I had a big writers conference a few weeks ago. Naturally, I don't have 51 other weeks of the year to prepare, so I found myself shopping & making over my wardrobe for those few days in a hurry.
Fortunately, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and was able to get the supplies together quickly, so I got them done in time.
Makeover 1
Before shot!
You might remember this picture from the last time
I refashioned these shoes. The color did fade quite a bit when I finally rinsed them out, but I really decided to refashion them because I never wore them anymore.
First I painted the heels (fake cork) and the fabric under the toes with matte black spray paint. (Note the other pair of shoes waiting in the background.)
The uppers are fabric (most likely cotton) and I wanted to keep the fabric feel to them, so I hunted down glitter fabric paint. At first I planned to use this
glitter spray fabric paint, but I decided to go with
Tulip Soft Fabric Paint Glitter instead. It took five coats to get complete coverage, no joke. (Mod podge & glitter might have been better.)
The result's not bad, but there are 2 problems with this: when you turn the shoe at an angle, the blue shows through a
lot, and that many layers of fabric paint make the shoe kind of . . . sticky. It doesn't stick to things as you wear them, but if you leave them touching in your closet or set them on, say, a pen, there's a sticking issue. It hasn't ripped off any paint yet, but it's a problem.
Makeover 2
Before!
When I originally dyed the first pair of shoes blue, I seriously debated making them yellow instead. It's been two years and I still wanted yellow shoes, so I decided to go for it. For these fake patent leather shoes, I picked up some glossy spray paint,
Rust-Oleum American Accents Ultra Cover Gloss in Sun Yellow.
I'm so bad at spray painting, guys. It's not even funny. I tell myself, go easy, thin layers, you'll get good coverage. But then I push that button and I'm like COVER IT COVER IT COVER IT oh crap it's dripping—better make it drip everywhere MORE MORE MORE MORE and done.
Okay, it's kinda funny. Fortunately, you can't see the bubbles & unevenness in the paint unless you look closely.
To do it right, instead of how I did it:
1. DON'T PAINT ON A WINDY DAY. At the very least, it's aggravating. At the worst, you'll have vital supplies blow away and dirt and leaves stick to your wet paint.
2. Use gloves (I did do this).
3. Spray even, light layers.
4. Be sure to cover all parts of the shoes. You don't have to do the inside (I did anyway), but for open toed shoes, be sure to get the part under your toes. I also did the underside of the heels.
5. Turn the shoes to get all sides. I found holding the shoe by the inside of the heel gave a lot of control and mobility, and then I painted the heel last. While painting, keep the other shoe a safe distance away.
6. You may want to verrrry carefully move any pieces of the shoe that overlap or touch between coats so they don't get painted together.
7. Let dry an hour between coats.
8. Let dry several days to reduce the spray paint smell.
9. Keep the paint for touchups.
And after!
I love them!! The paint chipped a tiny bit and there are small drips and bubbles that *I* notice, but who is going to get down and examine my shoes that closely?
They were also a hit at the conference! I even made the #Storymakers14fashion feed with the conference co-chair:
The glitter shoes also made #storymakers14fashion, but they weren't the stars of the picture . . .
