No more hunting for shoes under the bed!

When I am rushing out the door, the last thing that I want to do is search for shoes that are buried in a pile in the closet or hiding under the sofa. I always seem to find the first shoe easily, but that second shoe is sneaky, hiding in the most unlikely of places.

That's why this shoe valet is such a gem. It hangs from three plastic over-the-door hooks, neatly on the back of any door. I can store my favorite, frequently worn shoes all together in one place so I know exactly where they are -- safely paired in a pocket.

Supplies needed:

• 1 yard of striped canvas fabric

• 5/8 yard each of 3 solid colors of light-weight canvas fabric

• 3 yards of braid trim

• 1/2 yard of one-inch- wide strapping

• 3 plastic over-the-door hooks

• 3-1/4 yards of wide double-fold bias tape

Embroidery Designs from Embroidery Library:

• Sunbonnet Sue designs - large size

Instructions: 

On each piece of the 3 solid-color fabrics, mark out a rectangle that is 24 inches wide by 21 inches high. These will be the pockets.

Split each rectangle into 4 equal quadrants. Center the embroidery designs in the two bottom quadrants of each rectangle. ( I put "Rainy day Shoes" in the top pocket, "Sunny day shoes" in the middle, and "Any day shoes" in the bottom pocket, and matched Sunbonnet Sue designs to each. On the top and bottom pockets, the text is on the left, and on the center pocket, text is on the right.)

After you have finished embroidering, cut out each full rectangle. Fold each rectangle in half so that the top and bottom cut edges meet. The fold in the center will become the top of the pockets.

Stitch the trim along the top edge of each pocket.

From the striped canvas, cut out a rectangle that is 24 inches wide by 36 inches long.

On the large rectangle, mark 2 lines across the 24-inch width--one at 12 inches from the top and one at 24 inches from the top. 

Place the bottom pocket along the bottom cut edge of the rectangle.

Baste the bottom pocket to the large rectangle along the side and bottom edges.

With right sides down, and the top edges of the pockets facing toward the bottom edge of the large rectangle, place the raw bottom edges of the top and middle pockets along the marked lines, so the lines are 1/2 inch in from the cut edges. Stitch the pockets to the large rectangle 1/2 inch from the cut edges through all the layers.

Flip the top and middle pockets up, and stitch the side edges of the pockets to the edges of the large rectangle.

Mark a center line down the middle of each pocket, and stitch a dividing line for each pocket that connects the pocket fabric to the striped rectangle backing.

Encase the entire outer edge of the shoe valet with the wide double-fold bias tape.

Cut the strapping into three 6-inch pieces. Fold each piece in half to create a loop.  Stitch the loops to the left, right, and center top of the shoe valet by sewing a square of stitching through all the layers.
 

Hang the plastic hooks over the top of any door, and place one loop of the valet on each hook. 

Fill the valet with shoes appropriate to your pocket labels.

For rainy day shoes, I put my sneakers. In the sunny day spot, flip flops or sandals for swimming and the beach; and any day will handle shoes for shopping or exercising. 

What's in your shoe valet?