MadDawg with a Blawg

Shoes. I've colored on shoes, I've added fabric to shoes... never have I ever actually fixed shoes! Let me correct that; now I've fixed a shoe! I had bought these leather shoes- leather inside, leather soled and leather figure- for a veryyy reasonable price for the materials. Little did I know the buckle on the one shoe I didn't try on (now I know to try on both, or at least buckle both) was broken! no way to utilize the sizing adjustments for the strap and no place to slide the end of the strap into. There was the debate of do I just return them? But then what, they just get thrown away? Most likely. I'd rather fix them because they're so cute, and why not take care of the investment! Now they're personalized without needing to even be broken in yet. How cool. Anyway- next was the fun part. I figured I would open the leather that had the elastic loop sewn in to remove that and sew it back on. Well, there was so much glue and other things attached it would have really risked the functionality of the strap. Time to reevaluate. How do I get this loop opened and closed around this new buckle- which fortunately I already had a buckle from who knows what that worked great! What if I just cut the elastic on the inside and sew it really well back together? There's not a lot of tension on the actual strap- I think that should work! I return to the leather I opened, to sew that part closed and moved on to putting the buckle on and stitching the elastic really well. I melted the edge of the elastic in hopes of that keeping it from unraveling then I hand stitched, honestly without method- all over. Hoping to catch many different fibers in many different ways to basically weave them together so that they'll hold fast. I want something to hold the end of the strap- I don't have any metal loops that would work on the shoe without being heavy or too bulky to do the job. Alas, my jewelry material horde comes in handy.... wire. Malleable, light and can be made to be perfect size. I wrapped the wire through the elastic loop twice and decided the width and how much to leave for wrapping. I then used the ends of the wire to twist around the looped wire to make it more durable, plus making it cute! the wrapped wire and the way it settles on the shoe is my favorite detail. They have been my favorite shoes this week and I love the challenge that were presented and following my desire through and realizing that I can! Now the shoes are as good as new, even better ;) and saved from being discarded! The money spent could have been exchanged back but following it through regardless reaped so much more for me. Do you have a shoe that could use some revamping or bedazzling? Try adding beads, or maybe coloring on them- switching out the laces for ribbon, or maybe yours too are missing a buckle or a grommet; how will you revive them?