Ghillie Shoes for Your Renaissance Faire Costume

 by Grand Wanderer
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So I've spent several months sewing renaissance faire costumes for myself and my husband.  I was nearly done when I realized that my husband's highland costume was lacking in footwear.  Short on funds and time I settled on making a cheap pair of improvised ghillie shoes.

Note that these are not intended to be overly authentic (which I've heard should have no soles and be made of very expensive hide) or of retail quality.  However, they are meant to be cheap, fast, and easy to make for anyone with rudimentary sewing skills.  I think I spent about $20 and maybe 8 hours putting them together.
 
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Step 1: Gather Materials

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Materials you probably already have on hand:
-Sewing Machine (hopefully yours is newer than mine)
-Sewing Pins (with classic tomato pincushion)
-Sewing Scissors (still nice and sharp because my husband knows never to use them)
-Marker
-Seam Ripper (for pulling out crooked seems)
-Staple Gun (with standard size staples)
-Hammer (for driving in stubborn staples)
-Flat Head Screwdriver (for pulling out really stubborn staples)

Materials you will probably need to buy:
-Pair of sandals (bought at thrift store and properly sized to wearer)
-1/2 yard of your preferred shoe making material (3/4 of a yard if you plan to make mistakes)
-1/2 yard of cheap template material or scrap
-Thread (colored to match your shoe material)
-3 yards of leather lacing (for laces)
-Multi-surface glue (for creating a quick and easy hem)
-3/4 inch wide elastic band (to hold the wearer's foot in place if your victim is fussy)
bcolley78 says: Jun 7, 2012. 8:02 AM
How long did it take you to make these? I'm wanting to make them to wear with my kilt for the end of August
Grand Wanderer (author) in reply to bcolley78Jun 7, 2012. 9:27 AM
It's been a long time since I made them, so I can't remember precisely, but it wasn't a trivial amount of time. Maybe 10 hours or more.
Myrdydd says: Apr 5, 2012. 8:18 AM
Bravo! I love the out-of-the-box thinking. ;)
blue laroo says: Nov 18, 2010. 9:47 PM
i LOVE your furry assistant! but it seems to be defective... its laying on the floor! :D
chakra says: Sep 14, 2010. 7:49 AM
planning for a greek style buskin.. anyone?? :-)
cursed_kross says: Sep 13, 2010. 8:59 PM
Sadly I don't think I'll have time to make these for this years Renfest but I will for sure do this for next year. Great instructable.
Culturespy says: Sep 13, 2010. 9:36 AM
Well done! Those look great.
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