DIY Striped Shoes

Summer is coming, and you're probably breaking out the spring/summer footwear, which is what I did recently--only to discover that all my lovely canvas shoes were totally beaten up and in need of replacement!

The frustrating part of shoe shopping for me has always been finding shoes that were a) Nice b) In my size (UK8.5-9) c) Affordable. Having big feet severely limits what I can get my hands on, and so far I have bought...men's shoes.

Men's shoes are boring.

So I jazzed up my navy canvas slip-ons with some gold paint to give myself something a little more interesting!

This is an easy little DIY that I did sitting on the floor one evening.

You'll need:

Shoes

Masking tape

Acrylic paint or fabric paint

Paintbrush

Optional, for cutting down masking tape (if needed):

Cutting mat

Craft knife

Ruler (I used a quilting ruler as it makes it easier to cut squarely!)

1. If your masking tape is wider than you want your stripes to be, you'll need to cut it down to size. Stick several strip of it to a cutting mat and use a ruler to mark out/cut each strip to the desired width.

I shaved off 0.5" from the tape I had, though I've seen narrower (and wider) masking tape in the hardware store.

2. Tape off the sections of the shoe you don't want to get paint on. Use an extra piece of tape to help you space the stripes out evenly.

3. I had to apply the tape at an angle around the heel.

IMPORTANT: Make sure the tape is really well pressed down or you will get bleed when you paint.

4. Paint up those shoes! Depending on the colour you're using, you might need a couple of coats. I used gold acrylic paint (£1 at a charity shop) and the teeniest bit of water. This paint really doesn't need much dilution for painting onto fabric!

5. Leave to dry and then carefully pull off the masking tape. I ended up with a tiny bit of bleed where I didn't press the tape down properly. That'll teach me to rush.

Despite the tiny bit of bleed, this project was really effective for transforming my shoes.

Now I have nice shoes for the season and can stop stuffing my feet into winter boots ;) Yay!