I saw these shoes months ago, and instantly fell in love!!! The price point was just a touch too high, plus the lizard version I loved was no longer for sale. But DIY-ing a shoe is impossible…..right? I thought I would wing it, but only of I could find a great shoe to build from.
I found the Sam Edelman sling backs on a crazy sale ($40 down from $120) and I knew I was meant to DIY them!!
This is a rather intermediate DIY, for the fearless DIY-ers out there!!!
Tools & materials:
- a well made pair of sling-backs to build on
- a square foot of leather (I found mine at my local Tandy Leather, only $14 for a meter!)
- studs, I ordered these ones, and I used around 30 studs
- a very sharp pair of scissors
- a craft knife like an X-acto, I used a wood carving knife because it was right there!
- the strongest super glue you can find!
- a needle and thread
1. Cut out a template for the pieces you’ll need. I drew approximate pieces on paper, then held them up to my shoe and trimmed them to fit. I used five pieces, one around the toe, one attached to the sling back, a strap around the ankle, a piece to connect the ankle strap to the toe, and one around the middle of the foot.
2. Lay out your pieces on the leather and trace them with your craft knife. Use a light hand, the knife will leave a visible mark in the leather.
3. Once you’ve traced it, use your scissors to cut the leather. I left the leather edges unfinished, because it doesn’t fray and looks great!
4. Using my craft knife I made two holes in my leather strip, inserted the stud and closed it in the back with my fingers. I spaced the next stud holes 1/2 and inch from the first stud (see below) and that seemed to my the perfect spacing.
5. Once I added all the studs to the leather I noticed that the leather puckered a little on the edges, so I simply went back with my scissors and trimmed the edges straight again.
6. I first tried sewing the leather to the shoe, but I didn’t like the look, so I turned to super glue…I figured if this guy trusts his life with glue, I could trust my shoes with super glue!
7. To make sure everything would fit, I did lot’s of gluing with my shoes on, then I took them off and glued all the corners and spots I had missed. For the toe and the sling back, I attached them directly to the shoe to retain the integrity of the shoe.
8. I connected the long strip from the toe to the ankle. The strip across the middle of your foot is connected to the two ends of the sling back and the long strip down the front.
9. For the ankle strap I pilfered a small buckle from pair of sandals and simply secured it to the end of the ankle strap with needle and thread. I poked a few holes in the other end of the strap to complete the buckle.
Then I ran around the house with my shoes on to test the durability, and so far so great! I can hardly believe this DIY turned out so well, but once you get your head wrapped around the idea, it’s basically just adding strips of leather to a shoe.
