baby TOMs, sort of

While the guys went kayaking on the Buffalo

at the tail end of Spring Break

(which I hope to post about soon)

the girls and I went to stay with Marin and Milo.

(Which is why I was in such a rush to finish my quilt top.

I knew I'd have lots of time to sit and hand quilt

while Marin was busy with the baby)

While there,

Marin mentioned that Milo's feet were disproportionately large

(he is a rather petite little guy)

and none of his shoes fit his long narrow feet.

So while his mama was otherwise occupied,

Lily grabbed some paper and a pen

and I quickly traced one of his feet.

Then she hid the evidence in her purse,

so Aunt Marin wouldn't know we were up to anything.

You see,

Saturday is Milo's 1st birthday!

And I hadn't yet come up with a good gift idea,

but she handed me one on a silver platter;

I could make shoes!

In trying to find the pattern I've used in the past to make shoes,

I came across a pattern for TOM's inspired baby shoes

and they were just too cute not to try.

Too cheap thrifty to buy the 'sized' pattern,

I opted to enlarge the free baby pattern

(although I could have just as easily shrunk the toddler one)

I used Essex linen in steel for the outer,

a charcoal stripe that I'd used in Milo's quilt for the lining

and some red suede for the soles.

The tags were made with twill tape, 

a blue fabric marker,

and a super fine felt tip pen.

It seemed like my uppers were going to be too tall,

so I took off 1/8 in height all the way around before sewing

them to the soles.

(resizing shoes isn't as simple as just enlarging the pattern)

I think they turned out super cute,

and the girls and I have squealed over them many times.

As adorable as they are,

they took waay too long to make, 

so I don't foresee making these for just anybody

though I will definitely have to make a pair for Hadley,

'cause both her mama and daddy wear TOMs

I decided to make a little drawstring bag

to wrap them in,

and I like it almost as much as the shoes ;-)

Happy Trails, Milo!

We all love you so much!! XOXO

linking up with happy Amanda Jean
and stash-building Beth