Cheap Shoe Makeover

So I bought these shoes for $3 at Walmart to go with a dress, and ended up not wearing them. I would never wear plain white flats otherwise, and these looked so cheap...probably because they were. I have seen painted shoes before, and I didn't have much to lose, so I decided to try a makeover. They turned out so well that I decided to share how to make them!



Supplies:
Large flat paint brush
Small flat detail brush
Acrylic paint
Paint sealer
Ugly pleather/synthetic shoes
Bows/charms/whatever to decorate

Make sure your shoes are clean before you start, so the paint will stick.
I just used some plain acrylic paint I had from Joann's:



And this great multi purpose sealer I got there as well.



I also had a flat tip paint brush, about 3/4" wide, and another about 1/4" wide. I used the large brush over most of the shoe, and the smaller one for the edges so I didn't smear paint on the fabric edge or the rubber.

Ok, so start with one coat of paint. Doesn't need to be even, and you can spread it thin. The first coat doesn't stick well, but that's why we do more than one.



Next, add another coat. You can put it on a little thicker this time, since it will stick better. It might look good enough, but we will do one more coat for insurance.



Finally, do a third coat. This should give you an even color all over.




Let your paint dry completely, and then move onto the sealer. It comes out white, but it dries clear. Brush it on thin, and go slow. It might bring up a little of the paint and look like it will be uneven or bubbly, but just brush in long, even strokes and it should look ok when it dries.



Next are the bows. I had a rectangle of wool felt, and I cut it in half to make two 3"x4" rectanlges.



Put two folds in your rectangle and pinch to make a bow. Take a 1/2" strip of felt and wrap it around a few times, stopping in the back.



Run a few stitches through the back of your bow with some embroidery floss (floss is made up of 6 strands, but I only used 3), making sure to catch both the bow and the strip.



If you want to sew on a charm, you can do that, too.



To sew your bow onto your shoes, use a needle with a big eye and a sharp point. You may want to grab a thimble to push the needle through. Starting on the inside of the shoe, go out through the pleather, catch the back of the bow, and go down and back through the pleather. Put about 3-4 loose stitches in, and carefully pull all the stitches taut and tie a few knots in your thread, and cut.



All done with your new shoes! I am really pleased with how these came out, and now I am going to scour my closet to see if I have any other shoes I can paint!



I wore these today to see how they held up, and despite rubbing them together and running into things, they have no scratches. That sealer is the key, it really makes them look nice and durable.

Toddler Sweatshirt To Hoodie Refashion

My son has a lot of ugly clothing. There are several hand-me-downs that just sit in his closet because I can't stand to put them on him unless they are to be used as pajamas. This sweatshirt is one of those things.



It's just so icky. I hate sweatshirts like this anyway, on anyone. They look so frumpy. But this one is even worse, because of my deep dislike for typical gender stereotypes. I'm pretty sure boys like things besides sports, construction equipment and licensed Disney characters...but I digress. Back to the tutorial!

I decided to turn this into a hoodie, because I have seen other people do similar projects that turned out great, and I bought a bunch of knit solids on clearance a while back and I wanted to see what I could do with them. I think I started with a 1/3 of a yard of red interlock knit, maybe 1/2, but I didn't use all of it, so I think 1/3 should be just fine. This is a 4T shirt, but it fit more like a 2/3T.

Supplies:
Ugly sweatshirt
Seam ripper
Thread (the color is up to you, I used black just for the heck of it)
1/3 yard or so of contrasting knit fabric (jersey, interlock, rib, it doesn't really matter, as long as it is somewhat similar in weight to your sweatshirt fabric)

Step 1: Grab your seam ripper and remove the sleeves, sleeve cuffs, and waistband, and open up the sleeve seam (you only need one, as it will just be a pattern piece). This will take a bit, so grab a drink, relax and take your time.



You should be left with the body, 2 sleeve cuffs, 1 opened sleeve, and your waistband.



