Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Weaving Slippers from Foliage
- 14 January 2015
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For weaving instructions see the Tutorial at the bottom of this page
Place the blades of grass or palm leaves on a flat working surface and start the basic weaving pattern
Weave in another blade of grass or palm. You need 3 vertical and 3 horizontal leaves to start the slipper shape.
Turn the leaves diagonally and fold the outer left leaf over and under the right leaves.
Fold the leaf down over and under the horizontal leaves
Fold the leaf again and weave over and under the next set of leaves.
You now have two leaves at each side on the top and three leaves on each side at the bottom
Fold the inside leaf on the left under the leaf
Fold it over and weave it through the three leaves in the bottom
Fold the top leaf on the right under...
... and over and weave it through the bottom three
Fold the last top leaf on the left under...
... and over and weave it through
Fold the last top right leaf over and then under and weave it through
Wiggle the leaves to gradually pull it tighter...
... to create a neat edge at the heel of the slipper
Fold the leaf on the right over...
... and weave it through
Fold the leaf on the left over
... and weave that through
This is the basic weaving pattern for the sole of the slipper. Continue to fold the top most leaf over and weaving it to the other side
When the sole of the slipper is long enough to fit from heel to toe start on the other slipper
When both soles are ready you can start on the toe of the slipper
Cross the inner most leaves
Fold it over to the front
And weave the leaves through
Do the same with the next set of leaves
Wiggle the leaves tighter, as you did at the heal, to create an edge
Cross the next two leaves over
Gather the leaf next to it and weave that through. And do the same on the other side
Fold each leaf up, in turn, and weave through
Following the basic weaving pattern
Wiggle the leaves to create a tight weave
Fold the innermost leaf over to the right
And weave it through to the sole
Do the same with the left leaf
Fold the next set of leaves over and back to the sole.
This shapes the toe of the woven slipper
You now have two strands pointing to the heel of the slipper and three pointing to the sole
Finish the side of the slipper by weaving the strands pointing to the sole back into the sole following the original weaving pattern
Cut the leaf to a sharp angle to make it easier to insert back into the weave of the sole
Simply fold over the leaf and weave it
Do the same on the other side and with the other slipper
To make it easier to feed the leaves back into the weave use a cuticle pusher as a guide
Continue weaving until you have a single leaf on each side pointing to the heel
Cut away any left over leaves after you have woven it in.
A neat sole for the woven slipper
Finish off the other slipper until you only have four strands of dangling leaves left
Fold the leaf over to the sole
Slipping it into the weave
And stitch it up all the way around
Knot the two leaves to finish it securely
Palm leaf slippers ready to design with
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