The Puppy Ate My Slippers...

Well, not completely. He started to eat them and I caught him in the act. He did manage to chew the buttonhole off one strap. I love these snuggly slippers and being the cheapskate that I am these days (plus trying to get better about recycling, reusing, re-whatevering), I decided to try and salvage them instead of tossing and buying a new pair. I am also a big packrat. I have a hard time throwing or giving things away. The  advantage to this is that when I decide to take on a project, I usually have the needed supplies on-hand. Last year, I did a craft supply reorganization and, luckily, most of my supplies are organized in plastic bins with labels so I can quickly find what I need.

Here are the chewed up slippers that need some help:

First, I started looking at my stash of ribbon thinking I would make ends from some ribbon and then sew in a buttonhole. Nothing matched. Probably a good thing, since this would have been more work and equipment than I felt like dealing with today while nursing a cold. Then I noticed the large stack of felt I got from Freecycle a while back. I have big plans for that stack of felt, but a couple little pieces for a slipper fixer upper won't matter.

I decided on the same end pieces and buttonholes that I was going to do with ribbon, but was much happier with this new plan because the felt would be soooo much easier to work with because the edges wouldn't ravel. BUT! I needed to know how to do a nice decorative edge since I haven't done much sewing with felt. A quick search on the Interweb landed me on Futuregirl.com and an AWESOME tutorial about blanket and whip stitching. That, in turn, led me to another most fabulous tutorial on how to tie the perfect knot...something I have struggled with for years. Check out HELLOmynameisHeather and learn to tie perfect little knots!

With the plan in mind and the new skills researched, it was time to get busy. I used the good strap and made a pattern for a little slipcover to go over the ends of both straps.  Each slipcover takes two pieces.

 

I was so excited that I was actually being crafty and creative (AND sick), that I didn't take any more photos until the project was complete. Basically, I just sandwiched the damaged strap ends between two pieces of felt and did a blanket stitch around the edges. Next, I cut a slit for the buttonhole and did a blanket stitch around the edges of that. Done!

Here are my good-as-new slippers!

Close up pic of the new felt ends:

I think I have a couple more chewed up slippers that I couldn't bear to part with, so I might be doing this project again ;) Oh, and another good thing about this project...it was the first chance I've gotten to really try out my new chair! It was a great place to sit and do some hand sewing :)