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Tips and Tricks for Creating Custom Crochet Slippers!

Slippers, slippers, slippers!!  I LOVE wearing this pair I made last year while I’m sitting at my desk working because they keep my ice-block feet a little warmer!  :)

Which is fine and dandy for me… but now… let’s get you to creating that perfect pair for YOUR feet!!

To start with, I created a very basic slipper pattern and posted it here on the blog on Monday.  (The link is there twice in that last sentence, and in case you missed it, here it is again:  BASIC crochet slipper pattern.)  Go there, read through, and try it.  If it works for you, AWESOME.  If it doesn’t work out exactly for you like it did for me, then DON”T FRET!  Your feet may be a different size, you may crochet looser than I do, you may be using a slightly different yarn… none of which is worse, but different enough you may need to customize that BASIC pattern to fit your needs!  I hope I list enough tips and tricks below to set you on the right path, but in case I missed something feel free to ask questions in the comments and we will get back to you and update this post if need be!

With all the below tips and tricks, please keep in mind these are to customize them for YOUR feet… AKA… I can’t stress enough how important it is to try your slippers on many times along the way!!

Without further ado… Tips and Tricks for creating CUSTOM crochet slippers for your feet (based on this pattern):

1. Slippers too tight or too loose, but your feet are about the same size as mine (US size 7)?  Do a swatch test!  A 4inch by 4inch square of my crocheting for these slippers with a size G (4mm) Crochet hook was about 9rows of 15stitches.

-If you have less stitches or rows in that 4inches then you are crocheting looser/bigger than I am.  To make up for this you can either just work to tighten up your crocheting, or you can compensate for your looser stitching in a couple of ways: decrease a crochet hook size or decrease the number of stitches in the pattern (more info on how to do this below).

-If you have more stitches or rows in that 4inches then you are crocheting tighter/smaller than I am.  To make up for this you can either just work to loosen up your crocheting, or you can compensate for your tighter stitching in a couple of ways: increase a crochet hook size or increase the number of stitches in the pattern (more info on how to do this below).

2. If your swatch is the same as mine, but your slippers are too tight or loose the next step is start adding or subtracting stitches.

-To add stitches to the toe area when you are working in the round: In round 4&5 instead of 1dc, 1dc, 2dc, repeat…  you can repeat what you did in rounds 2&3: 1dc, 2dc, repeat.  You can do this for just round 4 or both 4&5 depending on how much looser your slipper needs to be around.  OR, for rounds 6-8, you could repeat what you did in 4&5.

-To add stitches to the row part of the slipper: Just add more stitches!  Instead of ch3, turn, dc into 19… dc into 20 or 21 or 22 or wider if you need it to be.

-Need less stitches around in the toe area?  Skip some of the increase rows!  I don’t mean skip the row completely, but instead of adding in the extra stitch (the 2dc into one stitch), just keep the same number of stitches as the previous row.  For example if you needed your slippers to be much narrower through the toe you could do Round 2 as instructed (alt 1dc, 2dc into each stitch) and then for Round 3 just do 1dc into each stitch, Round 4 as instructed (alt 1dc, 1dc, 2dc into each stitch) and then for Round 5 just do 1dc into each stitch.  OR, if you want a gentler increase for Rounds 2-5 use the directions for round 4&5 for all 4 of those rounds (alt 1dc, 1dc, 2dc into each stitch).

-To subtract stitches to the row part of the slipper: Just don’t do as many stitches to begin with!  Instead of ch3, turn, dc into 19… dc into only 18 or 17 or 16 or as narrow as you need it to be.

3. Don’t want the slipper to come so far up over your toes?  Don’t crochet as many rounds!  Stop after Round 6 or 7!

4. Want the slipper to come farther up over your toes?  Crochet more rounds!  Keep repeating directions for rounds 6-8 (1dc into each stitch all the way around) until you have as many rounds as you want!

5. So you’ve got the toe part figured out, but you need your slipper to be longer overall?  Add rows!!  For my US size 7 feet I used 19 rows total (includes toe rounds), but if you have size 10 feet you might need to do 4+ more rows, making your total row count 23 or higher!  Opposite problem, your feet are smaller than mine?  Stop crocheting after row 16 or 17 or whenever it gets to be long enough for your foot!

6. Reminder: TRY THEM ON, TRY THEM ON, TRY THEM ON.  And don’t be afraid to back up a row or two, do something different and then try them on again!  Also, remember there is a dc edging on these slippers!  That adds a whole row all around the opening, keep that in mind when decided on how many rows/rounds works for you!  (forget anyway?  that’s ok… I’ve got some tips for you further down!)

7. In the original comments some people said at the very beginning of the pattern when you crochet in the ring and then start crocheting in the round, their original ch3 (the very first thing you do) was sticking out a bit at the toe.  I did not have this problem (could be due to my TIGHT stitching), but Mom said an easy remedy to this problem might be to just ch2 instead of 3 at the beginning.

8. Want the slipper to come up farther on the back of the heel?  Crocheting an extra row or two will NOT work, it will just make your slippers too long.  Instead, you need to increase the stitch count in your last few rows.  For example: Row 17 add in 2dc into one stitch in the middle of the row, then in Row 18 add in 2dc into one stitch toward the beginning of the row and another toward the end of the row, then in Row 19 you can do 1dc all the way across like you would originally or add in that extra 2dc into one stitch in the middle of the row again.  By doing that you will have added 3-4 extra stitches to your row length which can make a big difference when you fold the end to sew it up for your heel!

