Boot Booties!

 

 

We live in the Pacific Northwest. It's beautiful here! Green and lush and beachy and mountainous! The weather is mild and exploring the great outdoors is important for our family. If you've heard the rumors.. it is indeed WET on the regular around here in the winter. We wear rubber rain boots A LOT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted something to wear over our wool socks to help keep our tootsies warm inside our rubbers.. and help keep the boots snug on our feet. Nobody likes losing a boot in a mud puddle!

 

I had a billion 'slipper' tutes tagged on my Pinterist board and figured I could whip up a sock from some 'never going to make anything else with it' fleece bits in my stash. I started with some basic measurements and sorta winged it after that. So here ya go if you need some Boot Booties too!

 

I started out by tracing our boots.. figuring that would give me a fairly accurate sole measurement and shape and it would include the seam allowance all on it's own.. Bonus! Master Bruce insisted on helping of course. I cut those out noting which (R or L) boot I traced.

 

I then took the following 3 measurements of his foot and created the corresponding pattern pieces ADDING seam allowance of 1/4".. with the arches created by centering the B measurement and then marking 1/2 the B measurement and eyeballing a curved line. **Edit! There would also be a 'D' measurement.. how tall you want the bootie to be. It would be the height measurement on your A/B square as pictured below.

 

 

And here are the pattern pieces! The toe will look huge! Go with it.. it will fit right! Cut 2 each in your chosen fabric. **Remember that if your sole piece has a L or R you must cut 2 opposite pieces. However your soles don't have to have a L or R. Fabrics with some stretch work the best.

 

Once I cut my pieces I cut 2 pieces of 1/4" elastic measuring 2" shorter than my A measurement. I sewed it, using a zig zag stitch, stretching it to fit side to side about a 1/2" above my arches.

 

 

 

Next sew your calf pieces, right sides together,

along the vertical seam as pictured.

 

Then match up the center of the straight side of the toe piece

to the seam on the calf piece, right sides together,

matching up the edges to the

corners of both pieces and sew together.

 

 



 

Now match up your sole piece to the bottom of your

 toe/calf  piece matching center toes and heels.

 

Turn right side out, mark your L and R if needed and voila!

 

Boot Booties!

 


Now make some up for yourself!



Dear Me.. before I had kids.

My 3yo made his own oatmeal. I turned around after putting the baby in his chair with his oatmeal with the intention of helping Luke make his... and he had already poured the hot water into his bowl. That little guy was standing there in his Batman costume on the step stool stirring his little bowl with the biggest grin on his face… I can’t even adequately describe the bursting heart feelings that pulsated through me.

Ok, you’re wondering what the hell the big deal is about. Why oatmeal became the topic of a Once in a Lifetime retroactive letter? Why? Because the message I was going to write was a dark satirical on how terrible motherhood is. Well... maybe it wouldn’t have been that much satire because motherhood IS really terrible. At least... terrible in the ‘You will never ever ever ever ever take a poop by yourself again’ and ‘You are going to touch more feces, urine, vomit, slobber, snot and blood than an ER room and none of it will be yours’ type of way.

You are not alone in those moments you think that having kids was the worst decision you have ever made. Every mom has thought it 400 times.

I really only have 2 pieces of advice. ALWAYS bring 2 more diapers than you think you need and you NEED Baby Anti Monkey Butt powder. It’s a zillion times better than that white stuff.

You are going to wing quite a bit of it and don’t hesitate to follow your gut.

Ok... so back to the oatmeal. This is the part where I lament that Motherhood is the only place you can be in Heaven and Hell at the same time. It’s a really consuming job with very little pay. You work a lot harder than you ever have in your life for a demanding person who is a severe relationship novice. You would have dumped him a long time ago if he were a boyfriend.

But then they make their own oatmeal behind your back. And you realize this is the ‘reward’ of motherhood. Watching this thing you created become a person. These moments are random, sometimes enticed but always a joyful rush. Moments where the everyday grind becomes a cataclysmic jump forward in life. You give birth. He smiles. He rolls over. He sits up. He crawls… and so on. In those moments you are so glad you decided to become a mom. There is no greater momentary rush. And I know… I’ve done Whippits.