Creating Designer Shoes - Pumps - Heels - To Match a Dress - Part 1

Would you believe that I have nearly 1700 posts on my blog. I have been writing for quite some time. 

I also have about 65 draft blogs that I have started or uploaded pictures to post about and have not written. Sometimes, I think I have written the post and then never really finished it but in my head, I took the pictures, or uploaded the video so I think I have posted it. 

As you know if you follow this blog, I am so busy I only worry about what is just in front of me so it does happen more often than not that I take pictures of busy days and events and then never post about them. 

Just yesterday, I was looking back for specific posts about an annual event and I didn't have one post about it. I know I have taken pictures every year but am so busy at that time of year, it never gets posted. 

This post is one of those posts. I uploaded the pictures and video at the time I made the shoes but because I was so busy, it never got posted. More things happen in our world and I post about those instead. I fully intend on getting to them but just don't seem to get back to the older stuff. I have so many "need to blog" files that I have never gone back to and looked at because things are so busy in my world. 

I was thinking today while pruning a tree that, in a year, I won't have anyone home and what will I have to post about? Maybe next year will be the "go back and finish blogging about....." post year. 

Anyway, this is "part one" about making designer shoes to match specific dresses. If you are going to a formal event or actually anytime you just want to have a pair of shoes for a specific dress, this is the way to do it. No need to spend hundreds on shoes. I have a friend that drove 6 hours to purchase shoes for her daughter to be in a pageant and I spent $3 and some time and Princess Five's shoes are one of a kind and match her dress perfectly.

The first step is to find a pair of shoes you like, that are comfortable, and are inexpensive. You may already have a pair in your closet that are scuffed or an older style or some of your friends may have some they don't want anymore or some in an odd color. The color doesn't matter, the style is what you are looking for at this point. 

Once you find a shoe that you like, you need to find the color you want. Princess and I went to a second hand store for a few weeks looking for a shoe she liked and one day, we were THRILLED to find ones with a round bling rhinestone circle / oval on it that matched the one on her dress exactly! Best part is that they fit and were only $3 and were new as you can see by the sole on the shoe. Most of the shoes we purchase at second hand stores are new. Someone buys them and they don't fit right and they donate them and we benefit from their generosity. 
 
You can purchase spray paint and use masking tape to cover the parts you don't want painted and can stuff the inside with news paper and go to town but if you have a custom color dress, often you can't find spray paint in the color you may need. If this is the case, you may have to customize your paint. Basically if you can find the main color ( for us it was orange) and purchase a black and a white paint as well, you can make most colors from those main color schemes. For me, it was two different oranges mixed that made the color we needed. A brighter orange and a burgundy color. 
 
Just keep mixing the paint until you get close to the color of your dress. You can get a painters color wheel online and add the colors needed to match exactly. Also, you can go to the local hardware store and purchase a small jar of test paint if they have the color of your dress available as they are only a few dollars and the worker at the mixing counter can also help mix the color if you take the dress in to match. They are always very helpful when I need paint mixed.  

I wouldn't suggest painting the sole or the heel of the shoe as it gives it definition but if you are in a hurry, go ahead and paint the entire thing especially if you are using spray paint as it stays on well. 

If you are using a brush or foam, there will most likely be streaks and lines so you will need to let the first coat dry and put on a second coat. When I am letting the first coat of anything dry, I put the paint brush or foam brush into a baggie and twist it around the handle which keeps it from drying out. It also saves you using more than one brush or having a wet and watery brush if you wash it before the second coat. 

After I am finished for sure, I will wash it and let it dry but even when I am painting the house, I wrap the roller in a grocery sack and twist it off and sometimes leave it for up to a week if I am busy. I just pull it out and start up again as it stays wet. I do this if I am in a hurry and don't have time to wash it out right away either and then can get back to it when I have more time. It has saved me lots of money on rollers and brushes over the years. 

Once you have two coats done, it should look fairly good. If the shoes are dark and you are painting them a light color, you may have to do three or four coats to cover the dark or use a primer before hand but two was enough for her shoes. If you don't use spray paint, you have to use a clear coat spray over the shoes. You don't have to mask the heel for this but you want to put some news paper or absorbent towels in the shoes as you don't want the clear coat where you are putting your feet as it can get sticky when your feet sweat etc. 

I am sure it is probably toxic to be in skin contact over time as well so I would never spray it on the shoes without covering the inside of the shoe. The same goes for spray paint. Make sure you have enough to keep the inside from getting any in there. 

You can see how I had them stuffed with paper before spraying them. Also, you need to decide what type of finish you want before you purchase the clear coat. If you want them to be shiny and reflective like a patent leather glossy then you will need to do a few coats of gloss clear coat. 

If you want them to have a leather look, scuff up the paint surface using fine steel wool or fine grit sand paper before painting it and then leave it a little rough on the painting so you can see a texture look and then paint it with a matte finish clear coat giving it some depth and dimension. I would use a foam rather than a brush if you want that look and "sponge" it on to give it texture.

I think we went with a semi-gloss finish so that they wouldn't be really reflective but would still have some glam and glitz to them with the rhinestones.

It wasn't a super big deal to us about the finish as much since we were covering them with fabric / tulle anyway but if you paint them and don't use a clear coat, the paint can scrape off and scuff more easily and if you are going to this amount of effort to make them cute and match a dress, you don't want them looking scuffed and scraped so take the effort and time to use the clear coat and seal the paint in. I am sure they can still get scuffed and scraped just like any shoe so go easy on them. 

You can see that they clearly match the dress and the rhinestone ovals match perfectly. She was so excited to wear them with the dress and perform. As you can see in yesterdays post, they look adorable on and her cute pedicured toes show through as well. 

At this point, you can stop and use the shoes as they are, or you can read tomorrows post and see how to make them even more "designer" by adding lace, tulle, rick-rack, fabric etc. 

Even if we had stopped there, they were cute and adorable. Since I had extra fabric, I chose to move ahead and make them even more designer so tune it tomorrow for "Designer Shoe" part 2. :-) 

Watch the video and if you have any questions, feel free to ask me either on my blog or youtube channel.