I really enjoyed creating this sandal DIY.  I never imagined that when I picked up a pair of .99 cent ‘slaps’ that they would soon become my most comfortable and stylish pair of sandals.

What got me started down this road?  A cute video from Kristen at Downhome Inspiration that I found via Pinterest. 

She had made a pair of slingback sandals out of flip flops.  My sincere thanks goes out to her for inspiring me to try something new.

I began to wonder who else had re-styled sandals.  I discovered so many  online that it seems to be a hobby category all by itself.

Now, I admit the black sandals with the pink straps were pretty cute.  But the pink plastic really rubbed  my toes the wrong way.  I wanted to make something softer if possible.

I studied pictures of sandals until I found a pair I thought were cute and that I could attempt a makeover of my flip flops.  With a price tag of .99 cents it just wasn’t that big of a risk.

Getting it Right

It took me more than one attempt to get it right.  The 3rd time was a charm.  The first time I tried to just use old-t-shirt material. 

But it wasn’t stretchy enough and it needed to be lighter.  I also needed to find a way to keep the knots on the bottom of the shoes from popping up to the top.

I remembered I had some blue light-weight single knit in my stash that I’d pulled out of a bargain bin a while back.  YAY!  I didn’t have to buy new cloth.  

I decided to see if I could find metal washers to fit in the holes under the shoes and hope that would hold the knot down better.  The washer trick worked really well.

The third time I employed my sewing machine a bit and the sandals came together perfectly.  (If you are clever you may be able to skip the sewing. )  

They are comfortable and stylish and now they are what I grab to wear everywhere.  (Well, except church.  :))

I’ve written down all the instructions for you and you can download them in PDF format. The link is below.  Enjoy!  –Laura

Download the step by step DIY instructions for the sandal makeover here.