My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Weaving Slippers from Foliage

For weaving instructions see the Tutorial at the bottom of this page

Start the basic weaving pattern

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

Weave in another blade of grass or palm. You need 3 vertical and 3 horizontal leaves to start the slipper shape.

Fold the outer left leaf over and under the right leaves

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 down over and under the horizontal leaves

Fold the leaf again and weave over and under the next set of 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 the inside leaf on the left under the leaf

Fold it over and weave it through the three leaves in the bottom

Fold it over and weave it through the three leaves in the bottom

Fold the top leaf on the right under

Fold the top leaf on the right under...

And over and weave it through the bottom three

... and over and weave it through the bottom three

Fold the last top leaf on the left under

Fold the last top leaf on the left under...

And over and weave it through

... and over and weave it through

Fold the last top right leaf over and then under 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

Wiggle the leaves to gradually pull it tighter...

To create a neat edge at the heel of the slipper

... to create a neat edge at the heel of the slipper

Fold the leaf on the right over

Fold the leaf on the right over...

And weave it through

... and weave it through

Fold the leaf on the left over

Fold the leaf on the left over

And weave that through

... and weave that through

This is the basic weaving pattern for the sole of the slipper

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 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

When both soles are ready you can start on the toe of the slipper

Cross the inner most leaves

Cross the inner most leaves

Fold it over to the front

Fold it over to the front

And weave the leaves through

And weave the leaves through

Do the same with the next set of leaves

Do the same with the next set of leaves

Wiggle the leaves as you did at the heal to create an edge

Wiggle the leaves tighter, as you did at the heal, to create an edge

Cross the next two leaves over

Cross the next two leaves over

Gather the leaf next to it and weave that through

Gather the leaf next to it and weave that through. And do the same on the other side

Fold each leaf up and weave through

Fold each leaf up, in turn, and weave through

Following the basic weaving pattern

Following the basic weaving pattern

Wiggle the leaves to create a tight weave

Wiggle the leaves to create a tight weave

Fold the innermost leaf over to the right

Fold the innermost leaf over to the right

And weave it through to the sole

And weave it through to the sole

Do the same with the left leaf

Do the same with the left leaf

Fold the next set of leaves over and back to the sole.

Fold the next set of leaves over and back to the sole.

This shapes the toe of the woven slipper

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

You now have two strands pointing to the heel of the slipper and three pointing to the sole

Finish the side of the slipper

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

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

Simply fold over the leaf and weave it

Do the same on the other side and with the other slipper

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

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

Continue weaving until you have a single leaf on each side pointing to the heel

Cut away any left over leaves

Cut away any left over leaves after you have woven it in.

A neat sole for the woven slipper

A neat sole for the woven slipper

Finish off the other slipper until you only have four strands of dangling leaves left

Finish off the other slipper until you only have four strands of dangling leaves left

Fold the leaf over to the sole

Fold the leaf over to the sole

Slipping it into the weave

Slipping it into the weave

And stitch it up all the way around

And stitch it up all the way around

Knot the two leaves to finish it securely

Knot the two leaves to finish it securely

Palm leaf slippers ready to design with

Palm leaf slippers ready to design with

Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Tutorials

8 June 2011 Foliage Weaving

For this tutorial I focus on a simple weave pattern that does not require you to soften or prepare the leaves to be more durable or flexible. This is the starting point in...

1 May 2013 Weaving a Straight Edged Strip

A beautiful woven strip that is quite easy to make

18 September 2013 Autumn leaf ballet slippers from scratch

Pick up a few fall leaves to glue on paper to make fairy slippers

1 October 2012 Weaving a ball shaped Dew-drop Catcher from grass

Weave a sphere from grass

1 February 2012 Weaving a diagonal green grass basket

Once you figure out how to do the corners weaving a diagonal shape is actually not that hard to do.

5 June 2013 Weaving a cube foliage ring box

Weave a cube with a ribbon

24 September 2014 Folding a Frog

Fold and weave a frog from grass

6 February 2013 Fold a Foliage Fish

Fold and weave a fish from two blades of grass

Related Designs

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19 July 2017 Meraki

A grass armature for one perfect slipper orchid

9 August 2017 Hat tip

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15 August 2018 Bursting with excitement

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29 August 2018 It’s not that it is inexpensive… it’s priceless!

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29 May 2019 Creative Competition

This week I am so excited to share my article and design that was published in the recent issue of the Floral Art Society of New Zealand's Academy Magazine for NZ qualified...

19 June 2019 Club together

Last Wednesday I had such a flowery fun evening teaching a collaborative floral carpet workshop focusing on braiding and weaving ideas from my book the effortless floral craftsman...

19 June 2019 Magic Flying Floral Carpet Ride -Collaborative Workshop

Some picture highlights from our collaborative workshop that I taught focusing on braiding and weaving techniques to create a floral carpet design.

26 June 2019 “Ok wow”

A design so fine you can easily miss it... if it were not for the interwoven pebbles catching your eye.

29 January 2020 Peekaboo

A light and airy (no floral foam but still long lasting) floral design for those days that you are really, really looking for signs of Spring.

18 March 2020 Aerial Odyssey

A closer look at my design at Canada Blooms and The Toronto Flower Show last week. The show was cancelled right after we staged the designs due to COVID-19 concerns.

22 April 2020 Yes… but what would she put in it?

Some floral fashion inspiration: weave a pretty clutch purse

22 July 2020 Step It Up

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9 September 2020 Daffodillily

Weave around the stamens of a lily to create a daffodil like inside.

19 October 2022 Point Witch (or Wizard) Way

A wire framed witch or wizard hat that can be reshaped.

7 April 2011 Weaving with Flax

Here are a few more examples of woven flax. I also use Typha, palm, iris leaves, Kyogi paper, boat orchid leaves and aspidistra to weave with.