The Pleated Mary Jane

Today I am sharing my all time favorite baby item. Is there anything better than soft shoes for a little babies feet? The fun in making your own is you ca make a variety of them my daughter probably had at least 20 different pairs, it was fun making sure my little girl had a cute pair of shoes for every outfit. They also make great baby shower gifts as paired with the Abbey dress the set is my go to gift.
So they are a pretty simple Mary Jane shoe, the kind that everyone and her best friend have a pattern for, but since I like things a little different I added a sweet little pleat to the shoe. (plus it goes with the pleats in the Abbey top bonus!)

So here is the pattern to download, and I hope it prints the right size for you. The sole for the 0-3 months should be about 4.5 inches printed. 

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(let me know if you have any trouble with this)

The Pattern comes in sizes 0-12 months.

Ok once you print the pattern and determine the size you want cut out your pieces. I like to use felt as my base layer (the inside of the shoe) One because it is super soft but two because it offers some structural support for the shoe. So in the badly lit picture above you can see all the pieces cut out. 

First pin the top pieces together right sides together and you are going to pin the pleats in place. Pin the pleats so the pieces fit together and they should lay flat together. For example if you are getting a gap or bubble along the side you may need to make bigger pleats. You can do as many or as few as you want I like to add three. Then sew along the edge.

Then turn it right side out and top stitch the same edge, leaving 1/2 inch at each end unstitched so you can sew them together on the next step.

Then fold the shoe joining the two ends. Lay the shoe out so you sew fabric to fabric and felt to felt. Be sure to match the middle seam up. 

Then fold the layers so the seam you just made is on the inside and you should have a shoe form that looks like this. Optional step, I sometimes top stitch around the lower edge to secure the pleats you don't have to but sometimes it helps.

Next for the buckle. Since I used piping in the top I added piping around the buckle but it is optional, just sew the piping around the buckle on the right side, turn it over to the back and then I add a strip of felt to the back side. I also often just make a strap out of the felt (examples at the end of the post) The choice is yours.

Next turn the top piece inside out and with the right sides together line up the top with the sole. (both layers of the sole with the fabric on top) Also pin your buckle into the seam (as shown above) The buckle covers the side seam. To help your shoe lay nicely clip the curves after you sew the piece together.

There are a lot of ways to secure the buckle. Snaps, buttons, or as I like to use elastic. The nice thing about the elastic loop is that it allows the buckle to stretch, which is nice for little baby feet. But I have also used snaps. To use elastic sew a small loop to the inside of the buckle as shown above.

Then sew a button to the other side of the shoe

Then the elastic loop goes around the button and secures the strap. I especially like this method if the shoes are for a gift, baby feet come in all different sizes and widths and the elastic allows for even chubby baby feet to be comfortable in the shoe, where the buckle may not fit with a snap. 

Then you are done with some sweet little baby shoes.

Here are some variations I made, where I added a little flower sewn to some felt and added on the buckle. 

Or these where I added a little flower. (and the strap is felt)


Get creative! Shoes are fun! Oh and for walkers or crawlers who are rough on their shoes I have made them out of the heavy vinyl (you know the stuff that looks like faux leather) I use fabric on the inside then since the vinyl is thick and they hold up very well to kids that are hard on their shoes.


Enjoy!