So you have some old shoes that aren’t really attractive to you anymore. What do you do? Why not try covering them in fabric?

Below are my simple steps for creating one-of-a-kind altered shoes.

You probably won’t need to follow step one, but I had a bow and some extra fabric to get rid of before I could use these shoes.

Materials required to DIY fabric covered shoes

Fabric covered shoes (you can ModPodge on leather, but they must be treated first with a leather deglazer to remove the protective sealant)
White acrylic paint & brush (I painted a white base coat which helps the fabric adhere but also ensures the bright colour of the shoes won’t show through the fabric after.)
Mod Podge & brush
Fabric & pins
Paper towel or newsprint to make pattern
Floral embellishments & glue (if you are adding them)

DIY fabric covered shoes

A few tips…

When making your pattern make it a little larger so you can fold the edges into the shoe.  For curves making a small cut in the fabric will make it fit smoother on the shoe. You can see this on the inside fold above.

Adding an extra layer of ModPodge at the end protects the fabric but it also makes the shoe a bit stiff. If you know you won’t be getting them wet I might suggest avoiding that step for a softer more natural feeling shoe.

These turned out so great I’m currently on the lookout for some more fabric shoes at a thrift store so I can make some black and white gingham pumps.

If you try this let me know! I’d love to see how your shoes turn out.