How I Make Those Cute Boots!

My sister has asked me TWICE to explain how I make the cowboy boots I’ve been giving away. Like this one I made for me for Christmas

So I made one today step by step do my sister could “see” the process. Thought some of you might be interested also!

My machine is a Babylock Ellegante 3. It has a built-in computer that allows me to do editing on my projects right there rather than having to edit on my computer, save to a USB drive and open at the machine.

To start any project, I have to have a computerized / digitized design that is made for machine embroidery. In this case, I bought a cowboy boot that had four different designs. I pick the one I want to work with by selecting it on my machine LCD screen.

The final product will look different but that’s okay. I mostly want the boot design more than the upper leather design.

If you look to the right, you’ll see the list of colors to make this design. As I add other things to the boot, that list of colors will change. Once I set this as my design, I need to make some alterations. Specially, I want to add the date and a name. I can pull up numbers and letters and add to the design.
Here I’ve added 2016 from the picture above and added the name “Hannah”

I know I want to do something “different” on the calf of the boot rather than what is shown. I’m making this for a niece-in-law, so I’m thinking a pretty calla lily might be look good. I go through my machine embroidery designs until I find one I like. Then I lay it OVER the design on the boot calf. When those “swirls” and straight line come up to sew, I’ll simply skip them. Here it the boot with the calla lily.

I’m ready to sew!

I start by hooping a piece of tearaway stabilizer

Next, I cut a sheet of craft felt in half. One-half goes on top of the stabilizer and I hold on to the other half for later.

Here is early in the stitching. I’m sewing on the 1/2 of sheet of felt (which is white in this case.) I’ve done the heel, sole, toe design and the placemarkers for the material that will comprise the boot calf. Without those placemarkers, I couldn’t be sure that my material would be in the right place.

I decided that since I’m doing a pretty white calla lily, I’d make the boot calf a chocolate brown. But actually, the boot calf can be any material I might have on hand. Below, I’ve set the silk on the felt and sown down the upper and lower edges of the material. See all the extra hanging off? We have to get rid of that now.

There. A nice, clean edge that we’ll finish out later.

At this point, the machine wants me to do the “original” design. I simply skip those threads and embroidery the design I want.

If you look to the right, you’ll see what looks like a green arrow in the upper right corner of my LCD screen. Then look at where I’m sewing. I’m doing that green “arrow,” which is actually a leaf.

Here is the boot after I finished stitching the design. But we aren’t done yet!

Remember the other 1/2 of the felt sheet? Now I place it over where I’ve been working (like a lid) and stitch the outline of the boot. This gives me a “back” to the boot.

The project comes out of the hoop looking like this….

All that paper (around and inside) the boot has to be torn away, thus the rationale for using tearaway stabilizer. Easy to get off.

Once the stabilizer is gone, I trim around the boot. I don’t have to trim close to the outline stitch as this will all turn into the boot. When I first started making these, I would cut the outline stitch A LOT and then I realized it didn’t have to be sooooo exact!
This is the boot ready to be turned inside out…carefully!

And the final product.

So that’s how it’s done!

Questions? Want one?

Leave a comment here and I’ll choose one winner for their own boot!