Sunday, April 3, 2011

Folks would kill to fill your shoes

A source of great frustration for me is the fact that I can't make everything. I would really love to learn how to make shoes and hats (obviously making hats is a more realistic goal). I am always on the lookout for shoe lasts or a hat block. I had never thought of covering shoes with fabric until I saw the tutorial on Burdastyle. I wanted to cover some shoes as soon as I saw it but it took a while to find the right shoes and fabric. Although, it isn't quite making your own, it's still a fun way to personalise your shoes.

Wedges pre- makeover


I started with a pair of second hand wedges that I got off Trademe for $10 and a skirt that I had bought at the op-shop. The skirt was made of gorgeous fabric but didn't fit me very well.

Skirt used to cover wedges


I did a few things differently to the Burdastyle tutorial. I didn't have any self-adhesive fabric so I just used some fabric scaps and attached them with double sided tape to make the pattern. It seemed to work. I used Mod Podge glue to glue the fabric on and then did another layer of glue over the top to seal it. I left the shoes overnight to dry and then cut off the excess fabric around the sole with a craft knife. There was some dried glue bits on the thin strip of sole that you could see around the bottom of the shoe so I used some black nail polish to cover it.

Floral wedges side view


It was quite difficult getting the fabric smooth around the curves, especially on the toes. The glue also makes the shoe very stiff so I wouldn't use shoes that are a little bit tight. These fitted me perfectly before and they still fit me but they are a tiny bit snug. I think next time I will use shoes half a size bigger than I normally wear.

Floral Wedge side


I'm really pleased with the way they turned out though. I can't stop thinking about the next pair I want to do.

Floral wedges in action

Floral wedges side

14 comments:

  1. These look great! I'd love to try it myself, but now I just have to find the shoes...

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  2. Wow the result is amazing! I hope you'll have lots of others to show us :)

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  3. Wow! Great tip and they've turned out brilliantly!

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  4. I love them. That is such a creative idea and it looks like it has worked so well.

    I received my blog giveaway parcel on Friday, I love it, especially the Australian Home Journal. Thank you so much.

    xx

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  5. These look fantastic! I have a pair of shoes already which I am going to apply the same principal to, mine are wedge sandals though. At the moment I cant decide between recovering them in denim or leather. Have being on the hunt for an enclosed pair too, we may just be bidding against each other on Trade Me in coming weeks!

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  6. They look so cute with your stockings!

    And I know what you mean about the toes being difficult. I recently covered some pointy shoes and it was tricky!

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  7. That is awesome! What a cool idea, now I want to try it!

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  8. Those look amazing! You did a great job getting the fabric on so perfectly. And the flowers let you carry summer right into the fall :)

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  9. Oh, I'm so glad I found your blog (through my friend, Amy of Sewing Through the Motions)! The fabric covered shoes is SUCH a cool idea! Yours turned out great.

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  10. Thanks for sharing, would of never thought of that.

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  11. OK seriously, that is just Fab.U.Lous.

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  12. have never thought of doing something like that but it turned out great!

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