Trial and Error: How to make shoe bags

Alright, so it's finally time to get caught up on blogging. Here we go!

The Friday before I left for LA I got it in my head that I couldn't possibly travel across the country without shoe bags. That's right. I have no idea how I even got this idea, but it was absolutely necessary for me to have cute bags to put my shoes in. I have to say they were fun to make (even though I didn't have the time to spare), and I LOVE them now!! They're so cute and keep my clothes clean! Here's a little tutorial on how to make them

Shoe bag 101

First of all, I have to admit that I got the tutorial from here. Go figure...Martha has a solution to every problem. I do have to say that her tutorial was a little hard to me to follow as there were no pictures. (I'm a very visual person.) So, here is the step by step with pictures.

1. Though Martha used a snazzy velvet, I opted for a more wallet friendly discount fabric at the local Hancock Fabrics. I realize velvet probably protects your shoes better or some mumbo jumbo like that, but it was expensive, and I'm pretty sure if you get the real deal you also have to get a new foot for the sewing machine. No thank you. So, I purchased 1.5 yards of three different types of fabric, ribbon, and buttons. I bought too much fabric, and I returned the buttons. I thought I would use them to keep the ribbon from slipping back through the holes, but it wasn't necessary.

2. I cut each piece of fabric into 13x36 inch sections. Then fold the fabric in half, and sew up both sides leaving a one inch gap 5 inches from the top on each side. In order to mark this, I measured down 5 inches from the top and marked it with a pin. I then marked one inch down from that with another pin, and did this on both sides.

3. After sewing up both sides. you fold the top of the bag down to create a 3 1/2 inch hem. You can pin it in place to hold everything as you sew.

4. You are now going to sew a casing. This will create a place for the ribbon to go. In order to do this, you will sew around the bag twice where you marked the 1 inch opening. Be sure to not sew the bag shut, and instead sew all the way around (as shown in the pic below). Not that I almost sewed it shut the first time or anything... The second picture below is what it will look like when this step is finished.

5. The next step is optional. You can sew a line straight up the bag from the bottom of it to the first casing stiching. This will create two separate compartments for your shoes. I did this for all of mine except for one b/c my tennis shoes wouldn't fit into the two parts. I think they'll be okay touching each other. ;)

6. The final step is to put the ribbon through the casing. I found the best way to do this is to put a safety pin on both ends, and use a magnet (second picture below) to pull it through. That was my idea, not Martha's. ;)