Turn Shoes into Furry Winter Boots

Sure, be all '80s and call these leg warmers. Or call them "leg corsets" or "boot uppers". They transform any shoes into fur-trimmed boots!

They were fairly quick and easy to make, even though I hadn't worked with fur before. I made them for my Diablo 3 cosplay (currently in progress), but they are also very festive for the winter holidays! I may even wear them to a Seahawks game.

Here they are pictured with the clawed footwear (still in raw Worbla, not painted yet) that I am working on for the Barbarian costume.

I'll include some construction notes here in case anyone is interested in making something similar.

Disclaimer: I plan to reinforce these later, to make them less slouchy, perhaps using Buckram or boning.

Materials:

• 2 packs of 13 Large Grommets (I used 20 grommets total)
• White "Mongolian" faux fur, long-haired (fabric.com)
• Suede fabric
• Black Grossgrain ribbon (for lacing)

Construction Notes:

Start by creating a pattern of your leg. Cover your leg in plastic wrap, then masking tape, mark a line where the top and bottom edge should be, draw a line down the center front, then cut down the center front line and you've got your pattern. You can allow for the curve of the calf by snipping the pattern from the top down about 4 inches in two or three places to create darts.

Cut the suede using your pattern. I serged the front and top edges - a roll hem would also work - and just cut the bottom edge since this fabric doesn't fray easily.

When dealing with long fur, use a comb! Figure out which direction is "down" when you look at the fur and how it is laying. When you cut the fur you can try and slide your shears against the fabric to "part" the hairs, and that will give you less cropped short hairs at the bottom.

The fur strips are 4" wide on top and 3" wide on the bottom. Start with a wider option because you can always trim it later.


For the bottom fur, on my "boots" this is not attached, it is just like an anklet I slid on over my foot, and this works because there is a little bit of stretch to the fur fabric. I serged the top edge, left the bottom edge raw (it's hidden and fray-resistant) and sewed the two 3" end together to make a loop.

After sewing the fur onto the suede, I added grommets. After marking the placements with chalk, I use a hole punch to make holes down both sides before I go get my hammer out and start pounding away. A regular hole punch is the right size to get a hole started for Large grommets.

Costume Progress - Victorian Spats

Steampunk costumes call for spats! Or really great boots, which I don't have because of my gigantic ankles and calves. Anyone else have this problem? Anyway, To make spats (or gaiters), the first step is to make a pattern. To get the right fit, I created a duct tape "cast" of my foot following this DIY spats pattern guide.

After I cut it off and cut it into three pattern pieces (inside, outside front, outside back), I discovered the sock I used was really contracting. I had to really spread out the duct tape pieces and pin them down in order to mark out the pattern pieces on butcher paper.

I added 1/2-inch seam allowances and then belatedly remembered I needed extra width on the edge of the outer front piece (1) to overlap the outer back piece (2) and allow for button holes. I accounted for this when I traced the patterns onto the fabric with chalk.

I ended up with six pieces, three for each foot, mirror images of course. Then I sewed them together, sewing the two skinny pieces onto each side of the wider (inside) piece.

Lace trim came next.

Lastly I added buttons, twelve on each.

I spaced out the buttons equidistant (about an inch) and marked the spots with a chalk line. Then I ran it through the buttonholer over and over, twenty-four times. I got really good at making button holes, I can tell ya that.

Then I sewed on all the buttons, tried it on, and then removed half the buttons and sewed them on again to tighten the calf. At that point the spats were wearable but still needed two more tweaks before wearing them all day at a convention:
1) add a strap beneath the arch of the foot.
2) reinforce the shaft so they stay up when I walk (d'oh!)

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Serah Farron, Boots 0.3

I was going to go to the clearance store and try to get a flip flop shoe with the extra thick sole, but found this ugly rubber shoe instead.  It's PERFECT

I cut out fabric pieces from felt to cover the shoe to make it more of a boot style with it's straps.

I glued the laces into the inside of the flap.

Ok I lost the front strap in the process because got glue doesn't stick to rubber, so I had to with Industrial super glue.  But now I have the perfect Serah shoes