(Topic: Weighted bears, sewing)
Hi Friends!
I’ve lately been in a bit of a sewing slump, not making nearly the progress on things that I would like to. Yesterday was a good day, though, and I got a lot done!
One of my perennial projects is altering clothing for Pookie! Primarily, if I get things that fit his bottom, they are too big on top, and often too long in the front if the length in the back is good. For many things – like PJs – a bit of bagginess isn’t an issue, but for button-down shirts, things can end up looking a bit rumply or untidy. Pants can be too long, if they fit is waist, and again, have a bit of bagginess in the front. To top it off, he has a big head, and he has enormous feet, to boot! (That’s a dad joke, attributable to my lovely hubby…).
So, Pookie’s shoes have been a bit of a trial. Today’s post will tell you a bit about the solutions I’ve found, and will end with his newest pair of snowboots for you to see!
Early on, I crocheted Pookie a pair of shoes, but they have loosened up a bit and I’m always worried about him losing them. Plus, they are more like slippers than shoes, and to my eyes they look casual. I was going to link to my post on the slippers and matching crocheted hat, but I apparently didn’t write about them yet!!
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| Pookie’s crocheted slippers and hat – his only hat where his ears can be out! |
So after that pair (which was fine, but not what I wanted), I worked hard to develop a pattern for shoes that would work for him. Pookie and I have gone to bear stores that carry shoes, but his feet are muuuuuch larger than their standard bear, so that wasn’t an option! So I drafted a pattern and tested it (it felt like 1000 times!!!) and finally got him a pair that worked! They are tennis shoes, and here’s a link to my post all about those shoes.
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| The tennis shoes I made him. |
The tennis shoes are my go-to, and we’ve found a few other solutions too, such as socks…
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| Fun animal socks. |
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| Mommy and Pookie both have cows! |
… and some baby slippers.
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| These ones have snowmen. He also has ones that look like foxes (or maybe tigers, if you squint), but I don’t have a picture of him in those yet. |
I was super thrilled to find a pair of soft boots – I think a size 5 kid shoe – that actually opened all the way down, which is the only way to get his very round feet into a boot. So here’s him with his new stompy boots!
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| The trouble with these stompy boots is that his toes are kind of smooshed into the bottom half of the top of the boot, because his foot is so much taller than a kid foot. So not much toe made it into the toe of the boots – they’re mostly empty! |
After all that, I think the best solution is for me to make his shoes, honestly. I have some black fabric and black foam and laces already set aside to make him a nice pair of Sunday shoes, but haven’t gotten that far down in my work basket yet.
In the meantime, though, this post is about the boots I made him that work well! I found a promising pair of boots at a garage sale that are from a well known bear store… Of course, on their own, the boots were too small. I didn’t mind taking the soles off the shoes, since (second hand) it looked like a puppy or bird had spent some time gnawing on them…
Here’s what they looked like initially:
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| Image credit: https://i.pinimg.com/236x/16/4f/4d/164f4d861dec46c6cd844224c2463085.jpg |
With the sole removed, I opened the velcro on the back, and then ripped out the half inch at the bottom where the two sides were sewn together. Now I can try them on Pook! The foot shape is right, since it’s made for bears with round, tall feet and short toes! But his legs are thicker. So I measured the gap at the back, which ended up being about 2-1/4″. I found a coordinating corduroy in my stash. I also created a new (bigger) sole out of corduroy. And I removed the velcro and covering decoration from one side.
I created a rectangle to form the back of the boot, and seamed it to one side, and added the velcro and decoration to the other side, extending the boot and essentially creating a new “back”:
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| Instead of opening at the back, the opening is now at the side-back of the boot. |
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| Boot from the back/bottom – extended, for Pookie-sized bears! |
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| From the inside/front. So cute, right? |
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| A happy Pookie with BRAND NEW BOOTS, ready to help Daddy bake Christmas cookies! |
The additions I made were a back panel and a new sole, both in fabric and thus easy to sew on. Depending on how I put his foot in, the toes sometimes flatten a bit oddly (on the left (his right) in the picture above) but that’s easily adjusted when you put it on him. Resewing the velcro wasn’t too hard, and I’m really happy with how they came out and how they fit!
Yours,
Sarah
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