Santa boots 2012 (Mikulás csizmák 2012)

A magyar változat itt olvasható
- read the Hungarian version here!

In the late few years, October is that month for me when I start sewing many Santa boots. I made a great amount of boots for the children hospitals in Budapest (Hungary, CE). This year they will get "only" 101 pcs.
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Few years ago, our family subsidises a very special foundation, called Ágoston Sándor Alapítvány. Ágoston Sándor Foundation. I personally know the chairman, I respect him and his work so much! God bless his work!
In the last presentation when they spoke about their annual work done, they also talked about the supported orphanages in the Hungarian dispersion. So there and then I decided to sew boots to them as well, since they mentioned to go there at "Santa" time.*
*Santa comes to Hungarian children at every early morning of 6th December. He takes some small presents into their boots, like some chocolate, sweets, nuts and apple or a mandarin/orange (one boot should be taken to the window and expected to be nice clean).
This was my support for the foundation for December. I do hope that those children will be so happy too!
I left my present for the chairman at the beginning of the last week, with a fairy business card and with God's words...
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Since this September I have a small craft club, that is why I also have a few cute boots for my fairies (and that's all, I was just unable to sew even one more)...

You can find some photos about the sewing process of the boots that were made last year: HERE.


DETAILS:

I) Materials needed:

• Red colour, starched heavy canvas
• For the upper edge:
• off-white polar fleece
• remained chequered thin fabric (I ironed vetex* on the back side to be a bit more starched)
  *vetex: thin material that has special glue at least on one side so if you iron it onto a textile, by the heat, vetex sticks on the textile
• remained materials with small motifs
• remained materials with tiny dots
• remained sheer
• remained plaid flannel
• remained felt material
• Additional elements:
• snowflake-like buttons
• buttons for shirts/blouses (flat, round + in pair!)
• white pompoms
• flitters, pearls
  
• Other things:
• threads with different colours
• marker
• needles, scissors, pins

II) Arrangements:

• I searched for appropriate materials. Then knowing the materials’ widths, I counted what amount should I buy. After that I bought the textiles.
• I tried to obtain buttons, since last year I run out of my stock. However I was lucky to re-use some buttons from waste clothes, but not too much. That is why, I changed the template from the last year: I completed it with heel cap and toe cap.
• I ironed the red base canvas and dray the lines of the elements with a marker.For one boot we will need one right-foot boot piece and one left-foot boot piece (so I had to draw about 200+200 pcs).
• Then I cut out the boot forms. I collected them separately.
• I picked over my stock of remained materials that could be used for the boots. I ironed them and starched those with vetex. After that I draw the upper edge pieces and the heel caps and the toe caps, of course in equal number. A made the upper edge the same like last year (straight line at the top and slightly waving line at the bottom).
• This year I made only right-foot-boots, therefore the upper edge pieces, as well as the heel and the toe caps were pined onto the right-foot boot piece only.

III) Sewing section:
3/1) Left-foot boot piece:

• Seaming of the upper edge with zigzag stitch (2x)

3/2) Right-foot boot piece:

• Composing the upper edge on the face side
• sewing the top side of the edge piece first onto the boot with zigzag stitch (2x)
• sewing the bottom side of the upper edge, with zigzag stitch (1x or 2x)
• ironing and cutting down the strands that hang out
• Composing the heel and toe part
• sewing only the inner line of both the heel and the toe piece onto the boot with zigzag stitch (1x or 2x)
• cutting down the strands that hang out
• Fixing the accessories (optional)
• snowflake button
• pompom

3/3) Assembly:

• Putting the left boot piece with its face down, then putting the right boot piece with its face up
• Fixing the two pieces with pins
• If it’s necessary, cut them to appropriate shape
• Seaming the side of the boot with zigzag stitch (at least 2x!)
• Making a running stitch line next to the zigzag stitch line
• Cutting down the strands that hang out
• Finally we carefully iron the boot
• If we use polar fleece, then it should be re-newed (to be nice fluffy again)

3/4) Further decoration:

• At selected boots, I put buttons onto the upper edge

Ideas of the previous years: HERE.


A FEW PHOTOS:

	template (size of the : 0.5cm*0.5cm)
	sewing order
	sewed with different threads
	variations with the same textile
	with buttons
	with flitters and pearls
	with pearls
	with snowflake buttons