DIY Lime Green Shoes

This is my first DIY blog! Welcome to the insanity! This DIY is how to dye and paint shoes. This was my first time dying and painting shoes and I think it came out pretty well, even if it did include a happy accident. 


I decided to tackle this project after over a month of searching for bright green shoes in my size that actually fit! Now, shoe shopping for me is exceedingly frustrating for because of my large shoe size, 11! It really pisses me off that so few shoe companies manufacture size 11 shoes. I don't feel like it is too much to ask! Thousands of great styles, tons of sales, and I cannot partake. UHG! It's real fucking annoying! Anyway... sorry for the rant. I did find a pretty pair of size 11 lime green heels on urbanog.com and I did order them but they fit like a small 10 and were very poor quality; so of course I sent them back and continued my search. Finding nothing I proceeded to make my own. 


What I used:


-One pair of white shoes. I think any color will work if you are just painting but if you are dying the shoe it needs to be white or very light in hue and fabric not leather (unless you are using leather dye) or plastic. These are the shoes I chose:

-Fabric dye. Try to purchase dye that is made for the type of fabric you are using. 
-Soft fabric paint. There are tons of different kinds of fabric paint, simply choose the one you find best for the project. I choose a matte finish, soft fabric paint for these shoes.
-A bucket, bowl, or sink to dye the shoes in.
-Salt, water, and vinegar to add to the dye. Your dye will come with mixing instructions. 
-Gloves
-Paint brushes or sponges. I used sponges.
-A work surface that you don't care if paint or dye gets on.


Step 1: Dye your shoes!

I personally chose to just dye the whole shoe since I planned to paint the bottom portion of the shoe black. The dye took much darker on the rope. Different textiles will dye differently. Something to keep in mind when choosing your project.


This is how they come out after dying, rinsing, and drying. I followed all instructions perfectly. 

Not the color I wanted at all! I have had this issue when dying non cotton fabrics before. The color always comes out lighter than I want. This is probably because the dye I used was not the correct dye for the material the shoe is made of. However, nowhere on the shoe does it tell me what it is made of soo I did my best. 


Step 2: Paint the shoe the actual color you want! 
Guess I should have started with this step! I mixed two colors together to achieve the green I wanted and they came out like this! 

The bottom half is still dark green and I did not like the two toned green look at all. The top part, however, looked so much better after it was painted. I used a small round sponge applicator and just brushed a thin layer of paint all over the lace. I did not want to apply the paint too thick because I did not want to lose any detail in the lace. I did two coats. I chose to do the green first because the black on the bottom would cover any mistakes.  


Step 3: Paint the bottom portion of the shoe black.
I let the shoe dry overnight and then began with the bottom rope part of the shoe. I did not tape it off, just free handed it. You can certainly tape off the parts you do not want black. They came out like this:

Much better! I feel like they look pretty good for my first attempt. I like how the aqua color can still be seen on the fabric behind the lace at the heel. That was my happy accident! 


Total cost: Around $25
Total time: Actual work dying included about 2 hours. However, I found it necessary to allow one color of paint to dry before starting on the other so you will need to wait at least 4 hours for that. 


This was an easy project and would have taken even less time if i had not messed up on the dye! OOPS! I hope you guys liked this and got some ideas from it! Next I think I will use some stencils to paint some other things! Please let me know how you like this blog and comment below telling me what other projects interest you!