Paper Shoe Template

I finally finished the shoe template and tutorial, and I'm thrilled to share them with all of you! In case you missed the previous post, I made these little shoes:

I knew I wanted to make a high heeled slip-on mule style of shoe, so I played around with scraps of paper until I got each piece just right.  It took quite a bit of trial and error, but then it finally came together.  If you'd like to try and make a pair yourself, here's the template and instructions:

Download here:

 Shoe Template

Here is a step-by-step tutorial with pictures:

1. Cut out the template pieces: Trace the template pieces onto your paper and cut them out. You can also print the template directly onto the backside of the paper you want to use, since you’ll be able to make sure that the side with words and cut/fold lines doesn’t show on the finished shoe.

 

2. Upper: Make little cuts where indicated on the shoe upper. The cuts allow you to bend and mold the edges to fit around the edge of the sole.

3. Adhere the shoe upper to the sole: Fold over the little cut edges of the shoe upper and adhere them along the edges of sole - top layer (the larger one). A strong, quick-dry glue like Beacon’s Fabri-tac or Zip Dry glue works well. This step is a little bit tricky because the edges of the upper don’t fit perfectly onto the sole, so you have to play with the paper a bit until you get all the edges glued down evenly along the edge of the sole.

Tip: Rather than place the pieces on a flat surface while you glue these pieces together, it’s better to hold them in your hand while you glue so that you don’t crush the shoe. The underside of the shoe will look like this:

4. Bottom sole: Glue the sole - bottom layer (the smaller one) underneath the shoe to cover up the cut edges and to give the shoe more stability.

When you turn it over it will look like this (a flat mule):

5. The heel: Make the folds where indicated on the heel and fold them inward. First glue the side flaps together, then glue the top flap over onto the heel. Glue the heel onto the bottom of the shoe.

 

 

6. Finishing the shoe: Make the folds in the shoe where indicated by the dashed lines on the template. Your shoe is done and ready to embellish!  I used Prima papers, flowers, felt and crystals on these:

If you make a pair of these shoes, I'd love to see them!  Please come back and post a link or email me.  Have fun!!