I have been making a few more pairs of the knit Felt Ballerina Slippers from Fiber Trends for the women in my family as Christmas gifts. I used Berkshire yarn from Valley Yarns. It is 85% Wool and 15% Alpaca. The Alpaca fiber felts very well.
The Berkshire yarn is a heavy worsted weight, so it was a bit tricky trying to get the sizing right. It was also challenging trying to get them to dry into a nice shape. I ended up using a two way shoe stretcher to dry the ballet slippers on.
I embellished the slippers with yarn in contrasting colors and commercial felt that I cut with pinking shears. I sewed the buttons to the strap, and sewed a loop of clear jewelry elastic on to the body of the slipper that loops over the button and strap. The stretch of the elastic allows you to slip the shoes on an off without having to deal with the button.
You can see the first pair I made here.
