What are boots and why decorate them?
Valenki are called peculiar boots made of warm felt material. Valenoks can be hard and be an independent product or soft, designed for special shoes, such as rubber boots or overshoes.
Valenki are made of sheep wool by using a special felting technique, which ultimately results in a dense, frost-resistant product. It should be noted that the high thermal insulation of these shoes is due to the functional properties of sheep wool.
So that the sole of the felt boot is worn out more slowly and less wiped, it is hemmed with leather or thick rubber, which also reduces slipping with strong icing.
An interesting fact is that brand new felt boots with not yet rubberized, unformed sole are not divided into right and left. They are shoes with a semicircular foot, which still need to be demolished, since the sole can be hemmed and decorated only with already worn felt boots.
Nowadays, boots are practically not used in everyday life, they are popular only among children and the elderly, because young people prefer the more fashionable and modern models of shoes.
It is in order to breathe a second life into this product and bring the former boots back to its former popularity that it is worth resorting to decorating them with the help of various improvised or specialized tools that can be purchased in any shop with goods for needlework.
The story of the birth
Boots got their origin from the felt boots of the ancient tribe "Pima", whose members were the nomads of Eurasia. Judging by some sources, the history of this shoe has a rather long duration, a long one and a half thousand years.
In Russia, the first boots appeared during the Golden Horde and the warrior with the Mongol-Tatar yoke, since such boots made of felted felt were the traditional shoes of the Turkic soldiers and ordinary people.
In pre-revolutionary times, the production of felt boots occurred exclusively in the Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, Kostroma and Kazan provinces, in the districts separately allocated for this act.
And from the middle of the eighteenth century, all the felting industry was concentrated in the Yaroslavl province, because it was there that they began to breed Romanov breed of sheep on an industrial scale. This location was quite favorable in terms of transportation of raw materials and related financial costs, which in this case were practically absent.
Ways of original finishing
In order to decorate stylishly felt boots a lot to resort to numerous tricks and the most unusual ways, as well as to take advantage of the usual and accessible options for everyone.
For example, the adornment of felt boots with the help of rhinestones will look very unusual, since small and large stones of iridescent, screaming colors and restrained felt boots came into our world from practically different eras, therefore few people would think to combine them.
But, nevertheless, felt boots, decorated with large and small rhinestones, look very nice and even glamorous, depending on the composition created by the rhinestones.
Valenoks can be embroidered with decorative small beads, from beads of which even whole images are created, and not just patterns of the same type. Also, you can embroider felt boots with different colored sequins, which will give this shoe a more modern look.
When it comes to embroidery on felt boots, ordinary floss threads can be used to create various applications, or you can resort to a more creative way by embroidering a pattern on felt boots with the help of satin ribbons.
Boots can be decorated in various ways with the use of fur. For example, a narrow fur edging can be sewn along the top edge of the product. Or, on the outer sides of the boots, they often attach flowers and other ornaments made of fur patches.
The decoration of felt boots occurs on the same principle as the manufacture of the shoe itself - wet felting technique is used, and the resulting appliqué is then sewn to the product.
To give a more feminine look, you can use all kinds of beads and laces for simple felt boots. And for especially creative girls who own the art of drawing, there is an unusual way - the decor of felt boots with hair dye.
Initially, the required drawing is applied to the product with a simple pencil, then the paint solution is prepared and the necessary details are painted over with it.
How to decorate children's boots for girls?
Children love a variety of colorful clothes and shoes, because when like in childhood they enjoy bright colors and unusual products, which, as they grow older, increasingly become secondary.
To please your baby, you can decorate the boots with the image of an animal, such as a cat or a bear. If it is possible, it is better to make an image of the animal separately, using felting technique and then attach it to felt boots. If there are no relevant materials or skills, you can simply draw the animal, specialized paints or simple hair dyes.
Girls also love images of flowers, butterflies, stars, and various snowflakes, which can be made into valenki decoration with the help of embroidery with threads, beads, small beads, sequins or ribbons of different widths.
Since little women of fashion love different bows, you can sew them from ribbons, lace or any other beautiful fabric, and then attach them to your shoes, adding small gems, large rhinestones or beads of different sizes to your shoes.
You can build a small square cap on a felt boot and paint the product by disguising it as a shoe with some of the fabulous heroines, such as Little Red Riding Hood. Any girl will be delighted with such boots!
Beautiful images
White felt boots with rubberized soles are decorated with a print depicting French sweets. Simple-looking jeans of a narrower model and a thin peachy sheepskin coat with elegant patterns in the oriental style are perfect for such pretty felt boots.
Light gray felt boots with a large embroidered red flower and a green stem are perfect for dressing in the best traditions of a rustic style. A long brown skirt, sandy sheepskin coat with fur ruffles on the sleeves and a white shawl with a floral print are what you need for this look.
Cropped valenki with decorative felted balls, folding in the pattern, will look great with white tights, decorated with floral print. As an outerwear, a coat embroidered in the best traditions of the Russian folk style is quite suitable, and among the headdresses it is better to stop the choice on a boyarke's fur hat.
- White valenki in the oversized style are decorated with numerous details made in the technique of felting. White tights, a white woolen dress of mini length, and a warm knitted sweater made of thick yarn will perfectly fit into this look, and a high felt hat will become an unusual final element.
- Bright felt boots with embroidery in the form of bright flowers with green leaves look not very bad in combination with a white skirt cut "sun", a shortened white jacket with a fluff and a black belt on the belt.A beautiful final detail of the image is a volumetric scarf and mittens with a print in the form of bright small colors.
