Nancy's Polar Slippers
As the weather has quickly turned from fall with its golden leaves to winter’s chilly winds, I find myself adding more layers to keep warm. So, I decided it was time to make myself and my granddaughter The Green Pepper’s Polar Slippers # 527.
I loved the simplicity of making them. The pattern consists of 3 pattern pieces, all of which provide for a narrow or wide foot. You only need basic sewing skills (they could even be hand-sewn) and fleece material that requires no hemming. You can make them simply, or decorate them with the appliques provided, or use your creativity and add lace, embroidery, etc.
After making my Polar Slippers with some scrap dark aqua fleece, I discovered the opening for my foot was a bit small. I have high arches (I didn’t calculate them into my pattern), and could have used a slightly larger opening. I also chose the narrow version, but after trying them on, I felt the foot area needed to be smaller, which was an easy fix. One change I made to the polar slippers for myself was to line them with a basic cotton fabric. The only drawback to lining them with something like cotton is that it takes away some of the fleece's natural stretch, but I was still able to get them on. My granddaughter’s slippers were made from a printed fleece. I hope she loves them!
Tip: When you purchase your fabric for this pattern, get an extra 1/8-1/4 of a yard (or use some in your stash) and make one slipper to see if anything needs to be adjusted.
Most of all - Have fun personalizing them, and enjoy a great sense of accomplishment after you realize just how easy they are to make!
Comments
Nancy said:
Hi Louise,
I’m so glad you liked the idea. I’m happy I chose to go that route!
I took each pattern piece (#1, #2, #3) and cut out the fleece and a cotton pieces for each. Before I attached anything together, I sewed the cotton onto the wrong side of each piece (flatlined). I straight stitched as well as zig zagged (or serge) to reenforce the cotton. As I mentioned in my post the cotton does make the fleece a bit less stretchy, so you could choose a cotton blend with a little stretch or adjust the fit mostly around the ankle to make slightly larger (the only area I felt needed more stretch).
I do love the idea of a whole second slipper inside and that might be the experiment for the next time!
Louise said:
Thanks for the post! It’s great for international customers to have easy access to patterns like the polar slippers now that they’re available in pdf form.
I’ve also been thinking about lining these, would love to know how you did it – just the sole or a full second slipper inside the fleece one? Any tips?