Anyways, I've been in dire need of some new boots lately, but I just can't justify spending $50 on some crappy boots from Target that won't last the rest of the season. (And I can't afford to spend $150 on good boots that will...) What I can spend, however, is $3 on some ugly shoes from Goodwill and $2.50 on a sweater. Yay for half price day! Also, I just need to add that these are unused shoes from Goodwill. I guess the Target around here gives their things that they couldn't even clearance to Goodwill.
I think they turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. Wanna know how I did it?
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| Ugly Goodwill Shoes (Trust me, they look cuter in the picture than they did in real life) |
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| Not Quite So Ugly Sweater |
First, cut the sleeves off the sweater. When you're cutting them off, make sure you cut on the body side of the seam, not the sleeve side. This helps to prevent unraveling.
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When you are placing the sleeve over the shoe, make sure the seam is just a little bit past the sole of the shoe. Maybe half an inch? Don't worry, it won't stay like this, but doing this will help hide that ugly seem that you left on when cutting the sleeve off of the sweater when you flip it inside out.
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| Leave a bit of the fabric overlapping the sole. |
Pull the sweater fabric tight enough to give it some shape, but not so tight that you won't be able to put the boots on once they're finished. Pin along the back and CAREFULLY take the shoe and sleeve off. You'll be pinning back quite a bit of fabric near the ankle, if you don't pin back enough, your boot will have a funny shape near the foot and ankle when you're finished.
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| Don't mind my pasty leg. Eew. |
Now bust out that sewing machine and go to town. Sew along the line you made with the pins. This part is pretty quick and easy.
When you are done sewing, trim off all the excess fabric.
Here is where I kind of forgot to take pictures. With the sleeve still inside out, line the long seam of the sleeve up with the heel of your shoe and secure it in place with some hot glue. Make sure that shoulder seam is about half an inch up the shoe from the sole. This will get glued in to place and fold back over on itself.
Working around the shoe, bit by bit, keep securing the sleeve to the shoe. I found it easiest to start at the heel and work my way around the sole up to the front on each side. Then I sent back and kept adding more glue, working my way up the shoe.
Anyone who has worked with hot glue before knows that there is not a whole lot of room for error so adding little bits at a time is your best bet. Towards the end when I was gluing the sleeve to the top of the shoe, it was getting pretty tricky. I had to keep adding a little glue and keep turning the sleeve in and out, in and out. After the sleeve was glued to the shoes, I went back to the sole and added more glue to make sure that the sweater stayed in place at the base of the shoe (and covering up and bits of ugliness left over...)
The cuffs of the sweater that I had were already folded over and sewn in place when the sweater was made. If that's not the case with your sweater, you'll have to cut them off, flip them inside out and sew them back on so the cuffs fold over the top of the boot.
Now you can add any embellishment you would like. I will probably be adding a button or two to each boot, but I didn't have any on hand so I'll have to find some and add them later.
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And Oscar was pretty impressed with my work too. :)
