8 1/2''x 10'' would be best. I used a rotary cutter and a clear quilting ruler to make all of my measurements. I drew them onto the Pellon with a sharpie marker (my fabric marker of choice) and made my cuts.
2. After cutting, I stacked the Pellon and put it to the side. My next step was creating the shoe pattern; I simply used some cardboard and a real Converse shoe for inspiration.
3. I made the pattern more detailed in the beginning because I was going to use the same cardboard cut out for the tip of the shoe, the lace attachments, and the foot hole of the shoe.
4. Next, I traced my shoe pattern onto the red, stiffened felt and cut! It is important to use stiffened felt for this step due to the amount of "play stress" this piece will endure.
5. While I was in the cutting mood, I went ahead and cut the tip of my cardboard shoe pattern off in order to make a stencil for the tip of the shoe. I then traced my shoe tip onto the slouchy felt. I used slouchy felt here, because this step is purely cosmetic. The slouchy felt will be completely sewn into the pellon and will not be under any stress while little hands are using it.
6. Still in the cutting mood, I decided to go ahead and cut my foot holes out of black slouchy felt. I traced these with a silver sharpie.
7. After all that cutting, I decided I needed to change it up a bit and do some sewing! First I sewed on the slouchy felt shoe tips followed by the foot holes.
8. Now it's time to get out that Pellon I set aside in the first step. I wanted to attach the shoe to the Pellon before sewing on the laces attachment for extra stability to withstand tugging and pulling. I used a fun stitch to mimic the white sole of a converse tennis shoe. For extra stability I attached the edge of the shoe with a zig zag stitch.
9. Now it's time to cut and sew on the laces attachment. While cutting, be sure to leave plenty of room for the eyelts; my dimensions were apporximately 3 1/2''x 1 1/4". This piece needs to be the most stable; it will undergo the most abuse. I used a good tight straight stitch at the edge and a zig zag stitch for extra support. Notice, you're sewing through stiffened felt and pellon; my hope is that this will make all the difference when it comes to the test of time.
10. Now it's time to play with my new toy, the eyelet setter. A variety of setter choices are available out there, but I think this particular setter worked efficiently for this project. First I eyeballed the tabs for the laces and marked them. This step is followed by punching the eyelet holes, this feature is included on my eyelet setter (how convenient).
Once your holes are punched, press in the eyelets using the setter. This will make a clean, sturdy border for your laces to pass through. When you've done that, lace your shoes up and you're done!
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