joanne's 18" dolls: Doll Shoe Making Adventure

I have been sewing up a storm for my newest doll, Maria. If you haven't seen my un-boxing video/ blog you can find that here. She is one of the new Wellie Wisher dolls from American Girl. She is just so much fun to sew for because she is younger than the rest of the dolls. In my doll world she is little sister to Jeremy and she is just 6 years old.

I mean I love sewing the more grown up clothes for the other dolls but it is a nice break to create for this younger character.

Anyway since she has new clothes she needed some real shoes. I think I am probably the one person that isn't a fan of the boots that these dolls come with. I just don't really care for them, and in real life we (myself and my kids) would never wear our rubber boots anywhere but out to the barn. So I started my hunt for a cute doll shoe pattern for Maria.

I started on the Pixie Faire site and I purchased the first shoe pattern they released, the re-sized version of the Janes Shoe. I got it mostly so I could wrap my brain around how big the shoes needed to be. I did spend a very frustrating afternoon trying to make shoes from that pattern. But as I was afraid I really just don't like that pattern very much. I purchased it in the American Girl size and didn't like it then either.

I did post on the Pixie Faire Facebook page asking if the Plain Janes shoes from Luv U Bunches would be re-sized. It is my very favorite shoe pattern for the larger dolls and I knew I would love it just as much in this size.

I was so excited a week or two later to see it was indeed released in the Wellie Wisher size!! I have been stalking the Pixie Faire website for new Wellie Wisher patterns several times a week. I snapped this pattern up as soon as I saw it.

I made a pair immediately to see how the pattern went together then I decided to try making a bunch of the shoes. I use what I refer to as Assembly Line sewing to do multiple pairs at a time. I made 6 pair of the shoes over the weekend. I posted pictures of the batch of shoes and got lots of questions about how I managed to make so many in such a short time. It was then that I decided it would be fun to write this blog post and take you all along with me as I make more shoes.

By sewing assembly like style I find I make several of an item in about the same amount of time it would normally take me to make just one. This is left over from sewing skating dresses back when my daughter was figure skating. It was not unusual to get asked to make skating dresses for an ice show at our rink and need to make 10 or 15 or even 30 dresses in less than a week. I developed shortcuts and quick ways that worked for me. That is what I hope to share here today as I adapted them to this pattern in particular. Remember each pattern I sit down to do this with will be a little bit different depending what steps are required for it. And on what I feel I can batch together.

So the first step in this shoe pattern was of course to print out the pattern. I like to print out the entire pattern because it isn't convenient for me to have my laptop on my sewing table when I am working. Also I read the pattern in advance and then use the pictures in the pattern instructions as my cues as to what I am supposed to do next.

For this pattern I actually printed the page with the pattern pieces twice. Make extra sure that you have the printed pages coming out the correct size, check that 1” box in the corner on both copies.

Since for this pair of shoes I trace the pattern onto the lining fabric I next glued the pattern pieces to an old cracker box. It is so much easier to trace around them this way. I just use a glue stick to do the gluing. Use all the pattern pieces that were on the page and then from the second page you printed use the “shoe top & lining piece” Also save one of the “insole & sole” pieces. (we will need that later)

After the glue has dried cut out the pattern pieces that are glued to the cardboard. On the second copy of the shoe top cut away the seam allowance on the top (the inside of the “u” shape.

Now pick your fabric, at least your lining fabric. I actually almost always use unbleached muslin for shoe lining anymore. I have a large stash of it left over from a project and I like that I don't have to ever worry about dye bleeding onto the doll's feet from it. Also since both sides of the fabric are same I don't have to worry about right and wrong sides.

Use a pencil with a sharp point to trace the shoe top pattern piece onto the back of the fabric however many times you will need it. For this blog post I decided to make 4 more pair of shoes so I traced it 8 times. Trace the piece in pairs like in the picture. So that you can work with one pair at a time. If you want to make a pair with a contrast toe (like the black and gray one in the photo) be sure to line this traced set up so that they are even- this will make more sense when I show you how to easily make this style shoe.

Now using the shoe top that we cut the seam allowance off of line the pattern up on the outside edge and ends of your traced shoe linings and trace the sewing line.

Cut these so that you have the pairs of linings, so you have one piece of lining fabric with the shoe top linings for each pair of shoes you are going to make.

Now trace however many insoles you need on your lining fabric but this time on the right side of the fabric (if your fabric is different on the back and front). I like to trace all my left insoles in one area and all the right ones in another area. Again you will see why when we get to later steps. Set these aside until later.

Now choose your fabrics. This time I picked out all solid pieces, a brown heavy woven, a gray satin and a black satin. These were all just scraps in my stash you just need enough to fit the area that you traced both shoes for each pair.

For sewing make sure you have a fresh needle and use a neutral thread. I used white for all of these. I like white because we are going to be sewing in some basting that will need to come out and it is easy to see for this step.

Since I wanted to make a pair with contrasting toes I also grabbed a bit of extra of the gray and black. I used a straight seam to sew these together like this. I also drew a guide line on on my traced lining fabric for where to place the seam. This is why you need this pair lined up when you trace the pattern pieces.

