Protect Chair Leg Ends with Whimsical Slippers
Start with baby booties or socks for this craft. They are easy to slide on and off, come in sizes that fit any chair leg, and allow the chairs to scoot easily. The best booties or socks to buy are ones in solid colors, with no fancy decorations.
Choose booties or socks that match your kitchen colors. If you don’t care for the whimsical look, simply stitch elastic in, around the ankle, and slip them onto your chair. Give them a delicate touch by using fabric glue or thread, to attach dainty ribbons to the socks.
For a more whimsical look, paint the socks like ladybugs, tie-dye them, or glue on bitty appliques of baby chicks, or tiny apples. Craft stores are loaded with tiny little trinkets of every image, shape, size and color. The miniatures are the perfect way to decorate the chair slippers and match your decor at the same time.
Decorate the slippers before putting the elastic in the ankle, but be sure to avoid the ankle area. Mark where the elastic will go to make sure you don’t place a trinket in that region of the sock. The elastic is important for holding the socks onto the chair, so make sure it is sewn in very tightly, leaving only a small opening for sliding in the chair leg.
Besides ribbon and appliques, consider using other notions like buttons, small earrings, beads, fabric scraps, fabric paints, or tiny silk flowers. If you don’t sew you can use craft wire to hold the booties in place. Simply wrap it several times around the leg and make sure the end of the wire is tucked away nicely. Unwrap and remove the slippers when time to launder.
If you want to have chair slippers, but want something a little less expensive to make, use squares of fabric instead of the booties or socks. Cut a square of fabric large enough to cover your particular chair legs. Use the pattern to cut two squares for each leg. Place a small amount of stuffing on the wrong side of one square, then cover with the other square. Sew around the perimeter of the square. Hem all the way around the square. Sew in elastic, tie on with ribbons, or use the craft wire method to hold the cloth onto the chair legs.
If you have a chair with wooden or metal legs, and you don’t want the chair to scoot, try dressing it in tiny children’s sneakers. It’s a really cute look for a child’s room or a whimsical look for another area of the house. The shoes can be decorated to suit you or left plain.
