Noooooooooooooo!
My most favourite pair of shoes in the universe have finally cracked under the pressure of being so awesome:
I thrifted these shoes a whopping 12 years ago in London and for a pair of second hand faux leather loafers they have definitely done their duty!
The problem is I’m still madly in lurv with them and refuse to let them go…unfortunately the local cobbler said absolutely nothing can be done once faux leather starts to crack and peel.
Oh really?
I put on my refashionista-thinking-cap, grabbed some gear I had around the house and fixed them up as best as I could!
Here’s what I did:
I snagged some ancient black shoe polish, a black marker, old paint brushes, a scrap of sandpaper & my miraculous shoe goo (if you’ve never used shoe goo get some immediately as it is pure awesomesauce for repairing just about any kind of footwear – nope, not reimbursed for my shoe goo shout out, I just really, really lurv it!)
First I sanded off all of the peeling bits
then filled in the cracks with permanent marker
rubbed a load of shoe polish over everything
and then painted over the areas with a generous coat of shoe goo (= sealing it with a permanent thick rubber cover)
*if you’re fortunate to have coloured shoe goo in your part of the world by all means skip the marker & polish and simply apply the correct colour to the cracked areas after sanding
as shoe goo is meant to stick, repair & seal and not necessarily be seen it doesn’t paint on quite as smooth as I would have liked so I added a few pieces of velvet ribbon to conceal the bloopy edges
Not 100% perfect but my shoes are now completely wearable & funktastic once again!
The moral of the story?
Just because a professional tells you “no” doesn’t mean your imagination can’t come up with a “yes”!
“Just because a professional tells you ‘no’ doesn’t mean your imagination can’t come up with a ‘yes’!”
I am staring at a faux leather handbag with everything alright other than the peeling leather. It’s a mess!
Any ideas? I never had it in silver and probably could use to change the color now. But is paint gonna work?
I honestly have no idea if paint would work but if the bag is already a mess it doesn’t hurt to give it a try 🙂 Take a look at my painted shoes tutes (links below) and if painting doesn’t do the trick you could try stitching or glueing some funky patches, lace or doilies over the damaged parts…? Or if the straps are still fine simply cover the whole bag with a funky sweater: https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2015/05/26/the-upcycled-sweater-bag/
My painted shoes tutes:
https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2015/10/21/my-kiki-kumi-inspired-denim-fringed-shoe-refashion/
https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2013/05/06/perfect-polka-dot-shoes/
https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2012/12/15/fabulous-footwear/
Heya, damn I stick to the bloody blogger blog and miss out things here. Seeing your reply now but still stuck at the bag. All zip and inside stuff is perfectly fine. It’s just the faux leather that is peeling off and I need a DIY badly!
Go ahead and try my previous suggestions – I’m sure one of them will do the trick 🙂 My tutorials for accessorizing index is also full of free DIYs and inspiration: https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/tutorial-index-by-photo/tutorials-for-accessorizing/
Take a look at my painted shoes tutes (links below) and if painting doesn’t do the trick you could try stitching or glueing some funky patches, lace or doilies over the damaged parts…? Or if the straps are still fine simply cover the whole bag with a funky sweater: https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2015/05/26/the-upcycled-sweater-bag/
My painted shoes tutes:
https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2015/10/21/my-kiki-kumi-inspired-denim-fringed-shoe-refashion/
https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2013/05/06/perfect-polka-dot-shoes/
https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2012/12/15/fabulous-footwear/
I love this! I have all of these things around the house, I can’t wait to try this on my old shoes!
It’s been over a year now and the shoes still look great! 😀
“Just because a professional tells you ‘no’ doesn’t mean your imagination can’t come up with a ‘yes’!”
Now that’s my thought for the day – for a fabulous yourself to stick to the things you so love dearly…Thank-you so much once again for the fabulous inspiration (and of course introducing me to the concept of shoe goo). You’re just awesome…. Mmmwah!!!!
Cheers Sabrina! I honestly believe there’s a solution to every problem, you just have to get creative and think (waaaay) outside of the box sometimes 😉
I absolutely agree… 😀
I like the way the shoe goo looks! Adds some texture.
hahaha…that’s exactly what I told myself as I was trying to (unsuccessfully) smooth it out 😀
LOVE it! It’s fun to do a refashion, but even better if you can make something last that you love rather than tossing it in the garbage!! Good for your wallet, good for the earth. You have to go back to that shoe repair shop to show off!
Yep…and of course, as this was a Berlin cobbler, he was soooo unbelievably rude about the whole situation and made it known loud & clear that he couldn’t believe I was so stupid to even ask for the shoes to be repaired…ach, such is life in the rudest city in Germany 🙁
RUDE is not rude like your German cobbler rude and wants to tell you it’s loving this mend and make new shoe repair by you Sheri. You have inspired us once again and now we are wondering if Shoo Goo can be bought in Australia. Love the addition of the velver ribbon +++
Cheers Karen!
A quick google search reveals that shoe goo can indeed be purchased in your part of the world, yay – and I’m jealous because you can even get it in black!
http://www.ausport.com.au/catalogue/c4/c91/p488
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=shoe+goo&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=1