If the shoe… is also handmade…

When I read this month’s challenge, it took my all of about 2 seconds for THESE AMAZING shoes to pop in to my head!

I made these shoes last year. After being inspired by good old pinterest, I took a pair of old shoes and covered them with all sorts of pictures of things I liked or I thought looked pretty, such as cartoon characters, peacocks, Ana Strumpf’s illustrations on fashion mags or anything which inspired me. I painted the sole in turquoise acrylic paint and glued turquoise ribbon, left over from my wedding, round the edge to neaten it. Then I varnished them to keep my pictures safe and make them nice and shiny!

They are so personal and I absolutely LOVE 💗 them, I get lots of compliments when I do wear them out, but there’s a pretty obvious problem… because they are so ‘out there’, it’s really hard to pair them with an outfit, it usually has to be black and I don’t wear much black outside of work. Cue a new black dress…

I had some black velvet that I bought for next to nothing, I don’t suppose everyone goes crazy for velvet, though I have seen it in the shops more recently and on a whim out came the Tulip Dress pattern.

I only used the back piece as this one has gone wrong for me before and cut both pieces at the same time (told you it was a whim!) I only had 2 pieces so it was an easy sew, especially as it doesn’t fray. I sewed it together and zig zagged the edges really quickly. I took the neckline out and lowered it slightly at the front to make a boat neck line. As the fabric has stretch the curve allowed in the pattern was all the shaping I needed, it also meant I didn’t need zips or openings.  I did my hem and it was done-an elegant, all black dress that is a lovely shape. Obviously styled with my fab shoes!

I may have made this for a plain backdrop for my shoes but I’m thinking I could wear it with boots over winter too and I may even put a jewelled neckline or hem yet for over Christmas!

For more details on styling this see my blog!