25 Ways to Kick Up Your Style With DIY Shoes

Raymond Hom
Calling all fashionistas! Here's how to embellish a pair of DIY shoes at home, whether you love ballet flats, sneakers, heels, or sandals.​ Follow our instructions to personalize or create your own shoes and slippers. They're a perfect gift... but you'll also want to make a pair for yourself
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Sneakers with Braided Shoelaces

Raymond Hom

Should your kids want a break, one of these days, from making friendship bracelets (and anklets and necklaces and...), get them to outfit everyone's sneakers with cheery braided shoelaces.

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Kitten Sneakers

How to Make the Kitten Sneakers

Calling all cat lovers! This pair's for you. Using iron-on transfers and a Cricut machine, you can make quick work of these purrfect shoes.

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Lace Floral Shoe Clips

How to Make the Lace Floral Shoe Clips

Use our clip art, heat-transfer paper, and fabric to create these elegant floral shoe clips, perfect for dressing up a plain ensemble.

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Flower Shoes

Put spring into your little girl's step with pretty paper-flower clips. Transform tissue or crepe paper into dahlias and use them to decorate shoes or barrettes, or to make a lovely bouquet.

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Summer Espadrilles

Give your plain-Jane espadrilles some summer panache with pretty ribbons. 

Cut a strip to fit across the vamp. Using fabric glue, "hem" the cut edges to create neat ends. Then glue to shoe, and let dry. To add ties to the back, cut a length of sturdy ribbon (such as grosgrain or canvas) that's long enough to wrap around your lower leg twice and be tied into a bow. Fold it in half, and sew the fold to the top of the heel.

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Ballet Slippers with Bells

How to Make Ballet Slippers with Bells

Boring shoes? Saved by the bell! The idea: Dye plain white satin slippers in a pretty color and sew a smattering of bells, along with some ribbon, on them.

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Fabric-Covered Sneakers

Dress up little tootsies with an inexpensive pair of shoes, some glue, a few bits of fabric, and your imagination. In no time, ordinary shoes can become enchanted.

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No-Sew Slipper Socks

How to Make the No-Sew Slipper Socks

Padding around the house in warm wool socks is a cozy comfort that can sometimes be slippery -- not to mention, the soles of socks' feet can get damp and dirty. For more solid footing, add soles. It's easy with our directions.

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Paper Flower Shoe Clips

Raymond Hom
How to Make the Paper Flower Shoe Clips

Dress up a pair of little girls' shoes with these easy to make (thanks to our clip art) paper flower shoe clips. We offer rose or ranunculus to choose from.

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Felt Slippers

Homemade slippers of thick wool felt make a heartwarming (and foot-warming) gift. Felt is the ideal fabric to work with, since it won't unravel when cut.

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Leather Flower Shoe Clips

Make and wear these lovely leather flowers that clip to the top of ballet flats or simple sandals for a timeless summer look.

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Embellished Slippers

Decorated with a dazzling combination of fabric, ribbons, sequins, and beads, store-bought slippers offer a wonderful way to welcome houseguests and make lovely gifts for virtually any occasion.

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Dyed Canvas Sneakers

How to Make the Dyed Canvas Sneakers

Canvas sneakers are comfy and cool, but you may not always find them in the color you want. Put a spring in your step by selecting the shade yourself. With fabric dye, it's a cinch to match them to your wardrobe or your mood.

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Fabric Flower Shoe Clips

How to Make the Fabric Flower Shoe Clips

Dress up little (or big) girls' shoes with these lovely fabric flower shoe clips.

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Jingle-Bell Slippers

Add the silvery peal of tiny bells -- as well as scalloped or hole-punched edges, bows, and embroidery -- to a darling pair of homespun slippers.

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Beribboned Shoes

Antonis Achilleos

Matching shoes to a dress is easy when you customize them with ribbon. 

Wide or narrow ribbons look equally lovely on a pair of basic sandals; for thin back straps, cut wide ribbons into strips or use narrow ones. To attach ribbon strip, dot strap of shoe with fabric glue and press ribbon onto strap. Trim ends at the proper angle, and tuck into shoe's crease. (If you like, glue on a bow-tied ribbon.) For a buckle hole, use the existing holes as a guide to pierce the ribbon (a darning needle works well).

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Felt Baby Shoes

How to Make the Felt Baby Shoes

There's no better way to cover a baby's precious toes than with a pair of soft, snug hand-sewn booties. They may seem daunting, but these slippers are made easy with ingenious templates.

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Raffia Slippers

This pair of bedroom slippers is trimmed with store-bought bright-yellow raffia fringe, using thread that's the same color as the raffia.

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