Shoe bags make wonderful gifts for travelers, including yourself. You can personalize them with an embroidery design, a monogram, or just a plain label such as “Tennies” in case you take 2 or more pairs and want to find a particular pair easily in your over-packed suitcase.

Shoes! They go everywhere you go – unless you go barefoot. They are the things between the world and the bottoms of your feet. You probably wash the bottoms of your feet when you shower or take a bath (by the way, when you take a bath, just where are you taking it? – did you ask if it wants to go there?). Now the main question – how often do you wash or clean the bottoms of your shoes? Not often enough I’ll bet. Anything that rubs against the bottoms of your shoes probably is worse off for that experience. You, as a person interested in sewing, can do something about that. You can sew up one or more shoe bags.

Supplies:
36” x 18” piece of soft fabric – makes 2 bags
4 feet of cording or ribbon
Serger (optional)

Instructions:
1. Cut fabric into two 18” x 18” pieces, or size fabric to fit your own needs. Cut cording or ribbon at midpoint. If you make bigger bags, use longer pieces of cording or ribbon. You are on your own to determine the length of cording or ribbon needed.
2. Serge or clean finish one edge. No Serger? – Then clean finish an edge by folding it over 1/4” and top stitch.

3. Fold the fabric at the middle of the only finished edge – right-sides together.
4. Serge or sew 3/8” from the edge along the two remaining unfinished edges, forming a bag.

5. To create a casing for the ribbon or cording, fold the material at the opening of the bag wrong-sides together to create 5/8” overlap. Press.
6. If the side seam is serged, I find it easier to open a couple of stitches in the side seam before sewing the casing down. Open the stitches in long side of the bag near the fold, not the 5/8” fold over zone.

7. Whether serged or sewn, make sure you can pass a safety pin through the narrow opening at the fold before sewing the casing down.
8. Sew the casing down with a stitch line about 1/2” from the folded edge of the bag opening.

9. Fasten a safety pin through an end of the cording or ribbon, and insert the safety pin into the seam opening.

10. Work the safety pin and cording or ribbon completely through the casing until the safety pin and end of the cording or ribbon come out of the seam opening.
11. Remove the safety pin. and tie a knot in each end of the cording or ribbon.
12. Even-up the ends of the cording or ribbon by placing a finger inside the bag at the opening and pulling on the cording or ribbon. This will center the tie and locate the far edge of the bag.

13. Stitch across the casing where your finger is (remove finger before stitching). This will secure your cording or ribbon to prevent pull-out.
14. I can fit a pair of sandals in one bag, but for most shoes, I can only get one shoe in the bag. I did not make the bags bigger because I find it easier to find places for two smaller bags in my suitcase than to find a larger place for a single, larger bag that holds two shoes.