Step 2: Fold your contrast fabric so that you are able to cut through 2 layers, and place your opened sleeve on top. Cut around the edges and you will have two new sleeves.



Step 3: To make the pieces of the hood, fold your shirt body up so that you have a side view (the shoulder armholes should be face to face on the inside). Lay your shirt on your contrast fabric, and mark the edge of the neckhole in back, plus a 1/2" or so seam alloance. Mark the edge in the front, plus a 1 1/2" seam allowance. Draw a curved line between your two marks to make the bottom of the hood.



I realize that a picture of this whole step would have been more helpful, but I'm sure you can figure out what I mean.

Step 4: Find a hoodie that fits your child, and lay the hood down so that you have your 1/2" allowance in the back, 1 1/2" in the front, and 1/2" at the neck. Trace around the hood, leaving the same 1/2" allowance. Cut your hood out.



Step 5: Fold your fabric so that you will be cutting out two pieces. Lay your waistband with the raw edge against the bottom of your contrast fabric, and mark the sides, leaving a 1/2" seam allowance. Pivot the waistband up, so that the raw edge is now facing the opposite direction, and mark along your raw edge, so you have two pieces that are double the heigh of the band. (Note: my waistband was sewn together pretty tight, so I had to do this to get double the height...if you take yours off and can open it up so that it is an unfolded tube, you can just mark along the top and bottom, and leave 1/2" allowance on the sides.)



Now you should have two hood pieces, two waistband pieces, two sleeves, and your wrist cuffs and shirt body.



Step 7: Sew around the curve of your hood.



Fold the raw edge of your face opening 1/2" over, toward the inside. Fold another 1/2" and pin, so that your raw edge will be encased. Sew your hem up 1/4" from the outer edge of the face opening.



Sew down your seam allowances on each side of the curve of your hood, about 1/4" from the seam on either side.



Step 8: Fold your sleeves in half and sew down the sides.



Grab the wrist cuffs you saved, and pin the raw edges to the raw edge of the sleeve, right sides facing together.



Sew about 3/8" from the edge, then fold the cuff up and point the seam allowance up towards the top of the sleeve. Sew about 1/4" from the sleeve/cuff seam.



Step 9: Take your waistband pieces and sew them together on each side. Fold your tube in half, so that the seams are on the inside, to form your waistband.



Align the raw edge of the waistband with the bottom of your shirt, side seams of the waistband lined up with the shirt seams. Sew around.



Flip the waistband open and point the seam allowance up toward the top of the shirt. Stitch the seam allowance down like you did with the sleeve cuffs.



Step 10: Flip your shirt body inside out, and your sleeves right side out. Place your sleeve in the armhole, with the seams aligned. Pin all around.



Sew your sleeves on, flip the shirt right side out, and point your seam allowance toward the neck of the shirt and sew down.



Almost there! You could stop here if you don't want to add the hood.



Step 11: Find the center back of your neck opening. Pin the RIGHT side of your hood to the WRONG side of the neck opening. (Note: Sorry, the shirt is facing right side out in this picture, and I flipped it inside out for the next picture. I should have just flipped it first and then started pinning, so the pictures would make sense. Oops!)



Pin the hood the rest of the way around, so that the edges of the hood meet in the front, but don't overlap. You may have to stretch the hood or the neck a bit to get them to align, but that's ok.



Now, set your machine to a zig zag stitch. IF YOU DON'T, YOUR NECK OPENING WON'T STRETCH! Remember, your kid needs to be able to fit their noggin through!

Sew a zig zag down the middle of your neck cuff, all the way around. I was lazy and just used some navy blue for my bottom thread and black for my top thread, so to have the black facing, I had to flip the shirt right side out and sew. Don't be like me; sew from the inside. It's much easier to keep your hood aligned with your neck hole if you can actually see the edge of the hood.



Done! If your child is going to wear a goofy sports sweatshirt, it might as well be as cute as you can make it, right?



This is my first full sewing tutorial, so I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense, or it's way too long, or whatever else. I welcome questions and comments!