Shoes for 2.5-3 year old girl - UPDATED with photos

[amymckinney]

Ok, I'm trying to get some options for my 2.5 yr old shoes.  I've made her one pair, but they were the slipper-type, with the strap coming from the back around the ankle.  They look adorable on her, but she's outgrown them.  (http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2011/03/victoria-has-new-shoes-1860s-style.html)

Then I see a Godey 1863 "Braided Shoe For A Child" which looks similar (but still small) in size to what Victoria can wear now, but it just looks so much like the infant shoes that I made her previously (with the ankle strap)...only apparently made up in cloth and with a braid trim.  Is that too babyish for a child of her age?  Original photos show small girls wearing both that slipper style and the button-up gaiter style -- but honestly, I can't really tell how old some of the girls are in those photos.  I'm bad at age estimation.

So, I'm wondering...at 2.5 years old, could I put her in little sateen gaiters (with the toe and heel foxing)?  I know how to make those.  But I've never seen ones small enough to fit a 2-3 year old.  Only ones that would fit a girl of say, 5 years old.  Even the "Every Lady Her Own Shoemaker" has a pattern, but it would only fit as small as, say, a size 7 child's shoe today.  Victoria will be wearing size 5 (since they fit snug).  I could always size it down, I guess.

Thoughts?

Amy

[Stephanie Brennan]

Amy-   
   If a child is walking they should have a soft to hard sole. Your daughter is well within the okay to wear ankle straps.   Stephanie

[amymckinney]

Thanks Stephanie.  I do have her in an 8oz leather sole, so she's well-protected there.  I just wasn't sure what type to keep making her.  I'm dying to make her some gaiters, but if she's too young, she's too young. 

[Mother Dean]

BTW, the "lady's slipper pattern" that you used is really a child's slipper pattern. The editor made a correction in the next issue. I've read your blog before and have loved those little slippers since I first saw them. Great job!!

[amymckinney]

Thanks Jessica!  They sure were fun to make.  I kind of figured that they were a child's shoe, because I've never seen any grown-up slipper like that.    I'm glad she corrected it though!  I can't wait to make Victoria some more.  We have a semi-immersion event at the end of April and that little girl has grown SO much, I'm having to re-make everything from the skin out.  If only they'd stay small for longer. 

-Amy

[Mary Gutzke]

Amy,
 
I can't help with your question, but I just want to say that i fell in love with the baby shoes you made shown on your blog. I saw you mentioned you might be working on a tutorial for them. May I ask if you've been able to create it? I would love  to make similar shoes for my boys but I'm afraid I'm pretty hopeless without some sort of instructions for that type of project.

[amymckinney]

Hi Mary,

Yeah, I'm a bad blogger.    I meant to put a tutorial up but never got around to writing it.  Part of my problem is I got so caught up in making the shoes that I didn't get progress photos for all the steps.  Heh...  Since I'm going to make her a second set, maybe I can get all the step-by-step photos and have a decent tutorial to post.  Thanks for the reminder!

Amy

[Meg B]

Amy, those shoes are gorgeous! I love your blog, too -- I've found so many awesome blogs since I've joined the SA, they're so inspiring. 

Is the original pattern you used for Victoria's outgrown slippers available online somewhere? And where did you order your leather?

[Elaine Robeck]

Were you thinking something like this?  They look to be about 6".   My daughter is 4 and her foot is about 6".  She wears a modern size 9.

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/collections/online/image.cfm?ImageFile=/VoyagerImages/Z017/Z01715/Z0171568.jpg&TableKey=OBJECT:27749

How long can a child wear shoes with ankle strap?  I would like to make slippers for the family since we all hate stomping to the loo in our nightshirts and boots first thing in the morning.  My son has a severe limb difference in his feet, though.  He cannot wear a low shoe, so common slippers will not stay on.  Can he still wear something like Amy's daughter had?  Or is that too young?  He is 4.5, but only as tall as the average 2 year old.

