I've had this idea in my head for years and years now. But never sat down to put thought to ribbon. Why? No idea. This was a ridiculously easy, cheap and fast project. Make your own Switch Flops!
I had the ribbon at home already. My word, I own more ribbon than My Martha. And I had the old pair of flops. And the jewel do-dads. So the only purchase was for sticky Velcro at Walmart. I think it was around $2.50. And I used nearly the entire package to make one complete pair of flops. However two packages would make THREE complete pairs of flops.
What you need...
* Pair of flip flops
* Package of self stick Velcro
* @ 1 yard of ribbon (I needed less but each shoe is a bit different)
* thread/iron on no-sew stuff
* cheap scissors
* 2 straight pins or close pins or paperclips
* accessories/gems/flowers/bows
Directions...
* Chose an old pair of clean flip flops. Or a cheap new pair that you find on clearance.
* Measure out how much ribbon you will need and add two extra inches. Cut two- you know- one for each shoe.
* Fold ribbon in half, right sides together. If your ribbon has a design on it, make note of which way you would like your design to face. Sew the center on the diagonal so that when open, it forms the shape of the flop. Trim the excess ribbon so that it opens without a big triangle hanging down the center. Repeat with second ribbon.
* Pin the ribbon in place on the flip flops and determine where you want each of the sides to end. Fold under, wrong sides together. Pin in place (I actually just held this with my hand but I am trying to make my directions significantly less allovertheplace). Sew and then trim excess ribbon.
* Good news, the sewing part is over. Pretty painless, right?! If you really cannot sew, you could use that no-sew iron tape stuff. But seriously the sewing part is so easy. Just give it a whirl!
* Take the Velcro out of the package and work on one shoe at a time. In order to get the most for your money and waste as little as possible, you need to do the opposite treatment to each shoe. So the first shoe, use the fuzzy side of the Velcro on the ribbon's wrong side. And the hook side of the Velcro on the shoe's right side. On the second shoe, use the hook tape on the shoe and the fuzzy tape on the ribbon. If you don't do this, you will need more than one package per pair of shoes if you plan to make several pairs of ribbon straps.
* So measure out how much Velcro tape you will need for each part being covered. And use a cheap pair of scissors to cut the Velcro. (cheap because the sticky back of the Velcro will get all over the scissors. You should be able to get it off by running it though the dishwasher but just in case, don't use your good sewing scissors.)
* Peel off the sticky back and stick it to the shoe/ribbon.
* I hot glued a snazzy jewel that I had on hand to the center. This is optional. It looks just fine without anything. But it also looks cute with a flower or bow or button...
So there you go, I turned an old blah pair of flops into a cute little ribbon pair for less than three buckaroos. It took me mere minutes to accomplish too.
Now if you pick up a second package of the sticky Velcro, you should be able to make two more, for a total of three, ribbon straps to interchange. Just like Switch Flops. But at a fraction of the price and limited only by your imagination. Just remember to use the correct hook/fuzzy side of the tape for each shoe.
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