Christmas 2020: TOM's Lookalikes for a Toddler

Cassie -

As I looked for Christmas gift ideas, I knew I would want to make Saira some slippers, because I made slippers for Rami when I first started sewing. He wore his slippers all the time, and I know Saira would love to have some too. She is really into cats and kittens right now, ever since we welcomed Gus Gus to our house. I picked out some groovy flannel cat fabric and some flannel waves to match, at Joann's. I wasn't able to find the same fabrics online, so here are some similar matches from fabric.com. (Cats on outside, houndstooth on inside).

Comfy (R) Flannel Print Cat Faces - Fabric.com
This double napped (brushed on both sides) flannel is perfect for quilting and apparel. Colors include brown, grey, yellow, black and white.
fabric.com
Cozy Cotton Flannel Houndstooth Grey - Fabric.com
Designed by Studio RK for Robert Kaufman, this double-napped (brushed on both sides) flannel is perfect for quilting, apparel and home decor accents. Colors include white and shades of grey.
fabric.com

And for non-slip bottoms:

Jiffy Grip White - Fabric.com
This specialty fabric includes small silicon-like dots for gripping power in a multitude of projects. This fabric can be used as a non-slip rug pad, or to make non-slip bottoms to footed pajamas, slippers/house shoes, and more.
fabric.com

I had previously used a very simple, elastic-based slipper pattern, and I really thought it left something to be desired. Rami loved it, but it just didn't have that clean, finished look I've been expecting as I've gotten more and more into sewing. So, I went looking for a different pattern, and I found an amazingly cute and simple one modeled off of TOMS brand shoes from Homemade Toast.

Source: HomemadeToast

I had worn TOMS shoes for many years, and have really enjoyed them, although I don't think they last long enough and they may be impacting local economies in a bad way. I haven't purchased any in probably 5 years, so my kids might not really recognize the pattern, but I figured they were still cute enough to try the pattern.

I cut my pieces out and started to sew. Unfortunately for this blog post and for the finished product, I was sewing these while also watching Knives Out and drinking gin. So I was distracted. But I think it mostly turned out okay!

The directions were mostly easy, and the use of the elastic on the inside top is genius. I have developed such a preference for my serger that it is hard to go back to the sewing machine, even when I know it's necessary. I only used my serger on this project when finishing edges!

Everything came together perfectly until the very end! I accidentally skipped a pinning step on one of the shoes, and the size is just different enough to notice! So one slipper is sort of noticeably bigger than the other, if you're looking at it. Kamran said he wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't said anything, but he might just be being nice to me.

Oh yeah, I guess we have a YouTube channel now... LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE 😆 -Kamran

I enjoyed this project, and I am already hoping to go pick out some cute fabric for Rami to make him his own TOMS. Slippers are such a fun and easy Christmas gift for kids, and both my kids seem to love wearing them!