An article of textile-soled footwear and method of making employ a simple
fabrication process and apparatus that allows fabrication of the footwear
outer shell via a single injection-molding step. The article of footwear
has a textile layer at the ground-contacting surface of the outsole, the
textile layer being moldably and integrally attached, in a common mold,
to the molded outsole as it is being created during the injection
process. Fasteners are set along the side of the sole plate of the
injection mold to secure the textile layer across the sole plate and
prevent it from being moved during injection of the moldable compound to
form the outsole. The sole plate and the sidewalls of the injection mold
are assembled in place for the injection process. The shoe upper is
fitted onto the shoe last and set in place in the mold, the mold is
closed, and the moldable compound is injected into the mold. Once
injection is complete, the mold side walls are opened, the injected shoe
is removed, and the excess textile layer is trimmed. In the preferred
embodiment, the molded outsole layer is made of a thermoplastic resin and
the ground-contacting textile layer is a combination of cotton,
polyester, and Lycra.RTM..