Polka Dot Shoe Redo.

So another week has passed, and Autumn has apparently arrived. Unfortunately - where I live - it has decided to be a tad late.
I am patiently awaiting it's arrival by sipping lots of tea out of pretty cups, because sometimes that's all you can do...

Earl Grey this time - and lemon scented.

Today's post is about something that I have been wanting to try for a very long time, and have finally attempted:

Fabric covered shoes!

Months ago I stumbled upon an excellent tutorial by Grosgrain, as part of her Total Shoe Redo week. More recently I saw a similarly inspiring tutorial on BurdaStyle, and went on a hunt for thrift store shoes.

I have always loved the idea of making shoes unique, but never realised it could be so simple!
So with another friend turning 18 soon, I decided some awesome shoes would be the perfect gift! The only trouble was her shoe size...

Having quite nimble feet myself, it had never occurred to me how difficult it is to find women's shoes in larger sizes that are actually nice. Particularly in thrift stores.
After weeks of searching for some decent size 10 shoes, hunting through countless shelves and deciphering various foreign shoe sizes, I was almost at the point of giving up...

And then I found them!

Sorry for the dreadul image.

Although I was not originally looking for pointed shoes, they seem to be the only option for size 10 feet, and this pair were quite nice (not like something out of Roald Dahl's "The Witches") and would definitely suit Caitlin.
Another perfect thing about these shoes is how much they needed to be recovered; you can only just see it in the above picture, but the black plasticky covering was wrinkled and hideous.

So I found some bright pink fabric that I knew my friend would love, and finally got to work!

A photo of the process.

And here is the final result:

I think they look a little bit 1950's housewife, which is perfect for Caitlin's style. And the pointed toes worked even better than I had hoped with the polka dot fabric.

 Instead of using bias binding around the edge of the shoe, I glued it to the inside, covering the raw edges of the fabric but invisible from the outside.

 I'm also very happy with the pink and black combination. I was worried that not covering the heel would be an issue, but I think it really works!

I decided to cover the brand name on the insole - seeing as the shoe's original destiny has drastically changed now. Love hearts were necessary (as they often are).

Caitlin wont be getting these shoes for a while, but hopefully when she does I can take some photos of them in action!












On the weekend I will have something else exciting and possibly dress-related to share. Here's a sneak peek: