A quick easy way to turn those cute shoes into ones that will stay on comfortably.

Whose child has “high” feet?

Whose child also likes pretty shoes?

Whose child insists on wearing hand-me-down shoes that are too big AND falling apart??

Yep, I admit to all. After searching many shops for some Summer shoes, I came to the conclusion that I would have to modify some myself.  My child has feet that are much higher at the front than the average and so thongs will only fit around the foot if they are about 2 inches too big out the back. Very frustrating!

I finally found these shoes in an opp shop, brand new at $5. They have such small coverage at the front. I knew they would allow her foot to fit, but also knew that they would be hard to stay on (I could just hear the flipping and flopping..!).

So here is what I did to fix it:

• Put the shoe on her.
• Got a small length of soft lace elastic (any soft easy stretch elastic will work)
• Measured and cut the elastic to fit comfortably over the top of her foot, plus about 1cm each side.
• Set up the sewing machine, with a 100/16 needle (admittedly I used a 90/14 and it was fine). I used a universal needle as the shoes are made of a synthetic material, but if they are leather, then a leather needle may work better.
• Placed the elastic where I measured it, ensuring the extra 1cm was inside the shoe. Then I took my time to shimmy it under the machine foot and sew with a long straight stitch back and forth a couple of times. I repeated for the other side, and then the other shoe.

We tried on to check the size and fit, success!

Now if only I could get her to throw out the beloved hand-me-downs that have seen much much better days..