How to make felt boots with your own hands?

Valenoks - shoes made of natural wool. Such shoes are considered the most practical, comfortable and absolutely indispensable in conditions of extreme cold . In ancient Russia, felt boots were a luxury, only wealthy people with high status could buy them, and poor peasants occasionally had only one pair for the whole family.

Today, despite the advanced technologies, they have not yet created a single more comfortable and warm footwear than Russian felt boots. And if you have a desire to make them yourself, I suggest you read this article to the end. In this article, we will talk about how to dump (rather than sew) this wonderful shoe with our own hands.

Necessary materials and tools

Instead of special. tools you can use a rolling pin.

To make felt boots on their own, no special equipment is required.

The main thing is to have patience and time.

In addition to this we will need:

• sheep wool (about 1 kg), not felt;
• polyethylene bubble cellophane;
• mosquito net;
• stencil for boots;
• rolling pin made of wood;
• hot soapy solution.

How to dump felt boots at home?

Pattern

First, take a sheet of A4 paper, and draw a stencil on it for future felt boots. It is necessary to draw the size and height of the lower leg taking into account 40% shrinkage of the coat.

The template can be prepared from ordinary compacted polyethylene. If boots are made for a child, you can take a template with a combined bell so that both felt boots simultaneously. Later they will need to be cut in half along the lower leg.

Billet

One of the difficult and crucial tasks is the layout of the wool on top of the pattern. To begin with, we lay a bubble film on the table, and put the resulting template on it.

Attention! Before starting the layout of the wool, it is recommended to comb it well for future use.

The wool fiber must be stretched out by hand so that long strands are obtained. After that, these strands must be carefully laid out on top of the template first across, and then along the stencil.

Wool should be laid out carefully, evenly and equally. In place of the toe and heels, you can put a little more wool, as these places are the most vulnerable to frost. Spread 3-4 layers. Each layer must be moistened with an aqueous solution.

After the procedure, the workpiece must be turned over, after which the protruding edges should be wrapped on the main side and the process of laying the wool with perpendicular layers is repeated.

Felting and Skating

We take a solution with soap and wash the resulting workpiece, then we turn it into a mesh, and we begin to crumple and rub the surface with our hands. Then we take the iron and iron all the wrinkles, lumps and irregularities formed as a result of the workpiece. Now you can sculpt the shape of a felt boot, which will look like a huge sock.

Important! Be sure to ensure that the layers of the hair do not move and holes do not form. This can lead to deformation of future shoes.

From time to time it is necessary to water the workpiece with hot soapy water so that the shrinkage is uniform. After that, the template needs to be pulled out and ironed inside.

It is necessary to knead the prepared shoes for a rather long time until the boots take on the necessary sizes and shapes, and the wool is not pulled out of the felt. We do the same with the second. We check whether both boots are the same, from time to time applying them to each other.

Insert the pads into the blanks

The last stage - decor

Dressing is the most creative part. There are many options for decorating newly made felt boots.

For example, you can take a ball of thread and decorate them with beautiful embroidery. You can decorate such shoes with colorful ribbons from which you can make bows.

Harmoniously and stylishly look boots, which are decorated with fur. In order to decorate them in this way, both real fur and its substitutes are used. Fur cuffs look perfect with voluminous laces and large buttons for decor, which are covered with leather.

Painted boots are the most popular. To make a high-quality and beautiful painting, you need to have talent, as well as acquire thick acrylic paints.

Reference! Among adults, floral ornaments are popular. Valenoks for children can be decorated with paintings in the form of anything: cars, fairies, favorite cartoon characters and so on.

To independently decorate these shoes, often use beads and beads. Sewing on beads is recommended with a thick synthetic thread or fishing line, since when used it is likely that the beads or beads will cling to other objects.

In general, making felt boots is not an easy task. But if you have a strong desire and desire, you can open your own business on this craft, which will not only bring a stable and good income, but will also be an activity for the soul.