Toddler Tabi and Zouri Straps

For sewing my son's tabi, I had him place his foot on paper and we traced an outline of his foot. He liked this step!

I then scaled down an adult tabi pattern (printable stretch tabi pattern available on Saiya-chan's website, Oranda no Kitsuke) and sewed up a test tabi sock from old clothing scraps.

Test tabi. I added iron-on interfacing on the sole, it helped prevent the sole from stretching and misshaping. I wanted to make this test tabi first to insure the shape and size is comfortable.

It fit wonderfully!

And the iron-on interfacing helps the sole keep a good shape.

I used plain white stretch fabric for the actual tabi, and made them lined with the same material. The sole has 2 interfaced layers, which made them extraordinarily soft and cushy. I ended up removing the zig-zag stitching around the cuff, as it was unnecessary and only made the ankle less stretchy.


Tabi socks take some getting used to! I think it was a strange sensation for him, like having a toe wedgie, ha! He kept wiggling his toes.

Zouri are difficult for small kids to keep on their feet, if they aren't accustomed to flip flop sandals. Since he kept playing with his toes in the tabi, I figured he'd still be wiggling his toes with the zouri on, so I decided to make elastic straps to help keep them on his feet.

I already shared these in my previous post, I know. Suberi-tome, non-slip straps for zouri. They make these straps for children, usually red or pink for girls, and off-white for boys, with the fabric sewn sheered over the elastic. You can see here how I've removed the zig-zag stitch from the tabi.

I wanted these to blend in, as I feel the store-bought ones stand out very much. So I used the same fabrics as I used for the hanao straps and tabi, and since the tabi fabric is stretchy, I could wrap it around the elastic without sewing in and having it sheered and bunched-up looking. I used hammer-on snaps for these, for strength. The straps really helped the zouri stay on his feet!