An Hour Spent Crocheting Baby Shoes

Discovering how to crochet shoes is pretty fantastic. All the sudden you go from wearing flip flops around the house to wearing uber-cute crochet slippers. I’ve made two pairs of adult-size slippers so far.

Nonetheless, I’ll have to write about making shoes later.

For now though, I’d like to talk about baby booties. You see, many women my age are just starting families. They’ve been married a few years and either just had or are about to have their first child. It’s a special time. One thing I’ve noticed from the baby showers I’ve attended and from flipping through photos in Facebook albums is that you basically get the same things at baby showers. A stroller, bedding, Pack-n-Plays, bottles, diapers and lots and lots of clothes. Now, mind you, these are all essential items.

Do you know what I rarely see? Do you know what is almost always missing?

Handmade items! And no, not the ‘I made this’ kind, the ‘I spent a long time planning this, and then working on it’ kind. And there is a difference between the two, although I’m pretty sure my description makes no sense at all.

Traditional crafts are less prevalent today than in previous years. By traditional, I mean embroidery, crochet, knitting and tatting…things like that.

For a wonderfully sentimental and meaningful baby shower gift, why not try your hand at crocheting baby booties? They take about 2 hours for a beginner from start to finish and believe it or not, they are a super manageable project.

Here are some booties I’ve recently made. I’ll be doing some embroidery work on them before actually gifting them. The thing to remember about these is that they will be keepsake items. The infant may never wear them, but I can pretty much guarantee that the mother will hang on to them for years to come.

This is the pattern I follow. You can find a bunch of patterns on the internet, and in books too, but this one that I can do from memory; which is why I like it.

Gauge: 3mm
Yarn: Embroidery Weight

Start by doing 8 double-crochets into a circle.
Cinch the circle nice and tight and then do a slip stitch into the top of the first double crochet.

Next round:
Do 2 double-crochets into each stitch. Then, do a slip stitch into the top of the first double-crochet. Chain 2. (This is a total of 16 stitches.)

Next round:
Follow this pattern all the way around- 1 double-crochet into a stitch, 2 double crochet into the next stitch. Slip stitch into the top of the first stitch in the round and chain 2. (This is a total of 24 stitches.)

Next round:
Follow this pattern all the way around – 1 double-crochet into a stitch, 1 double-crochet into the next, 2 double-crochet into the next. Slip stitch into the top of the first stitch in the round and chain 2. (This is a total of 32 stitches.)

Next round:
Double-crochet even all the way around (this means 1 double-crochet into each stitch)

Next round:
Double-crochet even all the way around (this means 1 double-crochet into each stitch). Chain 2. Turn.

Next round:
(Make sure you turned your piece so you are going back the way you came.) Double-crochet into the first 22 stitches leaving 10 by themselves. Chain 2, and turn.

Next 11 rounds:
Do the same thing over and over. You are going to build on those 22 stitches forming the bottom and sides of the shoe.

Next round:
Double-crochet into the first 10 stitches, then double-crochet the next 3 together. Double-crochet the remaining stitches.

Next:
Fold that back part in half, with the 3 stitches you double-crocheted together as the bottom of the fold. Just slip stitch the sides together.

You have a shoe! Woo!

To add a strap, just chain 7 across the shoe wherever you want it.