So lately I've been having trouble with my knees, and my feet have been aching a lot. I didn't really realize why until yesterday, when Mom made the comment that I was flat-footed, which is correct. When I was a little kid, I had to wear special shoes (which is frowned upon now, I gather, after doing research.)
Yesterday, I wore my slippers all day, after forgetting to change out of them after I left yesterday afternoon. By the end of the day, even after changing into Earth shoes for church, I felt like I had walked a million miles, and my feet were very, very tired. It wasn't that they ached; my knees ached, and my back ached, but my feet were just tired.
I woke up this morning to sore arches and achy feet, which didn't bode well for the rest of the day. I thought about just wearing my comfy-ish Acorn shoes, which aren't too bad, but then I decided to do some research. And I started thinking about what shoes I've worn over the years that were very comfortable.
See, for quite a few years I'd wear those fake Birkenstocks in the summertime. For the period of at least three and sometimes five days (I would wear them constantly), I would be in extreme pain as my foot, not the shoe, broke in to the arch support for the summer. I had to do this with the Earth shoes too. After that period of time, my feet were absolutely pain-free. It was weird. If I tried to parcel it out and not wear those shoes all the time in the beginning, then it didn't work as well and I would have foot pain off and on all summer long. (This didn't seem to happen with winter shoes for some reason.)
But at work we weren't allowed to wear open-toed shoes, so I had to find something else to wear. And I was in what I like to think as my 'Art Nouveau' period--where I actually wore my patchwork tie-dyed skirt to work, for example. And I had long curly hair, etc., etc. I blame a lot of this on Charles DeLint and the books and music I read and listened to during that time. (Ok, blame is probably too strong of a word.)
So anyway, around that time I read Yarrow by Charles DeLint for the first time. And since I was emulating things I read and listened to, I decided I had to have a pair of Chinese slippers like the one Cat Midhir wears when she visits the Otherworld. (It's been a while, so I think that's what she called it.) I found what I was looking for at Pier 1 (this was back when Pier 1 had clothes)--a pair of cotton Mary Janes with cotton soles; definitely no support whatsoever. In fact, they were as close to barefoot as I've ever come.
And they were so comfortable. I wore them everywhere, and wore them so much that I wore them out. I ended up buying three pairs and wearing them until they were really unfit for wearing anymore, but I kept them with the thought that one day I would take one pair apart to use as a pattern and make my own. (I had no idea what I was doing, in truth. I still don't. But I'm learning.)
After reading a bit about going barefoot, and realizing how difficult that would be in this climate, not to mention the fact that I really don't like to step in dog poop with bare feet, I wondered if I could finally make that pair of shoes I've always wanted to make. I did break out my old Mary Janes and wear them today, and surprisingly enough, my feet are just a little sore, but not so horribly tired like they were last night.
Tonight after I got home from Mom and Dad's, I decided that I had to make my first attempt at slipper making, since I haven't taken one of the pairs of Mary Janes apart just yet. So I traced my foot, and then made a sort of bootie pattern, and came up with this:
The real trick, of course, will be how long do they last? And can I wear them out in public?
This pair (Okay, at the moment there's only one of them) is made out of recycled sweaters. My Featherweight sewed through five layers of thick wool in one part, without any trouble whatsoever. I am impressed!
It's not perfect, but I'll make the other one and have a pair, and then try leather. I've never sewn leather before, but if the Featherweight can handle over a half inch of wool, then I'm thinking it can probably handle leather too, but we'll see. I have all that nice leather from the auction that I bought; now I can fiddle around with it and see what I can come up with.
I'm still planning on taking apart one pair of Mary Janes and seeing what I can do about making a pattern out of the pieces. It shouldn't be too difficult, but we'll see.
Yesterday, I wore my slippers all day, after forgetting to change out of them after I left yesterday afternoon. By the end of the day, even after changing into Earth shoes for church, I felt like I had walked a million miles, and my feet were very, very tired. It wasn't that they ached; my knees ached, and my back ached, but my feet were just tired.
I woke up this morning to sore arches and achy feet, which didn't bode well for the rest of the day. I thought about just wearing my comfy-ish Acorn shoes, which aren't too bad, but then I decided to do some research. And I started thinking about what shoes I've worn over the years that were very comfortable.
See, for quite a few years I'd wear those fake Birkenstocks in the summertime. For the period of at least three and sometimes five days (I would wear them constantly), I would be in extreme pain as my foot, not the shoe, broke in to the arch support for the summer. I had to do this with the Earth shoes too. After that period of time, my feet were absolutely pain-free. It was weird. If I tried to parcel it out and not wear those shoes all the time in the beginning, then it didn't work as well and I would have foot pain off and on all summer long. (This didn't seem to happen with winter shoes for some reason.)
But at work we weren't allowed to wear open-toed shoes, so I had to find something else to wear. And I was in what I like to think as my 'Art Nouveau' period--where I actually wore my patchwork tie-dyed skirt to work, for example. And I had long curly hair, etc., etc. I blame a lot of this on Charles DeLint and the books and music I read and listened to during that time. (Ok, blame is probably too strong of a word.)
So anyway, around that time I read Yarrow by Charles DeLint for the first time. And since I was emulating things I read and listened to, I decided I had to have a pair of Chinese slippers like the one Cat Midhir wears when she visits the Otherworld. (It's been a while, so I think that's what she called it.) I found what I was looking for at Pier 1 (this was back when Pier 1 had clothes)--a pair of cotton Mary Janes with cotton soles; definitely no support whatsoever. In fact, they were as close to barefoot as I've ever come.
And they were so comfortable. I wore them everywhere, and wore them so much that I wore them out. I ended up buying three pairs and wearing them until they were really unfit for wearing anymore, but I kept them with the thought that one day I would take one pair apart to use as a pattern and make my own. (I had no idea what I was doing, in truth. I still don't. But I'm learning.)
After reading a bit about going barefoot, and realizing how difficult that would be in this climate, not to mention the fact that I really don't like to step in dog poop with bare feet, I wondered if I could finally make that pair of shoes I've always wanted to make. I did break out my old Mary Janes and wear them today, and surprisingly enough, my feet are just a little sore, but not so horribly tired like they were last night.
Tonight after I got home from Mom and Dad's, I decided that I had to make my first attempt at slipper making, since I haven't taken one of the pairs of Mary Janes apart just yet. So I traced my foot, and then made a sort of bootie pattern, and came up with this:
The real trick, of course, will be how long do they last? And can I wear them out in public?
This pair (Okay, at the moment there's only one of them) is made out of recycled sweaters. My Featherweight sewed through five layers of thick wool in one part, without any trouble whatsoever. I am impressed!
It's not perfect, but I'll make the other one and have a pair, and then try leather. I've never sewn leather before, but if the Featherweight can handle over a half inch of wool, then I'm thinking it can probably handle leather too, but we'll see. I have all that nice leather from the auction that I bought; now I can fiddle around with it and see what I can come up with.
I'm still planning on taking apart one pair of Mary Janes and seeing what I can do about making a pattern out of the pieces. It shouldn't be too difficult, but we'll see.
Comments
I've heard about putting fabric paint on the soles of slippers to make them non-skid. I might try that with my next pair, we'll see. So far I haven't slid at all, which is good.