Attaching Elastic and Ribbons to Flat Shoes

Sewing elastic on flat shoes - girls

First fold down the heel of the shoe and flatten it out. Trace the seam the fold makes from the inside of the shoe. It should be a semi-circle. Use this as a guide to sewing on your elastic. Stitch around all four sides of the elastic making sure you don’t stitch the drawstring. Position the elastic down into the shoe as much as possible for a strong arch line.

Sewing elastic on flat shoes - boys

Male dancers can cross the elastics. Using the same position as the girls use with the folding down of the shoe for the first piece of elastic. You simply need two pieces of elastic, and just sew them across the top of the shoe in an "X" shape. This is a good idea if you have tapered feet.

Attaching Ribbon to Ballet Shoes - Girls

To begin you will need ribbon, elastic, thread and a needle. First you will cut the ribbon into four even pieces. The ribbon is rough on one side and smooth on the other. The rough side is placed toward your leg to reduce slipping.
To prevent the ribbons from fraying, the ends can be run very quickly through a match flame to melt the nylon fibers together.
Fold the back of the shoe down toward the insole and sew the ribbons on in the angle created by the fold (pin them first to make sure they are in the correct position).
To prepare the ribbon, fold the end over ¼ of an inch twice. This makes the ribbon-to-shoe connection stronger and hides the end of the ribbon, which prevents the ribbon from fraying. The ribbon should be attached at the previously specified location with small, close whip stitches, starting at the seam of the casing, down one side, across the bottom, and up the other side, using a double strand of thread.
Make sure you go through all thickness of the ribbon, but only the white canvas lining of the shoe. Also be sure to start your stitches at or below the seam in the casing so as to avoid catching the drawstring.

How to Tie Your Ballet Shoes

Before you tie the ribbons around your ankle, you should tie the drawstring. The drawstring should be pulled by both ends until there are no gaps in your shoe. Then, tie a knot and tuck the ends into your shoe. Anything in excess of two or three inches should be trimmed off.
Cross the ribbons across your instep; wrap them around the back to cross at your ankle, and again across the instep.
The ribbon on the outside of your foot is then wrapped around the back again to meet the ribbon on the inside of your foot. They should meet behind your ankle bone and in front of your Achilles tendon, on the inside of your leg. Here the two ribbons are tied into a knot. Any ribbon in excess of about three inches is trimmed off.
Next tuck one end toward the front of your shoe and the other end toward the back of your shoe. Lastly, pull a flat ribbon out and over to cover the knot. It is a good idea to spray the knot with hair spray for performances. This will stop ribbons coming out.
Always tie the knot on the inside of your ankle, not at the back. It won't be putting pressure on your tendon this way.
Keep your feet flat when doing your ribbons so that the ribbon doesn’t cut off circulation.

Jazz Shoes
It is a good idea for jazz shoes to use elastic instead of laces. This prevents and ends coming out and loose bows looking messy. Simply unthread the laces that come with the shoe and thread through some elastic, once it is at the desired tension tie it in a knot and cut off any loose edges. This also makes it much easier for the student to slip their shoes off and on, they won't have to worry about doing up their laces.