Going to the Beach? Make Yourself a Pair of Barefoot Sandals!

This instructable was a bit hard to write, for example I had to describe how to crochet. Now I can crochet a bit but it is a lifetime ago that they learn me how to crochet and what the names of the stitches are. When I see a crochet pattern it is all abracadabra for me so I wrote everything just as I made it. Maybe it’s not the "crochet way" but hopefully it’s understandable. There where this instructable, maybe, is not understandable I hope the pictures says enough and if not: feel free to ask and I try to explain.

If you live near the beach or going for a holiday to the beach it is fun to make a pair of barefoot sandals. Walking along the sea barefoot with some bling bling, beads or what ever on your feet just if you wearing sandals and feeling the sand between your toes is awesome.

You can use what ever you like or crochet them completely. I choose for a combination of recycling, beading and crocheting. Here is wat I used:

An old inner tube from a bike
Parcel Post twine for crocheting for first row
Tin yarn for crocheting second row and lace flower
Thread for beads
Cheaps plastic beads
Copper beads made from an old copper gas pipe
Some lace, from an old shirt that ended as a rag
Two beads to make the heart of a flower
Two buttons to make the closure

Tools:
Two different crochet hooks, seize 1.20 and 1.50
Needle with a eye big enough for the yarn and thread
Pipe cutter
Hole puncher
Scissor
Measuring tape
Rubbing alcohol
Renaissance wax
Lint-free cloth

How to use a pipe cutter
Screw the pipe cutter open and place the cutter on the pipe. Close the cutter by turning the screw. Turn the cutter around the pipe a number of times. Screw the cutter thighs again as soon as it rotates smoothly. Turn the cutter around again just as long as the cutter is through the pipe.

Measure just above you anklets and take 2 cm extra, this is the base for your sandals. As base I used the inner tube of a bike and cut two strips of rubber of 25 cm by 1.5 cm. Fold 1 cm at the end and punch 5 holes in the double layer like the 5 points on a dice. Do the same at the other side. After the two sides of the base punch holes over the whole length on both sides +/- every 0.5 cm when the first base is finished do the second one. Clean the strips with rubbing alcohol and add some wax to the strips, preferably renaissance wax, to keep the rubber in good condition.

I've made some pictures of the stitches in addition to the explanation.

When all the holes were punched, I started to crochet. Start with a slip knot. The first row wil be a chainstitsch. Insert the hook throug the first hole of the rubber strip (be sure to double the beginning and end of the stripe), pull up the slip knot. Now take the yarn that is still on the knot and pull through the slib knot. Make a new stitch but now without going throug the tire, pick up the yarn that is on the knot and pull trough the loop that is on your crochethook. The next stitch goes through the tire again. Go around the whole base, like one stich through the tire one knot. End by connecting the last stitch with the first one cut the yarn and pull the yarn through the last loop. Make a knot with both ends of the yarn and cut of the unnecessary yarn up to 0.5 centimeter of the knot.

For the second row I took a different color and thinner yarn. The second row consists of a single crochet stitch. Start again with a slip knot. Insert your hook through the both loops of the chain stitch of the first row. Pull up the thread, now you have two loops on your hook, wrap the yarn around your hook and draw it through both loops. This completes your first single crochet stitch, now there is one loop left on your hook and can you start the next stitch, pull your hook through the next both loops of the first row and repeat step. Go around the whole base and end as the first row.

Take a 1.5 m bead thread to make the bead decoration.
Fold the base in two to determine the center and start one stitch after the center with stringing the bead thread from the middle to the end of the base. Use only 60 cm of the thread, you will need the rest of thread for the "toe piece" and the other half of the sandal. Put a button on the thread when you are on the end of the base and put a knot in the thread just after the button tight to the base, then pull the thread up another 3 stitches. Make a string of beads from here and insert after 5 cm in a top stitch to keep the work in place. Continue till you reach the middle of the base and close with a bead with a big hole, because this bead will go up to 4 threads. Insert the thread through a top stitch and stab back, through the bead, and through the lower stitch. Put some smaller beads on the thread and close with a double knot. Leave the excess tread till you finished the other half.

To find out how much tread you need for the “toe piece” just measure the distance from the base to your second toe, double this distance and take 2 cm extra for knots. Make a loop from the thread you measure and make a knot, in this loop, as close as possible to the base and begin to draw beads. Make a bead row of approximately 7 cm and close with a knot. There remains a small loop which the toe can go through. Take some lace of about 25 cm and draw a thread through the bottom (I use lace in the same color as the parcel post twine), pull the thread together to create a rosette and close with a knot. Leave the threads because we need them later to make the heart of the flower and to connect the flower to the "toe piece". Now take a different color thread (I use the same color as I used for the base to make the the single crochet stitch) and crochet one row of a single crochet stitch on top of the lace. Make a chain stitch in between each single crochet stitch if your crocheting became to tight. End the same way as you did with the base. Find yourself a nice bead to make the heart of the flower. Pick up both ends of the parcel twine and the bead, draw one thread from left to right trough the bead and the other thread from right to left. Bring both threads to the back of the flower, pull thigh and make a knot. Tie the flower above the knot of the “toe piece” before the loop and cut the thread up to 0.5 cm. Attached the flower with some extra thread on each side of the loop to fixed the flower. The"toe piece" is now ready.

Decorating the second half goes the same way as the first half but instead of connecting a button you have to make a loop. The loop has to be just big enough to let the button trough. You will close your sandal with button and buttonhole. Do not make the buttonhole too tight otherwise it will be difficult to open or close the closure. End your bead string with the last bead of the first half, enter this bead from below, go up and ended it the same way as you did the first half, there are 4 threads now through the middle bead. If you finished the second half your first sandal is almost ready. As last step cut of the excess thread of both beadstrings up to 2 cm of the knot. Make a fluffy end of those 2 cm and your first sandal is ready. Making your second sandal goes the same way but mirror it.

You have made yourself a nice pair of barefoot sandals now. Go to the beach, feel the sand between your toes while it looks like if you are wearing sandals and enjoy life.