Free Baby Sandals Pattern

Learn how to make baby sandals from a sewing pattern. Use leather or faux leather for soft but protective baby shoes!

My son loves walking and running around, but he always scrapes his toes. There was one month where he scratched his toe so many times it almost never stopped bleeding. It was so hard to find sandals that actually covered the toes.

I decided to try to make some sandals that would protect his toes. I made some for his Spring/Summer collection, but that first attempt had some flaws. I tried again knowing what will work best for a busy toddler, so I’m sharing a free baby sandals pattern!

What leather or faux leather works best for leather baby shoes?

My favorite fabric to use for leather baby shoes is real leather that is about 3 to 4 oz. per square feet or a 1.2-1.6 mm thickness. This is a medium to lightweight leather that is still strong and sturdy, easy to sew with a sewing machine, but it’s still soft enough for baby feet to be comfortable.

I’ve also use faux leather fabric that I’ve found at fabric stores that was a similar weight and thickness as leather. It’s just as easy to sew, it’s easy to find, and it’s strong and sturdy. The only thing I don’t like about using faux leather is that it’s a little less breathable for baby feet.

Tips for working with and sewing leather:

Leather is easy to draw pattern pieces on, and it’s easy to cut with scissors. Leather cannot be pinned with pins so you must use clips to hold pieces together.

You need a thicker sewing machine needle like a 100/16 or a leather sewing machine needle. Sewing on leather creates holes that will never go away even if you seam rip to fix a mistake.

If the leather has a hard time moving through the sewing machine under the foot, then put a piece of scotch tape on each side of the foot (sticky side up onto the bottom of the foot) to create a more slippery surface for the leather to move under.

What is a PDF sewing pattern?

A PDF pattern is a sewing pattern designed on the computer and organized so that it can be printed on several letter or A4 size pieces of paper.

I love using PDF sewing patterns because if the pattern gets ruined or if my children or I changed sizes, I can always print it again. It’ll never be destroyed since I have a digital version!

How do you use a PDF sewing pattern?

Open the PDF on a computer and click print. When printing make sure that the scaling is set to 100% or no scaling so that the pattern prints at the correct size.

Once the pattern is printed it can be taped together to get the full size. Then the pattern can be cut for each pattern piece size or individual sizes can be traced so that the pattern can be used again and again. Learn how to use PDF sewing patterns.

Do you love to sew? Try one of these fun sewing projects:

• Baby sewing projects
• Free baby sewing patterns
• Baby gifts to sew
• Summer sewing projects
• Free baby shoe sewing patterns

Free Baby Sandals Pattern

Supplies

• Size 4 Sandal Pattern – get it at the end of the post
• Vinyl, faux leather, or leather
• Sewing tools
• Elastic* – here are some ideas for finding elastic to reuse

1. Cut out the patterns.

2. Pin and sew the cut-out piece to the solid piece on the outside edge.

3. Sew straight lines down the center of the cut-outs to stabilize them.

4. I decided to cut out a thick vinyl piece to go right on top of the bottom piece. Trim the edges to match.

5. Take the two top pieces and sew them together around the edges. Pin if you’d like.

6. Trim the edges to match. 
7. Line up the sewn bottom piece with the top piece and sew around the foot.

8. Fold the flaps in towards the foot and sew with a zigzag around the foot shape.

It should look like this.

9. Trim off the edges the extend over the foot shape.

10. Fold the front and back flap over 1/2″ and sew.

11. Cut two slits in the front to slide the side flaps through.

I pinned my flaps so I could try it on my son. I then hand-sewed the flaps together.

12. Measure so elastic that fits around your child’s ankle. Slide it through the front and the back and sew it together. Hide the joining in one of the flaps.

That’s it! Now you have some cute, “free” sandals for the summer!

Get the free sandals sewing pattern

If you make something using this tutorial, I’d love to see! Please share it on social media with the hashtag #heatherhandmade and tag me!