300 Spartan Sandals - now more accurate

[kimncris]

update: see pg 2 for final pics and a more accurate lacing method....


Hey RPF'ers. It's been a long time since I posted anything, and I have these pics so I wanted to share.

I know I'm late to the Spartan party - but if anyone else out there was wanting to make some spartan sandals, maybe this will inspire you.

First off - I am cheap, and currently struggling to pay for this costume as it is, so I did not want to buy shoes if I did not have to. So this is probably not the BEST Way to do it, but it certainly is cheap.

Anyway - here's how my progress has been going with the sandals. I just have to glue the soles and sew down the long straps and hopefully they will be good to go!

-cris

first I bought some cheap flip-flops at Walgreens. This is the cheapest - but I am sure not best option for a cushy sole with some tread. The 99 cent store might even save you a few more pennies!

then I traced around them and created a paper template for the back piece

after cutting out the straps and bottoms (I went with 5/8 for the straps out of really lightweight scrap bin leather - cost about $2) I cut slots in the pieces for the straps to fit through. I made them extra long for fitting and glue, but then decided to sew them later.

here's after marking and cutting the second strap slot

here's the way I temped out the back. I still need to add one more slot for the bottom of the 36" straps that Van showed me.

as we moved up the leg, we criscrossed the straps and marked where they crossed for the slots in the spine piece

here's the full test assembly - I just stood on the heel part to hold it down.

then I dyed it all and let it dry. After sealing with mink oil, I started assembly by sewing the back piece on both sides.

then I put the straps on one side of the shoe in place and sewed along the inside edge to lock it in.

then I crossed the straps through the spine piece and sewed down on the other side.

after sewing on the inside, I pulled the straps outward and sewed them again on the outside edge. (I went all the way around to create a fake seam - but that is not necessary. It is just for decoration (on this shoe)

here's what it looks like underneath

the shoe portion is done, now onto the high top part

the rest of the straps just lace up like the test shoe - but I need to go back and sew down the 36" straps into the sole as shown by van in his Screen Used thread on the 300 forums.

nevermind the pastey whiteness...

I need to put a velcro or snap or something near the top to deal with the loose ends, but otherwise I think they will be fine for Comic-Con. I will post more pics as I finish them off.

 

[jedistine]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

Looks great, nice job.

 

[Darth Mule]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

This is pretty darn cool. Nice ingenuity! And the structure looks really good. Are you going to glue these to the flip-flop sole or build up a hard leather sole?

 

[kimncris]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

This is pretty darn cool. Nice ingenuity! And the structure looks really good. Are you going to glue these to the flip-flop sole or build up a hard leather sole?

a leather sole would make them awesome, but I was worried about walking around on them with no padding. Have you made shoes before, maybe have some advice? The main thing is I can't sew anything thicker than what I did, so I have to glue whatever I do. Also I was worried about a leather bottom being slippery. Is that a concern?

 

[Art Andrews]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

I'd have to check ours, but I think the originals have a dense foam sole to them. They are actually pretty comfy! I will try to check this weekend to be sure.

This is the only photo I have here at the moment.

 

[kimncris]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

thanks Art! The ones I patterned mine after had a similar sole too - but I'm not sure where to get that. Flip-Flop was the most accessable - even it it is a little thicker.

 

[Darth Mule]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

a leather sole would make them awesome, but I was worried about walking around on them with no padding. Have you made shoes before, maybe have some advice? The main thing is I can't sew anything thicker than what I did, so I have to glue whatever I do. Also I was worried about a leather bottom being slippery. Is that a concern?

Well, if you can't sew it, you can always Barge it. Stuff holds like mad. I've not made any shoes from scratch, but I have altered several dozen pairs in my time. You can layer leather up like plywood to construct a leather sole, or just glue what you have directly to the flip-flop. If you're worried about tread, wardrobe shops and some dance stores sell what's called "dance rubber" that can be Barged to the bottoms of the sole to prevent slippage.

 

[kimncris]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

Well, if you can't sew it, you can always Barge it. Stuff holds like mad. I've not made any shoes from scratch, but I have altered several dozen pairs in my time. You can layer leather up like plywood to construct a leather sole, or just glue what you have directly to the flip-flop. If you're worried about tread, wardrobe shops and some dance stores sell what's called "dance rubber" that can be Barged to the bottoms of the sole to prevent slippage.

that does sound nice. I got some barge already I was going to try for the flip flop version. Now maybe I'll reconsider. I think there would need to be at least a little foam in there though maybe? Right?

 

[Darth Mule]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

that does sound nice. I got some barge already I was going to try for the flip flop version. Now maybe I'll reconsider. I think there would need to be at least a little foam in there though maybe? Right?

It would be softer and more comfortable with foam. Just a matter of preference really. Sandals are usually fairly light on the padding, but since you seem to be leaning towards a little more comfort, glue them to the flip-flops. Nobody will know except you. If they're looking that closely at your feet, you have more worries than your shoes... :lol

 

[kimncris]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

it's the walking around all day in these that scares me. And our hotel is not exactly close.

Maybe I will do the flip flops this time, and then if they suck I will look into an upgrade.

 

[kimncris]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

here are the finished shoes. Also Van brought over his screen used sandals, so we were able to do his a little more like the movie version. They are slick because they are adjustable and only need 2 long pieces of leather - about 72" instead of all of my separate ones.

my shoes

here is the revised pattern

and the finished pics

here is how we did Van's shoes -just the backs are sewn

then the laces are glued under and laced around the foot

finished lacing and voila! The first one is a test to see if one lace would be long enough - but it wasn't. You get the picture though...

 

[3720to1]

looking great Cris!


-Ryan

 

[OdiWan72]

looking great Cris!

-Ryan

Double that :thumbsup

Markus

 

[kimncris]

thank you! I'm jealous that Van's came out so much better than mine! Learn from my mistakes :cool

 

[PadawanLearner]

thank you! I'm jealous that Van's came out so much better than mine! Learn from my mistakes :cool

well...now when you decide to remake yours, yours will be the better ones, hehe.
Great job though, if'n I was even thinking about doing a 300 costume, I would yoink all this info here that you have compiled, great work!

 

[mattiza]

thank you! I'm jealous that Van's came out so much better than mine! Learn from my mistakes :cool

I want to thank Cris for helping with sewing, and motivating me to do this. I was wanting to make some 300 sandals for quite some time but was to lazy to do them. So when Cris did his I wanted to do them as well.

Thank you Cris for helping

Van

 

[kimncris]

Re: 300 Spartan Sandals

no problem!

Looking at the picture Art posted on the page before, it seems the other style is done very similar, but with no heel piece and no front spine piece, so they are even easier to do. The lacing is just slightly different but you can clearly see the lacing goes under the leather sole.

I'd have to check ours, but I think the originals have a dense foam sole to them. They are actually pretty comfy! I will try to check this weekend to be sure.

This is the only photo I have here at the moment.

 

[MaxPlague]

Hey Cris, your sandals look great! Must be comfy too. I remembered reading this thread back when you first posted and wanted to make a pair of my own even then.

I may need to reference your method to make a pair for myself if you are cool with that. I'm in a community theatre production of Medea, playing the Greek hero, Jason. Well, their costuming budget is next to nothing, so we all need to provide our own footwear. I think if I showed up in Spartan sandals it would be perfect for my character.

Have you worn your sandals much? They look like they'd hold up well. Any thoughts?

 

[kimncris]

no problemo.

I wore them all day at Comic-con and they held up great! The were pretty cushy too

 

[Skalen Fehl]

Nice work, you two!! :thumbsup