[amymckinney]

Elaine -- Yes, those are the gaiters I was looking at.  I measured her foot from toe to heel, and it's about 5.75".  So maybe she could get away with gaiters that size.  The pattern in "Every Lady Her Own Shoemaker" was a little longer than that, but I think I could either size it down or maybe she could wear it for now, even if it's a little big, and also grow into it.  Hmmmm...

I really don't know how long children wear ankle straps...maybe someone else could chime in??

Meg -- it took me a bit, but I finally found where I'd pulled that pattern from!  Here it is:  http://www.victorianpassage.com/2010/06/victorian-shoe-pattern2.php  I'm pretty certain I had to size it up slightly to fit Victoria.  It says "Lady's shoe" but it was nearly the right size and the normal type of pattern for these ankle-strap shoes.

As for leather, I ordered my leather from ebay...I think it was a company called The Leather Guy, who now sells from his website:  http://www.theleatherguy.org.  I used brown kidskin for her slippers.  If I make the gaiters, I'll use kidskin for the foxing on that one too.

Amy

[amymckinney]

BTW, If you're going to look for leather for little ankle-strap slippers for a toddler, I found 2oz kid leather to be perfect for the upper.  You're going to want to line it in cotton anyway.  (I found duck to be too stiff for all those little angles, so I used a plain weave cotton.)  I used 8oz cow hide for the sole leather.  For bigger shoes, you'll want to line in cotton duck or twill for stability.

For slippers to wear to the bathroom in the mornings, you could easily make it with a wool upper (with braiding maybe?), twill lining, and just use the 8oz leather for the sole (or 10oz for grown-up slippers).

-Amy

[amymckinney]

Ooh, look what I found...it's an ankle-strap shoe, and says it's 6.5" length.  Since they were snug, my guess would be that it would have probably been worn by a 4-5 year old.  http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/80095908?rpp=20&pg=1&ft=child%27s+shoe&pos=12

Elaine - perhaps this means your son could wear an ankle strap shoe without it being out of the ordinary.  Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Amy

[Stephanie Brennan]

  Ankle straps for girls can be worn until  approx 9 years of age.  As girls become older, school age, ankle straps seem to go along with a nicer or more fancy dress. Boots would be the norm for everyday dress. What I've seen with boys is that ankle straps seem to be part of the dress phase.   The good news is children wore slippers at all ages for home use.  Each of our kids  have slippers with cork bottoms. They can use  them to run to the privy or  when their feet are tired, they can slip on in the evening.     Stephanie

[Elaine Robeck]

Thanks for the input and sorry for the mini-hijack.

[Elaine Robeck]

Amy,

I saw Victoria's shoes on you blog.  They are amazing!  Seriously, everyone you have to see them!  I am quite jealous that I don't have the time and/ or skill to do such beautiful work. 

http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/03/one-shoe-down-one-to-go.html

[always in fashion]

  Those shoes aare sooo amazing!!! do you have any instructions or step by step photos of the process you used to make them? Again, great looking little shoes!!!

Lisa

[Malinda Byrne]

Amy,
The shoe for Victoria is just lovely!  Great job!

Someday I will attempt shoes again....
Malinda

[amymckinney]

Thanks everyone!  I just noticed there were some new comments on this topic; I'm so sorry for having not responded...er...a MONTH ago, when you commented.  For some reason, I don't get notified when new comments get posted here.  I used to, but don't anymore.    (And I know they're not going into junk either!)

I started to try some all leather, lace-up shoes for Victoria, but that pattern would need A LOT of work to tweak.  So I ended up going with the gaiters, approximately a child's size 6-7.  I'm so excited to have gotten these finished and I'm pleased with the outcome.

Lisa - I do plan on preparing some tutorials.  For the first one, I'll probably do the slipper with the ankle strap since it's easiest to create the pattern for and add sizes to, as well as easiest to sew.  It'll be great for beginners and works for both little boys and girls.

[Stephanie Brennan]

Very nice..... Stephanie

[Mary Gutzke]

Amy, you really should go into business. These are awesome. I bought some cheap-o Mary Janes for my boys as a decent compromise, but man...I wish I could make shoes like these. Bring on those tutorials! 

BTW I like your fabric--I recently bought the same linen for pinafores for my boys.