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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 60h00

Cheap custom kicks for us folks who cant buy $2000 Dolce & Gabbana's
I know that Cut Out And Keep is usually centered around showing you how to make things others have already made, but this is a tutorial to make YOUR OWN, ONE OF A KIND pair of shoes, not to perfectly recreate the shoes I have made. I encourage TONS of creativity on this project and ask that you find room for improvement and don't copy my design exactly, as I feel the point of this project should be focused on customization and originality. :]

Posted by ChomperStomper • Published 1st August 2011 • See ChomperStomper's 3 projects »

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Step 1
PLAN:
After you find a pair of shoes to revamp, decide what style you want to go for. The more incredibly overpriced the better. I based my design around a simple wedge ankle boot, but I encourage you to make your dream shoes. Thigh high, knee high, pumps, flats, ANYTHING.

(Dont expect your shoes to come out looking like designer gold, just use this as a basic frame for your shoes shape.)
Step 2
WRAP:
I wanted to keep my original shoe in good shape, so I wrapped the entire thing in a few coats of plastic wrap. Otherwise just start wrapping the shoe in duct tape so you can create a solid foundation.

(I used foam to fill in the gap between the heel and the shoe because I wanted a wedge.)
Step 3
SHAPE:
Cut the cardboard (or plastic) into the desired shape and duct tape it into place. While I only made mine ankle high, you could easily make these calf, knee, or even thigh high with enough materials.

(Its easiest to do both shoes at once so they'll be the same shape)
Step 4
TAPE:
Wrap the entire shoe in duct tape so that all of the cardboard is covered, making the shoes more durable and water proof.
Step 5
DOUBLE CHECK:
Try your shoes on to make sure you're feet still fit in them and the shoes are easy to remove.

(I didn't photograph this step so the image is of the finished shoes.)
Step 6
FABRIC:
Pin fabric over the tape and trim away the excess.

(Be careful to only stick the pins through the tape so you don't end up with holes in your old shoes.)
Step 7
GLUE:
Heat up the hot glue gun, and start unpinning the fabric little by little while adding lines of glue. Be careful to smooth the fabric while gluing or it will be VERY lumpy. (I learned the hard way.)
Step 8
DECORATE:
Since our shoes don't stand a chance against their designer counterparts, lets give them some homemade charm.

Now that you feel like you've wasted a solid hour of your day making these shoes, you get to have some fun. Dig through your art supplies and come up with a theme. Lace around the cuff, buttons down the side, paint them, glitter them, bejewel them, stud them.

(I printed out a design and made a simple stencil and added fabric buttons along the flap.)
Step 9
FASTEN:
Depending on the style of your new shoes, your going to need to find a way to hold them in place. This is where you'll need snaps, buttons, velcro, elastic, laces, or a zipper. Since the majority of the shoe is made of tape, its rather hard to sew through (but not impossible), making the glue gun a viable option for securing the fastener. If you want to go with a laced up look, ribbon can be strung through the boot by either stabbing holes (with a screw driver, or crochet needle) or sewn with an embroidery needle.

If your shoe is open (like a flat, or peep-toe heel) you can skip this step, but for lengthier styles, like a thigh high, this is very necessary.

(Mine had overlapping flaps across the top, so I sewed short pieces of elastic on the interior fabric of the shoe to keep them closed.)
Step 10
DOUBLE CHECK:
If you haven't already, try your shoes on. Mine were a little lumpy on the inside (since the original shoe was lower than the new one) so I sewed a thin later of foam padding along the interior. (An old sock can also be used.)

If your boots feel sticky on the inside from the tape, a pair of knee high socks can serve as a liner.

(Also, my kitten awkwardly in the background.)
Step 11
GIVE YOURSELF A THUMBS UP.
You just made a cereal box and a roll of tape into a custom pair of stompers. :3

(And if you followed the steps, your old shoes are inside this custom cocoon safe and sound, so when these get boring and beat up you can unwrap them like new.)