Flashback: Fabric Covered Shoe Makeover

By Brookelynn Morris

Cute shoes are hard to find, but for some reason, ugly shoes are readily available. Turn lemons into lemonade with quick shoe makeover. Spray on glue makes it easy to cover old shoes with new fabric.

For this project, I chose a fabric with a tie-dye pattern that was very forgiving to work with. Because the bright colors all blend together, I didn’t need to worry about lining up any patterns or making sure my seams were perfect. The project that was way easier than I thought it would be, and the shoes are completely transformed into something fresh and fashionable.

Materials

Old shoes

Paper drop cloth

Directions

Step 1: Cut a piece of fabric that covers the toe, sides and top of the shoe. Align the edge of the fabric with the edge of the shoe’s toe. Use tailor’s chalk to mark the center of the toe. This line will be your guide for tracing and placement.

Step 2: Keeping the toe mark lined up with the toe, hold the fabric on the shoe with one hand and trace the outside edge of the shoe with the other.

Step 3: Cut the fabric down the center of the opening in the top of the shoe. Cut almost all the way to the shoe, stopping about 1/4″ from the shoe.

Step 4: Using the chalk as your guide, cut out the general shape. Lay paper down to catch the overspray from the glue, and then spray glue all over the back of the fabric.

Step 5: Working as quickly as you can, place the glued fabric on the shoe. Start by lining up the chalk mark with the center of the toe, then tug and smooth the fabric over the rest of the shoe. You have a minute or two before the glue fully sets, which gives you time to pull gently on any wrinkles.

Step 6: To wrap the fabric around the opening for the foot, make cuts into the fabric. Cut all the way to the edge of the shoe and then fold the flaps down and press them into the shoe.

Step 7: Cover the back of the shoe in using the same methods in steps 1-5. I traced along the seam where the back of the shoe meets the heel, cut my pattern, and sprayed the glue and wrapped the shoe.

Step 8: Cover the heel of the shoe last. Cut and apply glue to a piece of fabric that will wrap all the way around the heel. Stick the fabric to the heel, smooth it out, then make the cuts necessary to wrap the heel without any wrinkles. Be sure to trim the fabric as close to the bottom of the heel as possible.

Step 9: Erase the chalk marks and get ready to step out in style!