Quilted Sneaker Success!

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I've finally done it!!

After first seeing quilted sneakers a couple of years ago, I've been dying to make a pair. While I do live in "Quilt Mecca" and there have been plenty of opportunities to participate in workshops nearby, they just never quite worked for my schedule and would you believe that I've never actually taken a quilt-related workshop before!?

I know...

As a workshop teacher myself, this may just be insane!

The magic to making this finally happen for me is actually my role as Vice President and Events Coordinator of the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild. Nothing like the social pressure of creating programming for others to make project aspirations a reality!

Our local instructor is such a pro and made things so smooth for us by having all of the tools and supplies available. All we had to prepare was our quilted fabric and bring our machines, sneaker kits, and a couple of simple supplies!

Choosing The Sneaker Base

I'm pretty adventurous, but notoriously cheap. So, while I maybe would have eventually gathered up the initiative to start this project on my own, it would have been completely overwhelming to choose supplies and I absolutely would have gone with a less expensive kit/base option... and I would have regretted it.

Our awesome instructor is a seasoned sneaker pro and explicitly recommended just one brand for purchasing: Sneaker Kit

This European kit and pattern supplier has plenty of US stockists, and we purchased from a variety of small online retailers. One of our members learned the hard way that not all sneaker bases are created equally. Her $17 kit didn't fit regular foot proportions very well, nor did the pattern that we were supplied pair with it. She left with a new skill, no shoes, and was quite frustrated- I couldn't help but see myself making this same mistake.

I also highly recommend following the manufacturer's provided sizing guide. The bases are in Euro sizes and, while I have plenty of experience purchasing and wearing Euro sizes (I have Birkenstocks for every reason and season), my regular size wouldn't have fit correctly, as they have very accurate recommendations for half sizes... which I am!

Choosing My fFabric

I don't think that anyone is shocked by my fabric choice: black. skeletons. wow.

But... just in finding the fabric to link for this post, I learned/realized that they glow in the dark! This print by Jill Horwarth for Riley Blake Designs was the perfect scale for me!

Quilting The Fabric

I'm sure that there are plenty of tutorials out there, and I won't disclose our teacher's methods, but after choosing my outer and lining fabrics, I needed to make a quilt sandwich with fusible foam and quilt it (hellooo...they ARE "quilted" sneakers, afterall!)

I wanted a minimal and more compact finished look, so I went with 1/4" straight line quilting using my domestic Juki TL-18QVP and a walking foot.

I considered how the pattern would need to be cut from the fabric, and really liked the idea of the quilting lines running diagonally on the finished sneaker, and to make the fabric requirements work, I needed to quilt the actual sandwich diagonally.

As per usual, I went to Aurifil Thread for the task at hand and was very happy to use something that I was very familiar with while creating something totally out of my typical comfort zone! I think the 50wt Cotton thread in matching "Very Dark Grey" (4241) really helps the overall sneaker design with modern simplicity, and I'm super happy with the lower loft that the denser quilting helped me to achieve!

The Possibilities Are Endless!

I'm already dreaming up another pair with a natural colored sole and some orchid and kelly green fabrics to make a quilt-inspired version of some Adidas trainers that I've had my eye on!

This process, above all, was extremely humbling and meditative to have to confront the reminder of the immense amount of labor that goes into creating our clothing. I love that I can wear these and feel another level of pride in my creativity.

-Ashelyn