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Give your home a delightfully festive look with in-the-hoop boots! These boots are available in witch, leprechaun, Santa Claus, and elf styles, and are a cute way to update your holiday decor. Bold and vibrant embroidery adds interest and detail to the boots; colorful fabric and embellishments add personality and flair.
This tutorial uses the witch boots to demonstrate the steps for making the in-the-hoop boots, but the same process is used for the in-the-hoop leprechaun, Santa, and elf versions, too.
Supplies
Project Needs & Notes
- Small pieces of felt
- Tear-away stabilizer
- Temporary spray adhesive
(like Gunold's KK100)
- Polyester fiberfill
- Needle and thread for hand sewing
- Small pieces of quilter's cotton
- Ribbon and fabric glue
(optional: for decorative bows)
Designs used in this tutorial include:
- X11864, Betwitching Boots (In-the-Hoop)
- X12226, Leprechaun Boots (In-the-Hoop)
- X11939, Santa Boots (In-the-Hoop)
- X11941, Elf Boots (In-the-Hoop)
Sizing Notes
Each of the boot designs are available in two sizes. The width of the legs vary depending on the size of the design that you have. When determining the length of the legs, add 1" for seam allowance.
Large: 2 1/4" wide; make them as long as you'd like
Small: 2" wide; make them as long as you'd like
This project was featured in the following:
Spooktacular Halloween Lookbook
Designs Used
When you download the boots design, you'll find six files.
Two are the embroidery files, marked with the letters A and B. The other four are dieline files, marked with the letters DL.
Dielines are used to cut the fabric to the right shape and size. Open the dielines with embroidery software, and print.
If you do not have embroidery software, Wilcom's TrueSizer is a free program to use.
Spray the back of each dieline with temporary adhesive.
Smooth the dielines onto the pieces of felt.
Cut out the shapes and remove the template.
Do this four times -- once for the back of the two boots, and once for the front of the two boots.
After the fabric pieces are cut, it's time to embroider the designs.
Hoop a piece of tear-away stabilizer.
Attach the hoop to the machine and embroider the design.
The first thing to embroider will be a dieline, or outline stitch. This marks the area on the stabilizer where we'll place the front fabric piece.
Spray the back of the front fabric piece with temporary adhesive.
Remove the hoop from the machine, but do not unhoop the stabilizer. Place the felt fabric shape inside the dieline.
Reattach the hoop to the machine and continue with the design -- a running stitch tack down will sew next.
This binds the felt in place for the remainder of the design.
All of the inside elements will sew next.
On the color change sheet, look for the note that says "finishing seam." When you get to this section, stop the machine and remove the hoop from the machine. Do not unhoop the stabilizer.
Turn the hoop over and spray just the edges of the back fabric piece with a bit of adhesive.
Place the back felt piece inside the shape on the back of the embroidery.
Since both sides of the boot will be visible when complete, use the same thread in both the top and bobbin.
Attach the hoop back to the machine. Continue the design.
A running stitch tack down will bind all the layers together.
Remove the hoop from the machine.
Unhoop the stabilizer and carefully tear it away. The dieline, or outline stitch, will be removed with the stabilizer.
If any bits of the stabilizer are still showing, carefully pull the layers of felt apart and trim away the stabilizer.
Fill the boot, using polyester fiberfill, through the opening at the top.
Repeat the hooping and embroidering process for the second boot.
The next step is to create the legs.
Cut two pieces of cotton fabric according to the size boot you are making.
Align the two pieces of fabric together, right sides together.
Pin in place, and sew a 1/2" seam along the long side edges and one short end. Leave one short end open for turning.
Turn the fabric right side out and fill with polyester fiberfill.
Insert the raw end of the leg inside the boot with leg extending inside the boot about 3/4".
Sew the leg in place.
Repeat to make a leg for the other boot.
Embellish the decorations to your style and liking by using ribbons, buttons, gemstones, and more.
Here, we tied ribbons into bows and adhered in place with fabric glue. You can also add pom-poms to the toes, buttons, decorative gems, or other embellishments.
