Custom TOMS shoes tutorial

Just in case you missed my monthly submission at The Southern Institute.


Do you have a crafting bucket list?  


You know, a list of things you want to make or do or try. 
Maybe you want to learn how to knit a hat or learn how to screen print your own fabric. 


Making custom TOMS was on my crafting bucket list, so when I found a pair at a garage sale for fifty cents, I knew I couldn't pass them up.  Because really, for fifty cents, the risk isn't too great in case you mess them up or in case you really hate them.  TOMS are quite popular in our area, and while it seems like all the kids have at least one pair of TOMS, no one is going to have THIS pair of TOMS.


 


These TOMS are just a little big for my daughter, but the good thing about kids is that they grow, so sometime in the near future, these shoes will actually fit her.  There weren't any holes in the canvas, but that's a hazard of canvas shoes, so if there were, I would have taken a second to patch them up before starting their makeover.


 


 Several months ago the nice people at the Plaid company sent me a HUGE box of Mod Podge goodness.  One of the things in the box, was this Mod Podge sampler pack.  It had fabric mod podge and outdoor mod podge.  Both of which were perfect for this project since I was using fabric and the shoes would be worn outdoors. 


You will also need: Scissors, a foam brush, and fabric.  I was able to use scrap fabric that I already had on hand.  You won't need more than a fat quarter.


 


 I started off by stuffing the TOMS shoes with newspaper to help them hold their shape.

 


Then I laid the fabric down on the front part of the shoe and generously cut around the fabric.  I wanted to make sure I had enough fabric cut to be able to tuck under the seams.

After I made sure I had enough fabric to cover the front of the TOMS, I brushed on fabric mod podge to the front of the shoe.  I pressed the fabric down making sure there weren't any bubbles or folds.  I also turned down the fabric by the seam making a nice clean edge.

 Once the upper fabric was in place, I then used my fingernail to go around the bottom edge of the shoe.  This left an indent that I used as a guide to cut the fabric along the base.

 Once the fabric at the base was cut, I pressed the edges down and applied outdoor mod podge to the outside of the fabric and around the edges.

 Here is a picture of the upper part of the shoe drying.  You could stop here, but why?

 I placed a larger section of fabric down on the upper part of the shoe.  I used the natural TOMS shoe shape as my guide and cut the fabric generously around the shoes natural seams.  I then added fabric mod podge directly on to the shoe and smoothed my fabric into place.

 I did the same trimming around the lower base edges of the shoe and also made a small slit cut in the middle of the shoe where the elastic is.  I tucked all of the seams under, including the middle elastic seam area and covered the whole outer fabric with outdoor mod podge.

 Here is a picture of the shoe with the upper part of the shoe made over.  Notice the "v" shaped cut out by the elastic.

I let the shoes dry overnight before using mod podge pearlized glaze.  The glaze was easy to use, and I was hoping it would be another barrier to keep the shoes sealed.   

The glaze actually left a really cool sheen to the shoes, not quite glittery, not quite matte, but pearlized.  Imagine that?!

I wanted to add a pop of color, so I sewed on these large red vintage buttons to each side.

Best part?  My daughter loves them and they only cost me fifty cents to make!

Aren't these custom TOMS super cute?!

Check that off my bucket list!