Now we are going to pin the lining fabric to the shoe fabric right sides together. Since we traced on the wrong side of our lining this is pretty easy. Use as many pins as you need to, I used several per shoe pair. Now sew on that traced seam line. This is the easiest way to get that seam perfect every time. I do find using a sewing machine foot with the most visibility to make this job easier.

Now something I seldom see in sewing instructions- I always (yes always) press as sewn before I do anything else. By that I mean I take the fabric I have sewn before I trim or try to turn anything and press on the seam I have just sewn. I feel this is a very important step because it sets that thread down on the fabric and I find my seams lay much flatter this way.

Now it is time to cut the shoe top units out. Just follow those cutting lines you traced on the wrong side of the lining fabric back in the beginning. Now while you have those scissors in your hand also clip that seam you just finished sewing, be careful not to cut through the seam just clip up to the stitching line.

Now it is time to turn your shoe tops and press them.

This is my favorite pressing tool for making this easier, it is called a “point presser” and it is probably the most used tool other than my iron for pressing doll clothes.

So the steps to pressing that I follow might not sound intuitive but I they are what I have found work the best for getting crisp seams like this. First press as much of the seam as you can open, then fold the seam and press it closed. This is the same process I use to make collars and anything else that is basically turned back on itself.

Make sure you are happy with the look of the top of your shoes. Make sure the lining is all inside and not showing on the front of the shoe. This is really your best chance to get this step right. I was not as careful as I should have been on this step and you can see my lining on this batch of shoes.

Now onto the back seam. Open out your shoes, meet the back edges and line up the seam on both ends. I like to nest and pin it. Do this will all the shoes before you start sewing.

Make sure you have your machine set up for an accurate ¼” seam. Sew this seam being really careful to not run over pins, I like to hand “walk” my needle over the pin holding the seams together so that I can leave that pin in until the last second.

Now go back to the iron and press the shoes again pressing as sewn, then press the seam open and then in place. Take your time on that back seam and get it just how you want it.

Again we are going to pin, this time working from the outside of the shoe we are going to pin the shoe tops to the lining. Make sure everything is lined up so that the shoes are not pulled to the side or anything. I like to line up the back seam then the toe area then add pins to the sides. Sewing from the outside and starting on a side sew a basting line ¼” from the edge of the shoe all the way around the bottom opening. This is a small area, especially on this small size but it can be done if you go slow. This basting line is going to be our guide as to how much of the shoe fabric gets glued to the bottom of the insole.

When this is done use small scissors to clip to the sewing line all around the shoes. This will make the shoe glue on a lot neater later. Also at this point trim the lining below the basting line as close as you can without cutting through either the basting or the outside fabric.

Let's move onto the insoles of our shoes. For this you are going to need another cracker box (or something similar) and some paper-backed fusible webbing. Following the directions on your webbing iron it onto the back of the lining that has the insoles traced onto it. Then follow the directions and adhere it to the plain side of your cracker box (the inside of the box)

I know a lot of people don't realize that you can use the paper-backed fusible stuff to glue fabric to all kinds of materials that aren't fabric.

At this point in the project I divide everything into two containers (I use baskets from Dollar Tree) one basket for all the left pieces and the other for right pieces. I put on of each color shoe in each basket too.

Now following the directions on the pattern cut out the craft foam soles for your shoes. For this set of shoes I used black foam for all the shoes but you can use any color you want. There are some really pretty colors of craft foam.

Now since we have all the left shoe parts in one container and all the right shoe parts in the other we should end up with a right and a left shoe for each pair. Don't ask why I had to add this step to the list.......

I like to start by putting aside one of those containers and making all the left (or all the right) shoes first then make the other halves of the pairs.

For construction of the shoes you will need a bottle of Fast Grab Tacky glue. This stuff is really thick and holds really well. You also really need some toothpicks to spread the glue (get several and change them out when they get too messy), something to put the glue in (I like to use a bottle cap) and some wet wipes. Do not neglect that last item. Wet wipes are your friend, the biggest challenge in this process is keeping the glue where it belongs and not on the outside of the shoes. Glue spots look horrid on shoes!

Put out a bit of the glue, get a toothpick ready and a wet wipe.

Now remember that extra shoe sole pattern you printed off. If you haven't cut it out yet do so now. Then fold the pattern piece in half matching the long edges. Use this to mark the bottom of your insoles so that you know where the middle is. Just line it up with one side of the insole on the bottom (what was the outside of the box) and trace the fold onto the bottom of the insole.

Pick up your first shoe top and find the center of the toe area. Slip the insole into the shoe and match the center of the toe area of the shoe to the center of the toe area of the insole. Also match the back seam to the center of the heel area. Now glue these two areas. Make sure that line of basting is just below the insole.

Set this aside and do the rest of the shoes in this basket.

Now return to the first set and glue the rest of the shoe to the insole. Keep that basting line nice and straight and make sure there are no visible tucks or wrinkles in the shoe fabric.

Repeat with the remaining shoes in this basket.

Now you just need to glue on the craft foam soles following the pattern instructions.

Then repeat with the rest of the shoes in the other basket.

Once the glue is set up and mostly dry you can remove the basting. You might have to work at depending on how much glue you used but is should come out since there shouldn't be any glue on the outside of the shoe. Only the thread on the inside should have any glue on it. Just don't wait until the glue is all the way dry, timing is everything on this step. Be very careful not to pull the shoe tops out of the place.