Friday 1 February 2013

DIY - Fabric Covered Shoes

What a joyous thing a new pair of shoes can be. Every woman knows that finding that beautiful pair, taking them home and planning an outfit around them can make shoes one of the most fun and versatile accessories you can buy.
But what if you can't afford new shoes? Do you just make do without? Not my way! I took an old pair of boring, plain black ballet pumps that I haven't worn in years and turned them into vintage inspired delights with the help of a little fabric and some glue.


Gather your supplies. You need old shoes, strong glue, scissors, an elastic band (not pictured), and fabric of your choice. You need to be able to lay the fabric over both shoes and have it touch the floor on either side and in the middle.


 
 
Step 1: Remove the bows. If you want to, you can save them to re-attatch later, but mine were too damaged by the removal.
 
 
 
Step 2: drape the fabric over the whole shoe and trim it back a little so that you don't have too much overhang.
 


You need to leave enough fabric to cover the sides, a good trick is to pinch it at the base.


Step 3: Tie an elastic band around the toe, just to keep the fabric in place for the next step.


Step 4: Starting at the heel, make a slit up the full length of the fabric, stopping about a centimetre before you touch the shoe.


Step 5: The messy part! Starting at the toe, apply glue to the shoe and press down the fabric, smoothing it down as much as you can as you go.




It's easier to work a bit at a time rather than apply glue to the whole shoe at once. Work your way down the shoe, crossing the fabric over itself a little at the back.




Step 6: Once the whole shoe is covered and the glue is dry, work your way around the top. Make small slits in the fabric so that it will fold under, add some glue to the inside of the shoe, and pull the fabric under and in, pulling tight and tucking in as you go.



Step 7: Trim around the base of the shoe, adding more glue if needed.


And there we have it, another project done and a new pair of shoes for no money at all!



Total cost: £0.00
Total time spent: 2 hours
 

1 comment:

  1. Interesting! it's way better at all as it is indeed the easiest way to pick the best design and to customize on your own, besides there's no need to spend some money, what you need is time, efforts and patience, another thing left over or scrap fabric will do, as long as it suits your taste.

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