9. The other thing you could do to make the slipper come farther up the back of your heel would be during the finishing.  After you edge the slipper in dc you could add an extra row of dc or even sc to just the back part of the slipper.

10. Yarn stretches.  And it stretches more than you think sometimes.  My tip, is to go one or two rows shorter than you think in the overall length!

11.  Did you get to the edging part of your slipper and realize it was just about perfect and you don’t want to add a whole layer of dc all the way around?  Don’t worry!  Don’t tear the whole slipper apart to fix this.  You can either: Not edge the slipper, or just do sc around the edge, or just do slip stitching around the edge.

12.  Get to the edging and want to make them a little tighter?  When edging just skip the occasional stitch here and there (spaced out so it’s not obvious) so in the end there are less stitches around the opening than you had originally.

13. New to crochet and getting confused by the “dc” “sc” “sl st” talk?  I tried not to use too many abbreviations, but here is a guide to common crochet abbreviations.

14. New to crochet and confused by the magic ring or any of the stitches?  Go to Youtube and look them up!  I love watching youtube videos on crochet, as visual learning generally works best for me!

15. Want to be adventurous and make your slippers pretty?  Sew on a button or crochet flower to the toe area!

Whew!!  I know that was A LOT of typing, but I hope I gave you some basic tips and tricks for customizing the basic pattern for you!  If I missed something… PLEASE let me know in the comments and we will get back to you and update this post as soon as possible!

Thanks and Happy Customizing!

Sam

  • Kathleen McGoldrick - Well Sam, I’ve knit enough socks for a lot of friends and I am bored to death. I happened on your pattern for slippers on Pinterest. I just finished my first pair for me and I am so excited. They fit perfect and I now have a new project for the coming of Christmas. Thank you. God Bless you. KT10.24.2013 – 4:38pmReplyCancel

    • admin - So glad you are enjoying the pattern Kathleen! Happy Crocheting!! :) -Sam10.28.2013 – 5:37pmReplyCancel

  • Jonie Brooks - I just started on my first pair of slippers. I can’t wait to finish them up. :)10.30.2013 – 6:58pmReplyCancel

    • admin - Send us a picture when you finish them!10.31.2013 – 11:43amReplyCancel

  • Danielle - Okay, so I am brand new to crocheting. My first project was dishcloths (talk about cut-and-dry) and this is my second project. Soooooo cute! I’m working on my first one and I can tell I’m gonna love them! My question is this: when I do the edging on the sides, will I do one dc in each dc/ch 3 on the end of each row? Or more per row?03.16.2014 – 8:19amReplyCancel

    • admin - Hi Danielle! So happy to hear this pattern is working for your second crochet project!! When you dc around the opening of the slippers, you will probably be doing more than just one stitch along the ends of each of the rows. The biggest thing here is to try to make the stitches an even amount apart. It can be kind of hard to decide where to place your stitches when they aren’t in the “normal” stitch openings, but that can also work to your advantage. As long as you are taking your stitches evenly around the edges, you can either take lots of stitches so the opening will be loose and a little bigger, or you can take fewer stitches and it will pull the opening a little tighter. I usually prefer taking fewer stitches because yarn always stretches more than I think it will. For reference, I believe I took about two stitches in the end of each row, but occasionally I needed an extra kind of between rows to even out where my stitches were being placed. I hope that makes sense! I’m not one for the “technical” lingo, lol. Feel free to send us more questions if you have them! Thanks for reading! -Sam03.17.2014 – 10:36amReplyCancel

  • melissa meagor - How much yarn do these use? I’m ordering yarn online, and want to make sure I order enough.03.27.2015 – 3:26pmReplyCancel

    • admin - Melissa, sorry for the delay in answering :) Sam is getting ready for her new baby’s arrival and I just threw her a big ol’ baby shower and a whole bunch of other things, too. As for yarn, one regular to large skein should be fine. Sam got a pair out of the yarn mentioned in the “Basic Pattern” post which is linked at the beginning of this article. It is not one of those jumbo skeins, either!04.02.2015 – 5:28pmReplyCancel

  • Mona Gianchandani - Hi,

    Can you give step by step instructions on how to make booties for a 3 & 4 year old kid. Most of the you tube videos teach booties for small babies but not for children.

    Thanks Mona06.23.2015 – 9:22amReplyCancel

    • admin - Mona, I’m sorry we can’t help you with your need for little kid booties right now. We kind of create on the spur of the moment by what we are inspired by or things we need. Neither of us are expert crochet pattern inventors, but I would like to refer you to a site called Ravelry — at ravelry.com you will surely be able to find something. So many great patterns there and a really good search engine :)

      Happy Crocheting! –Gail and Sam06.24.2015 – 9:28pmReplyCancel

  • M - I also got the pointy-toe problem, but I think I you flip it inside out and sew along the toe you could easily round it out a bit.01.04.2017 – 7:50amReplyCancel

    • admin - Make that first round of stitches snug, and make the slipper short enough that you need to stretch it to get it on. This will take away pointy toes! –Gail01.04.2017 – 12:18pmReplyCancel

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