The first thing to know, and it is essential, is that the edges of a bootie must be even. Otherwise how do you expect them to fit, or to have a straight seam in the finished work?
To my mind an even, straight edge is the first ingredient of success in this project.
Why edges go wrong
Almost always the same cause: the turning chain.
At the end of a row you make a chain to bring the yarn up to the height of the next row, and whether that chain counts as a stitch varies between patterns. Get it wrong consistently and you gain or lose a stitch every row, and the piece slowly widens or narrows.
Count your stitches at the end of every row. On something as small as a bootie, two stitches gained is a visible distortion.
Read the stitch instructions
Another common mistake is not reading the instructions for the various stitches used – more common than you would think.
Patterns often define their stitches at the top, including any special or non-standard ones. Skipping that section and assuming you know what a stitch is produces a piece that does not match the photograph for reasons that will not be obvious later.
This matters especially where US and UK terms differ. A UK double crochet is a US single crochet, and a bootie worked in the wrong convention will come out roughly twice the intended height.
Yarn and hook
Fine or sport weight yarn with a small hook. The small hook relative to the yarn is deliberate: it makes a firm, close fabric that holds the bootie’s shape and stops small toes working through the stitches.
Soft and machine washable, without exception. Baby items are washed constantly.
Sizing
Measure the foot heel to longest toe, and work the sole to that measurement. Shoe sizes vary between makers; a length does not.
Make them slightly generous. Babies grow through sizes in weeks, and a bootie that fits exactly on the day it is finished has a very short career.
Making them stay on
The perennial problem. A plain slipper-style bootie will be on the floor of the car within ten minutes.
Anything that fastens is better – a strap and button, a tie, or a bootie that comes further up the ankle. A short length of narrow elastic threaded through the ankle round also works and is invisible.
Sew any button on with doubled thread and knot it securely. Anything that can come off a baby’s shoe should be assumed to end up in a mouth.
Finishing
Seam with the same yarn and keep the seam flat – a ridge inside a bootie presses on a foot.
Block them lightly. Small crocheted pieces come off the hook curled, and a light block makes the sole sit flat and the sides stand up properly.
