How to Fix Slippers That Are Worn on the Inside | Replace the Insole

My favourite pair of slippers has been wearing away on the inside for some time, and I needed to rescue them before it was too late...so I basically made insole replacements. The outsides of the slippers are in perfectly good condition, so it would be much too big of a waste if I had to throw them away just yet - particularly because they're hot pink and turquoise and I love them :)

• Lining fabric to match your slippers; I'm using turquoise short-pile faux fur.
• Insoles that fit inside your slippers; you don't want these to be too thick. Mine are basically just an even layer of foam. As an alternative you could make these insoles yourself with thick felt, foam, wadding or a mix of these materials.
• Strong sewing thread and a sharp sewing needle.
• All-purpose glue or fabric glue.
• Scissors.
• Fabric pen.
• Vacuum!

First, draw around the insoles onto the back of the lining fabric - using a fabric pen, preferably. Leave at least a couple of cm of space between the insoles when you do this.

Cut out the shapes by cutting approx. 1 cm outside of these lines. This gives you extra fabric to fold over the edges of the insoles.

Note that cutting this fabric releases a lot of fibres, so you might want to wear a breathing mask or cut whilst holding the fabric inside a container like a bin. Then vacuum straight after, including along the edges of the fabric.

Next, use suitable glue to attach the tops of the insoles to the backs of the fabric pieces, within the drawn lines.

This ensures that the fabric won't slide around at all when the slippers are worn, and it makes the next sewing step a lot easier.

Then leave the glue to dry.

Fold the edges of the fabric over onto the back of the insoles and use backstitch fairly close to the edge (roughly 5 mm away) to attach the fabric to the insoles durably and securely. Go through the fabric above and below the insole for every stitch.

I used polyester thread for strength, and began by making a knot in the end of the thread to secure it.

Secure the thread at the end of the sewing also. See the video for help.

Once you've finished sewing around both insoles, use your needle to release the fibres trapped under the stitches on the top of the insoles, just to hide the stitches as much as possible. Obviously, if you're not using faux fur you don't need to do this :)

Use your scissors to carefully cut off the excess fabric & fibres on the back, making sure to not go tooo close to the stitches.

I held the scissors flat so they rested on the insole when I did this. You want to remove as much bulk as you can.

As a final step, give everything (including the insoles) a good vacuum, as the faux fur fibres get everywhere!

And here you can see the finished result...just like new!

The insoles will be high like they are when you first wear any slippers, but after a short amount of wear they will sink down again.

I hope this was useful for you :D