Shoe sole only for crafting???

[jeshyr]

Does anybody have any idea what this photo is:



It looks to me like a pair of handmade crocheted sandal type shoes on a commercial type of flat shoe sole. If I squint at the sole I can sort of make out the word "Havaianas" which is indeed a brand of shoes but I can't find anything that resembles those anywhere on their website. Also had no luck with reverse image search through Google or Tineye.

I am imagining how cool it would to be able to buy a pair of shoe soles only and craft whatever I liked for uppers on them! It looks to me like these soles have holes all around the edge which would make it quite easy to attach uppers wherever suited you. Please somebody tell me this is a thing that exists...

Comments

[ambersweet]

Here via network...

I don't know what these are specifically, but I do know that there is no such thing as a crochet machine, so ALL crochet EVERYWHERE is handmade. (Think about that next time you see a display of crochet tablecloths at Pier One or a shirt with crochet lace trim at Target.) Most likely, then, this shoe company is sending soles to women in third-world nations who produce the uppers for ridiculously small sums. I could be wrong. I HOPE I'm wrong; maybe the crafter owned or thrifted a pair of huaraches and removed the old uppers herself.

[(Anonymous)]

Looks to me that these were thongs (which is what Havaiana sell) which are custom-modded. Note the two holes where the thongs straps would have gone. I'll bet there's another hole at the front between the big toe and the next toe where the third strap would have gone. My guess is someone's just removed the straps and added their own top. So yeh, they kind of just bought the soles, only with thong straps on them :)

(this is Halo)

[acelightning]

this is a pair of soles from a "better than barefoot" style of sandals - i've seen a couple of brands of them for sale. it's a very thin, slightly foamed rubbery material. you get a pair of soles and a set of laces, and you can cut holes for the laces anywhere you want in the sole, so your sandals will fit and look exactly the way you want. looks as if someone discarded the laces and punched holes all around the edges, then crocheted through those holes at the front and made espadrilles (and did a blanket stitch in the holes the rest of the way around). i'd expect Havaianas to be relatively popular in the beachier parts of Australia :-)

[jeshyr]

Looks like you are right - Ace thought the same!

[jeshyr]

I hadn't thought about the lack of crochet machines but you are right about that part. Fortunately it looks like this is a one-off custom mod - see what acelightning wrote further down. I will definitely keep that in mind if I see other crochet stuff though - thanks for pointing it out!

[jeshyr]

Hmmm. "Better than barefoot" seem to be Hurarches, not Havaianas? If you google it you get http://www.invisibleshoe.com/

The part where the ankle laces are coming out looks different to anything I can find from either company actually! But the InvisibleShoe.com link is handy and now I have more ideas :)

[jeshyr]

So all my links are in one place, these were posted on Facebook for me mostly, with some I have found:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/92358840/waterproof-fabric-soling-material-for
https://www.etsy.com/listing/86535808/outdoor-shoe-soles-waterproof-soles-for
http://www.simpleshoemaking.com
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Your-Own-Shoes-at-Home/?ALLSTEPS
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070927202015AAmnX8H
http://www.marywalesloomis.com
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=242.0

[acelightning]

the part where the ankle laces come around the side looks like two loops of the original lacing, or something very similar.

until you noticed it, i hadn't even thought of the possibilities for using those "barefoot" soles for making homemade shoes - and i've always wanted to make homemade shoes! thanks for the idea!

[foxfirefey]

These people sell thin sandal soles:

http://xeroshoes.com/

[sporky_rat]

I've bought from them before and they're quite nice.

[jeshyr]

Ohhhh, I see what you mean. Like instead of taking them out of the sole altogewther they've been trimmed off and leaving a teeny bit. I think that makes sense ...

Making own shoes sounds like fun!! I made a watch strap last night :)

[jeshyr]

Thanks both - good to know :)

[acelightning]

up until very recently, i more or less had to make my own watch straps, in order to have purple ones - various permutations of black webbing and purple ribbons, but i could never manage a decent buckle. but just before my birthday, i was shopping in Target for something related to repairing the storm damage, and i happened to see a purple webbing strap, absolutely plain, that fit my watch without any modification at all. they were very cheap, so i bought two of them, and put the second one aside for when the first one finally wears out.