Cozy Shoe Inserts

We recently went on a cup cozy hackathon, inspired by an overabundance of cup cozies jamming a kitchen drawer.We found all sorts of uses for the foam cozies, and when I saw the "Feet" Contest , it occurred to me that cozies actually do feel a lot like those foam shoe inserts. On a lark, and because I have a pair of shoes I thought could be a little more comfortable, I thought I'd give it a shot.

To my delight, my cozy shoe inserts are very comfortable!

Cup Cozies

Newspaper (for pattern making)

Shoes

Scissors

Seam ripper

It took less than ten minutes, start to finish, to make my first cozy shoe insert.

First, cut off the little base piece, then use a seam ripper to open one side of the cup cozy. With the other cozy hack, I just cut off the seam, but since I wanted to preserve as much foam material as possible for my shoe insert, I went with the seam ripper for this project.

When you're done, you should have about a 9" x 3" foam rectangle (length may vary by cozy style).

I wear a woman's size 8 1/2 shoe and this was just the right length to create my insert.

Lay a flat soled shoe on a piece of newspaper and trace. I was creating the insert for a low heeled shoe, but figured I'd get a more accurate pattern from a moccasin or slipper type shoe, which in fact turned out to be the case.

Obviously, if you've got store bought shoe inserts you already use, use one of those for your pattern, and skip the next couple of steps.

Just like it says - cut out your pattern.

Since I measured along the outside of my shoe, I knew my pattern was going to be a little on the large size. So I slipped it into my test shoe, and trimmed my pattern accordingly until it fit neatly into the shoe.

Lay your paper pattern over your foam cozy rectangle and cut to fit.

Trim your cozy insert a bit more, if needed, and then go for a walk! I found it really comfortable.

If you feel like the printed side might be too gaudy for your tastes, in the event that you like to slip your feet out of your shoes, insert it solid side up. There's a small seam on the solid colored side, but it's soft like the rest of the foam and I couldn't feel it when I walked.

The printed side is typically neoprene or nylon and the inside is usually open cell foam or something similar, which might make a difference, over time, with foot comfort. Experiment with different types of cozies you may have lying around.

But in pinch, I'd say cup cozies make pretty decent shoe inserts!