DIY Ankara African Dutch wax print flip-flops

My feet are in desperate need for some extra vitamin D because they are hidden in shoes practically the whole year. Most of the time my feet are pale. They don’t have the same skin tone as the rest of my body. It’s time to charge up that melanin to even things out this summer, with my own DIY Ankara African wax print flip flops. With a pair of cheap flip-flops and print fabric, you too can rock such flip flops!

Supplies:

• 3 x equal strips cut out from wax print fabric of your choice
• 1 x long strip of fabric and nylon rope with ditto length (length depends on the size of your foot)
• a pair of textile scissors
• a pair of (cheap/old) flip-flops
• safety pin (optional)
• sewing machine
• tape measure

Remove the plastic parts of your flip flops, cut it with your scissors.
For every flip-flop cut 3 equal pieces of short strips. This is what you are going to use to add the straps.

Fold every strip with the right side facing down, and the wrong side facing up.

Make a seam.

Now you have a tube.

Turn the tube inside out. You can use a loop turner if you have one. Since I don’t have a loop turner, I use a safety pin instead.

Attach the safety pin to the top of the tube. The top of the safety pin has to go all the way inside the tube. Slide trough the tube and pull frequently. When the safety pin is at the other end, pull the rest of the fabric until the tube is turned inside out.

Take a tube and push it into the top hole of the flip-flop. Use the tip of your scissors to get it trough the hole. Pull it from the bottom side. Then put the other piece trough the same hole. Be careful not to pull it through all the way because you want to create a loop.
Repeat the same procedure for the other 2 holes. Now you have loops on all 3 holes.

With the long strip, make a tube by sewing a seam as well (again make sure to sew a seam with the wrong side of the fabric out).

Repeat the same procedure of turning the tube inside out with the safety pin or loop turner. Put the rope into the tube (this is a bit of a challenge). Wrap the end of the rope with some duct tape, that way it can easily slide trough the tube.

Take the long tube and take it trough all 3 loops. Pull the top loop down until you have a strap where your toe can go around. Put your foot in the flip-flop, to see how high you want it to be.

Flip it and make a knot on the bottom of the flip flop. Pull it tight, but make sure you don’t pull it all the way trough on the other side. Cut off the excess strip. What’s left is the knot. Push the knot into the hole. Add some hot glue to secure it if you prefer, but without it’s fine too.
Once you have done that, repeat this process two more times for the other two holes.
The sides have to be really snug, pull as tight as you can. Again make a knot at the bottom and cut off excess strip.
  

Depending on the length of your strips, you can either choose to tie it immediately on the back of your ankle or if the strips are long enough, you can first wrap it a few times around your ankles before you tie it. Make sure both ends of the strips are equal in length so that they match up.

There you have it, your own DIY Ankara African wax print summer flip-flops! It’s that simple. Would you rock a pair of these Ankara flip-flops?

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