How to make japanese zori sandals

If anyone's ever wanted to have hand-made Sanzo sandals for cosplay, here's a neat tutorial from Usaccha at Yume Hiroi Harappa!

 SotoNote: All text and images are from 「夢ひろい原っぱ」[yume hiroi harappa, field of dreams]. Also, Soto is from Hawaii and uses ‘slippers’ instead of ‘flip flops’.

How to Make Nuno Zouri Cloth Slippers - Illustrated Diagram (1)
Original page in Japanese

Nuno Zouri [布ぞうり cloth slippers] that reuse old cloth are hugely popular. Once you learn one way to make them, many other styles are possible. I’ve illustrated a simple way to make cloth slippers so that even people who have never done it before will be able to follow. Won’t you make cloth slippers for you family and even your friends?

Usaccha’s Meddlesome Memo

[The appeal of cloth slippers]
Cloth slippers are hugely popular, and you’ll see the appeal of them once you try making a pair for yourself. First of all, you can use fabric scraps from around your house. Old blouses or sheets, bath towels or yukata, skirts or T-shirts, anything is OK. If you have old items shoved in the back of your drawers, why don’t you try making some cloth slippers? One of the good points about cloth slippers is that as long as you have fabric, you won’t have to spend much of anything on materials.

The bottoms of your feet feel really good when you wear your finished cloth slippers. Since you wear them on your bare feet, you can feel the texture of the cloth, and because the bumps of the stitches massage your feet, wearing them is good for your health, too. Also, unlike other zouri slippers, your nuno zouri are machine-washable, so they’re always easy to clean!

Once you’ve learned one way to make cloth slippers, you can make various styles for your family, or give them as presents to your friends... You can have as much fun as you imagine.

[What is a simple way to make cloth slippers?]
Making cloth slippers may seem difficult at first, by they’re surprisingly easy to make when you try!

Other than old cloth, you’ll need PP rope (polypropylene cord used to secure baggage), scissors, clips, and if you have a bamboo spatula to separate the stitches when it comes time to insert the thong, you’ll be done in a flash. If you don’t have clips, laundry pins will work as a substitute, and if you don’t have a bamboo spatula, a wooden chopstick will work just as well.

Also, I’m introducing here a method in which you hook the rope around your big toes, but you could also put clips on the table and hook the rope around them, or use a hanger instead of your feet. It might be fun to experiment with easy weaving set ups...

Here at “Field of Dreams”, I introduce a simple method, but there are many other ways to make the strap and thong, so check out the “Cloth Slipper Books” on the next page too. Putting ribbons of buttons on your completed cloth slippers, or cloth flowers or lace is cute too! Have fun with your home-made nuno zouri.

※ “How to Make Cloth Slippers - Illustrated Diagram (1)” is the preparation page. For weaving instructions, instructions on how to attach the strap and thong, and methods of finishing, please see the “How to Make Cloth Slippers - Illustrated Diagram (2)” page.

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☆How to Make Cloth Slippers - Preparation☆

◆Gathering the Materials◆

First, please prepare your materials with reference to the finished diagram below. For the sole fabric, old blouses, cotton sheets, bath towels, yukata, or T-shirts, anything is OK. For the thong and strap, as long as it has some length any fabric is OK. You can either cut the sole fabric or rip it by hand. (The strips don’t have to be exactly 150 cm) Since the strips are 8cm wide, if you squish them length-wise they’ll be easy to weave.

◆Making the Strap◆

Make the strap with the 2 prepared pieces as shown in the diagrams below.

◆Preparing to Start Weaving◆

You’re going to use the big toes of both your feet, so please sit comfortably.

Have you finished your preparations? Then please see the next page
=> “How to Make Cloth Slippers - Illustrated Diagram (2)”
To Field of Dreams HOME

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