It got rather warm the last few days, and I’ve switched out bedding and clothes and shoes to be prepared for when summer hits for real. Interestingly, I never liked going barefoot indoors. When I grew up, we had carpets everywhere, and walking on them barefoot felt unpleasant. So, I wore socks throughout the year, in appropriately varying lengths and thicknesses, of course. In Japan’s summer, however, socks are too warm even for me, but there is a solution: zori.
Zori are traditional Japanese straw sandals resembling flip-flops. People, especially the poorer ones, would wear them outdoors when going about town, for longer travels everybody wore waraji, also a type of straw sandals, but a different design that could be tied securely to the feet.
These zori are surprisingly sturdy, especially when worn only indoors. I wore the same pair of zori for the last three summers before the edges disintegrated, and I left little pieces of straw all over the house. But since they are so cool, not to mention comfortable, I decided to go with the trend and make my own – from old T-shirts.
I followed the instructional video I posted a while back, it explains all the necessary steps. I made one major change to the design: instead of the PP rope as suggested, I cut up an old bedsheet and made a braided rope for the skeleton of the zori. Technically this means that my version is fully washable, if this is advisable, I’m not sure. In any case, here’s the result, next to my old straw zori:
The colour combination turned out very nicely, and I’m quite happy with the result. One mistake I made is not cutting the T-shirt strips wide enough. Three centimetres seemed fine at first, but when stretched according to the instructions, they become quite thin, so weaving the base took ages.
Also, the red fabric I used for the straps may turn out a bit too dainty, but since I made the zori myself, I know how to replace them when the time comes. Theoretically, at least.
Finally, they turned out slimmer than I had hoped, but I think that walking around in them will take care of that problem in no time.
On to the next project!