Giving Your Old Toms New Life

Here is another pair of Toms that were worn out so I decided to give them a face lift. This is a black glittery pair of Toms, which made photographing much harder. You can not really see the progress as well as with the pink pair.

This pair of Toms did not have huge holes on the toes but they had begun to crack on the sides where your foot naturally bends. Because of this I decided to cover the entire front of the shoe. I chose black lace, because I like the look of the original black glitter Toms and didn't want to completely cover all of that up. Since there weren't holes like the last pair I was able to use this see through fabric. Using lace created a problem, I had to be very careful applying the lace over the glue to make sure the glue didn't seep through the fabric. 

 I applied the lace over the entire top of the shoe. I covered the elastic piece that comes to a triangle on the top of the foot, but I put glue around the triangle. When the glue had set up I trimmed the lace away very carefully.

Next I applied another piece of lace across the angle that I followed on the pink glitter Tom with the silver sequence fabric. The lace had a finished scallop edge so I used that to cover the angle. I finished by adding a black trim along the top of the shoe by the opening for your foot. I thought this gave it a more finished look, plus it covered a bit of glue that had seeped through. It is really hard to see the detail on the finished product in the pictures, but trust me they turned out really cute!

Repair your Toms

I absolutely love Toms shoes! My daughters and I have several pairs. The only downfall is they wear out eventually & usually in the toe area of the shoe. I just can't seem to bring myself to throw them out so why not patch them??? I searched the internet, pinterest, Etsy, & Google. I finally came up with a plan and decided to tackle my youngest daughters pink sparkly Toms first. They were in the worst shape so I figured I had nothing to lose if it didn't turnout well.

I took Halee shopping for fabric we went several places but in the end we settled on some fabric we already had at home. She chose silver sequence fabric. This fabric is not really thick enough to hold up with out reinforcing the holes in the toes. I decided to patch the holes before applying the fabric with a heavy weight canvas or duck cloth fabric. Before you start you need to stuff the end of the shoe with something that will help hold the shoes shape while you are working on the toes. I chose an old tea towel.

 I cut a piece of the canvas fabric just a little bigger than the hole, I than applied it to the inside of the biggest hole using E6000 glue, I really researched which glue would be the most effective before starting this project. E6000 is flexible but very durable when dry. The only downside is the smell, it is very strong so you need to make sure you are working in a well ventilated area. The smell of the glue also lingered on the shoes, this will go away after a few days. After patching the inside of the biggest hole I put another patch on the top of the shoe slightly bigger than the hole. I let this dry completely before proceeding with the next step, at least an hour.

Once the shoe was dry I cut a piece of the sequence fabric bigger than the area I was covering on the end of the shoe. I decided to follow the natural angled line of the shoe. I covered the entire area with E6000, making sure to have good coverage along the edges. I put the glue right on the edge of the sole making sure to not get glue on the sole itself. Let the glue set for a couple of minutes until it gets tacky, then I applied the sequence fabric. I started on the top and worked my way to the toe and bottom edge smoothing the fabric as I went. I ran my finger across the bottom edge making sure I had a very good seal along the sole. 

I then took a very sharp pair of fabric scissors and trimmed very close to the sole making sure that the fabric touched the sole covering the pink completely. After I trimmed the fabric I ran my finger back over to make sure I had a very good seal with no gaps. Let this dry completely I should take at least a couple of hours.

The last step is applying the trim. You do not have to add trim, I just thought it had a more finished look with the trim. You just repeat the same steps adding the E6000 glue to the area where the trim will be applied, making sure you get enough glue to give the ends a very good seal. Let the glue set up again for a couple of minutes. I also put a little glue on the trim as well, especially on the ends. Make sure your ends are sealed well and you are finished! You have a brand new pair of custom Toms.

Aprons

Here is Katie McCullock in the cute halter apron done in Amy Bulter fabric.

Hello Blogging World!

Well here goes I said I would never do it, but I broke down and started a blog. Hopefully I will get the hang of this in a few days. Hoping to post all my apron pictures here today so more to come soon!