Reviving my favourite slippers

My daughter made me a fantastic pair of felted slippers for Christmas 2009. I loved them...apparently my dogs did, too. Although neither pooch is the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, they seemed to master the following, simple math equation:

+

=

Now the cold weather has set in again and my mind was still on the the second Iron Craft challenge, I resolved that it was time to 'draft-bust' my toes, too.

Materials:
- slippers
- leather
- felt
- black, waxed, carpet thread (Substitution: thick, waxed, dental floss)

Tools:
- white pencil or dressmaking chalk
- sharp, heavy duty scissors
- Karen Foster 'Clikit' (a punching/embossing/eyelet setting tool)
- 4 mm. punching tip
- carpet needle

Step 1: Place the slippers on the sueded side of the leather.

Step 2: Trace the slipper shape onto the leather with a white pencil.

Step 3: Cut out the slipper shape.

Step 4: Load your Clikit tool with the 4 mm. punch tip and punch holes along the perimeter of each leather slipper shape. Try and keep the holes at regular intervals and avoid getting too close to the edge of the leather.

Step 5: Use the slipper shapes to cut two felt thicknesses for each foot. There's no need to create punch holes in the felt.

Step 6: Stack your materials in the following order: felted slipper, two pieces of the felt shapes, and on piece of the punched leather shape. Make sure the suede side of the leather faces inward. You can clamp these together with some clothes pins, if you like.

Step 7: Sew your slipper forms onto your slipper through the holes punched in the leather, using a running stitch. The best tool for this kind of sewing is carpet needle threaded with black, waxed, carpet thread or thick, waxed dental floss. The carpet needle is sharp enough to pierce through the felted slipper and two pieces of felt shapes. The black, waxed, carpet thread will slide through the material easily, plus it is strong enough to withstand frequent wear.

The carpet needle is the middle one in the picture below. The tip is sharp but flattened, similar to the blade of a double-edged knife.

Step 8: Trim any excess felt material, if it shifted during sewing.

Looks like my toes will be toasty-warm for at least the rest of the winter.