Shoesday Tuesday – Colorful, Laceless, Canvas Tennies

Welcome to the second Shoesday Tuesday! This week I took a pair of cheapie Wal-Mart canvas sneakers and with a little bit of elastic and a little bit of dye made them cute, comfy and awesome. So seriously cute, seriously comfy and seriously awesome that I have already worn them out and about town.  Twice.

There isn’t a whole lot to this DIY because it’s really, really easy. To tackle this project, you’ll be needing:

A pair of cheapie canvas shoes (mine were $5 at Wal-Mart), two pieces of elastic approximately 1.5 inches wide and 3 inches long, straight pins, needle, white thread and dye in your choice of color. If you have to purchase shoes, dye and elastic – you can still get these guys done for as cheap as $9 with tons of elastic to spare for future projects!

STEP 1: First things first, you’re going to need to tack down the tongue of your shoe. This isn’t 100% necessary, but if you don’t want to be digging for it down in the toe, it’s a good idea! Following the existing stitches and the piping, neatly sew the tongue onto the upper and tie off. If you follow the stitches kind of closely, you won’t even be able to tell that they have been modified! Do this to both sides of the tongue on both shoes.

STEP 2: Take your cut of elastic and pin to the inside of your shoe. On the outer side of the shoe, follow the existing stitches and piping around the canvas to make as discreet as possible. Repeat with the inside and then the second shoe.

STEP 3: Use your preferred brand of dye and your preferred method. I dyed mine in golden yellow with liquid Rit dye using the boil method for 7 minutes per shoe (because I apparently have big feet as only one shoe would fit in the pot at a time). Choose a color you love and dye/method you are comfortable with.

That’s it for this Shoesday – a simple DIY with awesome results. What color will you be rocking? Hope your week has gotten off to a wonderful start!