Shoe Refashion with Acrylic Paint

Shoe Refashion!

Lately, I've had this obsession with ballet flats.  I have this one pair that are navy blue and have a flowered print on them...they are my favorite! And I've gotten so many compliments on them.  I got them on sale at Gabes for $7.99! 

So, now I want to have a pair of ballet flats for every outfit. =)

 And I decided to make some purple flats!

I love how these turned out!

To refashion a pair of shoes like this you'll need:

Shoes (Mine cost $3 and I got them at goodwill...surprise, surprise ;) )

Rubbing Alcohol

Acrylic Paint

Mod Podge

Scissors

Paint Brush

Hot Glue

This is how the shoes looked before I did anything to them.

I grabbed my scissors and snipped off that stringy bow.

The next move was to pour rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab, tissue, etc...I used toilet paper.  I rubbed that alcohol soaked t.p. all over the outside of the shoes. This step strips off that shiny coating from the shoe and helps the acrylic paint "stick" to your shoe.

Next, I let the shoe dry.  This didn't take long. 



On to the painting....

The paint I used was acrylic craft paint in the color Plum.

I brushed on a thin coat of paint on the shoe. I used an actual paintbrush. However, if you don't want to deal with any stray bristles that might fall off, you could also use a sponge brush.

This is what one coat of paint looks like: 

I let each coat of paint dry completely before adding another coat. I ended up doing about 6 coats of paint.

After the last coat of paint dried, I painted one coat of mod podge (I used generic homemade mod podge on mine).

This is how they look after the coat of mod podge dried.

Now I had to decide what embellishment I wanted on this shoe. I originally wanted a white lace bow on each one.  However, when I sewed the little bow and held it up, it wasn't a great look.

Then it dawned on me that my boyfriend's grandmother had just given me a HUGE bag of buttons!

So I searched through the treasure trove of buttons and found these:

My 6 year old daughter suggested that we make these into earrings. But seeing as how I'm not a Golden Girl, I decided they would look better on a pair of shoes than on my ear lobes. ;)

 I started out by hand sewing the buttons on to keep them in place.

And to keep the buttons from moving around, I used hot glue to really secure them on the shoe. 



And this is the finished product!

Cute, right? 

And I have the most perfect sweater to go with my new shoes! YAY! =D



Thanks for reading!

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Refashion A Skirt Into An Infinity Scarf

From This...

To This....

 

Here's how....

This started out as a long straight skirt.  I cut off the waist band, used a seam ripper to take the zipper out, and took out the back seam to open up the skirt. I put it out on the floor to measure and cut the fabric. I wanted my scarf to be on the skinny side because I don't feel comfortable with alot of bulky material around my neck, so I measured 7 inches from the bottom of the skirt and cut from one side to the other. I realized that my strip of fabric wouldn't be long enough for an infinity scarf, so I cut two strips of fabric the same width and length.

 

I cut two strips so I could sew them together end to end to make them long enough.  It made my fabric strip 70".  That was just the right amount for my infinity scarf to wrap around my neck twice and be the length I was comfortable with.

Next, I folded my fabric in half lengthwise and pinned. (At this point, check to make sure both ends are the same size...if they aren't, trim them with scissors until they match. This will make it easier when you sew the ends together later on.)

  



Now, onto the sewing...

I sewed down the long side with a 1/2" seam allowance.

Once I was finished sewing, I ended up with an inside out tube of fabric.

 

This would be the point where you would iron the seam open. I didn't do this because I'm lazy and didn't want to drag out my ironing board. I do recommend this step if you a) like things perfect or b) you are giving this as a gift.  Neither of these applied to me so I didn't care. ;)

Next, I turned the fabric right side out.

 

Now this is the tricky part. (not really tricky to do as much as it is explaining how to do it.)  To join the ends together, I matched up the inside seams and pinned. I put the fabric in the machine then sewed my way around the circle sewing the ends together until the circle got too small to sew. At this point, I took the fabric out of the machine, folded the raw ends under and put it back under the needle and sewed the gap shut.  This method makes the seam visible. I, however, didn't care because this scarf is for me and I knew my hair would hide the seam.  If you like things perfect or are giving this as a gift, you should hand sew the rest of the opening shut instead of putting it back in the machine.

And that's all there is to it. Super easy!

So easy, in fact, my 6 year old daughter sewed most of this one and one for herself!(With guidance, of course, but still.)

And I love that I didn't have to go out and buy fabric for this. I just used old clothes that I don't wear anymore! =)

 ****NOTE****

The scarf for my 6 year old was made the exact same way EXCEPT the fabric was cut 7" x 48" and we only cut one strip of fabric.

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