Itachi Sandals

[Koani]

Hey, I've never really known how to make any kind of Naruto sandals, so I was wondering if anyone can help me.

This is my first time cosplaying and I don't really know much about making costumes. If anyone could help me I would really appreciate it.

[BrightHeart76]

I know nothing about making shoes, so I'm not much help.  but if you're willing to buy the shoes qqcosplay has naruto ninja sandals.   Hope that helps.

[Koani]

Thanks, I'll try and figure out what I can

[1Fireforge]

Personally, I don't really like the sandals from Naruto, but I would be happy to help with some tips on making your own pair.  If all you want is the sandals and you're not too concerned with making them yourself, there are quite a few ebay auctions out there for them.  However, if you're gung-ho about being crafty, awesome!  I'll give you the condensed version of how I would go about making a pair (for more information, I may be hosting a panel on shoes and boots =)

The sole is basically a slightly curved rectangle with a semicircle on each side.  You could use an old pair of sandals if you want and take off the straps, or find some thick closed cell foam and cut the shape out of that.  However, the sole is made in two parts.  There is the bottom part that is thicker (that's where you use the old sandal) and is about half an inch thick.  Then there is top part which has the same shape as the bottom, but is much thinner (more like a quarter of an inch or 3/16ths) that gets glued on top of the bottom part.  That thin part (you can use some dense foam material at Michael's) is what you sew the upper (i.e. the "upper" part that goes around your foot) to and then glue the whole thing onto the bottom part.  The "naruto_good" graphic below uses a technique similar to what I have described.

The upper is basically cloth sewn together.  Do some research and get some close ups of the sandals to get some ideas of how the upper is patterned and where the seams are.  If you're not too concerned about being super authentic, you can just sew something that fits well and looks reasonable.   As far as getting a good fit, you can either use zippers, velcro, or make the upper out of a sturdy but stretchy material that you just slip your foot inside.  

The hardest part is that you have to use some heavy duty needles to poke through the bottom of the upper, then through the thin foam piece to attach it.  Once the upper is attached to the thin foam piece, you use rubber cement or the like to attach the thin foam piece with the upper on it to the bottom sole.  

Again, this is quite hard to describe using words, so I did some searching and here are four pictures of these Naruto sandals, in order of increasing quality.  

- FF

http://www.geocities.com/torlanswingmeister/naruto_poor.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/torlanswingmeister/naruto_fair.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/torlanswingmeister/naruto_decent.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/torlanswingmeister/naruto_good.jpg

[Koani]

Awesome! I'll keep it in mind, and I can't wait to try it on, I'm going to the fanime con. in San Jose, so I'm getting everything ready ^^