Welcome to the very first EMIM tutorial! I’m very excited to start this section and I hope many of your will find it helpful! ^^

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN LOLITA SHOES

I’ve been eyeing these wonderful Victorian Maiden booties for years now. This year, I decided that, since I can’t get them (or the replicas) – I will make my own! And you can, too! You know why? Because no shoemaking knowledge required! 😀

Victorian Maiden booties

This is what I started with – burgundy ankle boots I thrifted from a local shop. They don’t have to be that exactly shape or color – all they have to be your size and be at least a little bit over the ankle (you can get full length ones, also, if that’s what you’re into) – your creativity is the limit! Also note that the less “stuff” is on the back side of the boots the better. I will make a buckle version of this style in  future entries.

First thing I did – I removed the single strap with the faux button. Then I put on one of the boots and decided on the shape I was going to cut out. The original design has curved edge with the loopholes finished in each curve, but I didn’t have hole pliers and the booties had fabric lining, that would be far more than I wanted to deal with, so I opted for straight cut rather then curved one and roughly outlined where the cut was going to be.
I decided that the front seam of the shoe is a nice shape, so I cut along that towards the heel, curving upwards midway and the curving back to the back of the shoe (the top of the boot ended up the same, so I cut the curve and left the top seam intact). I tried it on again, holding the front to get a general idea to make sure, I liked the shape. I was happy with it, so I went on, but if the shape doesn’t  satisfy you – trim it until it does. You should cut less in the first time in case you need to make adjustments.

I bought a matching bias tape top finish off the edge of the cut. I started on the back of the shoe, hand-sewed over the back seam, down and around where I had cut before. There is no particular technique to the stitch – I just tried to make it less visible on the outside. As I was sewing, I realized that I should have used a cotton or leather finish as the satin is so delicate and it pulled at some threads as I was sewing. No biggie – just melted those away with a lighter.

Finally I needed to make the loops to thread the ribbon through. I used the same bias tape, cut it into 16 small 1-2 inch pieces, folded it in and handsew it shot to create a round rope shape (I melted the ends, so they woudln’t fray). You can, of course, sew it in full length inside out and then thread the tape through itself and cut it into small pieces then, to save on time, but I find small handsewing things like this calms my nerves.
I sewed the tiny loops onto the inside of the bias edge and the lining for extra strength.

And that’s it! Thread the ribbon through the loops and wear your fancy new boots!
As an optional step, depending on how much scrap material you have left, you can make matching bow clips to add extra flare. c:

Overall I’m super happy how they turned out and I can’t wait to get a chance to wear them out! As mentioned before – I will me making a strappy version of this kind of shoe, so look out for that!