Our first 'Get Inspired' collaboration of 2025 is here!!
Our Get Inspired series is designed to inspire our community by showcasing creative twists on our existing shoemaking tutorials and patterns.
This one was a little different to usual as we actually collaborated with @katiejoslin from our own team! As well as being the gal in charge of our social content, masterclass content, newsletters, web design etc - Katie is also a crochet artist and creates patterns and tutorials to spread the love of her own craft.
When we stumbled upon a picture of the gorgeous Chloé crochet loafers, we just knew we had to get Katie involved to make our own pair. Katie used scrap yarn from her overflowing crochet stash to make the loafer uppers, which she based on the shape of our existing Loafer Pattern.
Once Katie had finished the crochet uppers - it was over to Kate in the studio to work her magic! Kate is our studio manager and a trained shoemaker (an excellent one at that - she often leads our shoemaking workshops) who completed a 4-year footwear degree at London College of Fashion
Kate carefully lined and lasted these uppers, transforming them from soft shapes into structured shoes, but this didn't come without it's own set of challenges... As the crochet upper was made from acrylic yarn, Kate couldn't apply too much heat when inserting the stiffeners or during the lasting process. Buuuuut the lasting process was actually made easier by the shape of the crochet because it cupped the shoemaking last perfectly
Once the soles were attached, she added in a foam insock for extra comfort and the shoes were good to go!
I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by how nice they feel in real life - structured yet soft! It's fair to say I am obsessed and already want a pair in black and white.
Get ready to see them take over our Instagram for little while.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE A PAIR OF LOAFERS LIKE THESE?
Overall, these took approximately 10 hours to make, and if you are feeling inspired to make a pair for yourself, here’s a list of the all of components that we used 😉:
- I Can Make Shoes, loafer pattern
-
I Can Make Shoes, Flat Shoemaking Lasts
- I Can Make Shoes, Flat Soles and insoles
- Foam Sheets for the insocks
- Water based glue and Solvent based glue
- Counter and Toe-puff Stiffeners
- 0.6mm cowhide leather for the lining
- Crochet by Katie Joslin
WHY DID WE COLLABORATE WITH KATIE JOSLIN?
We have the pleasure of working with Katie in our studio so after years of watching her whip up crochet outfits during her lunch breaks we decided it was high time we teamed up to make something together 😍
Side note, Katie crocheted me a hot pink beanie for my birthday last year and it still brings me so much joy! 💗
Like me, Katie is mostly self-taught. She has been crocheting since the 2020 lockdown and has become pretty darn great at it. She has gradually transformed her YouTube channel from outfits into her own easy-to-follow tutorials and self-drafted patterns.
Follow Katies crochet journey below:
KATIE JOSLIN YOUTUBE
KATIE JOSLIN TIKTOK
KATIE JOSLIN INSTAGRAM
Below, I've shared a little breakdown of the making process so you can follow along:
THE MAKING OF THE LOAFERS
Here’s the breakdown of how we made the loafers:
1. First, Katie Joslin crocheted the loafers uppers.
2. Then Kate from the I Can Make Shoes team got to work transforming them into a pair of wearable structured shoes.
3. First she added a lining to the crochet uppers
4. Then she lasted the lining over our flat shoemaking lasts
5. Next, she carefully added in thermoplastic toe-puff and counter stiffeners to add structure to the shoes and to conserve the shape of the lasts. She also covered the stiffeners with the same lining material so that the stiffeners wouldn't show through the gaps in the crochet.
6. Next she lasted the crochet layer into place.
7. The next step was to use the solvent-based shoemaking glue to attach the soles in place. Due to the thickness of the crochet she decided to size up the soles to get a better fit around the base of the shoe. This was a really clever hack as it didn't actually change the size of the shoes all all because this is determined by the lasts themselves rather than the soles.
8. last but not least she added in come comfort foam insocks which she covered using the same leather as the lining.
9. And there we have a finished pair of crochet loafers.
