make something monday :: restyled moccasins

I picked up a pair of moccasins at the thrift store a few weeks ago for just a couple of bucks. They aren't vintage and in fact pretty generic but they were in my size and barely worn. I really want a pair of Minnetonkas like THESE for the fall and have been saving my pennies so I instantly knew that theses black ones would be the perfect pair to restyle. I decided to update them to look similar to the "I heart you" pair that Darlingtonia made for Red Velvet this past season...swoon worthy but a bit out of my price range and after restyling this pair I know why that's ALOT of work! (see them HERE)

The first thing I did was lift up and remove the fringe portion by using a seam ripper and some brute force. I also trimmed the leather bows down to simple knots.

Then I used a white and a burnt orange suede sampler that I picked up at my local Pacific Fabric for only a few dollars and cut a large and a small heart from each to layer. They remind me of tender heart bear...do you remember care bears? Of course you do :).

I used some Fabrictac glue to glue the two hearts together and while they were drying I added a white stitching around the toe with some embroidery floss and a glovers needle. I followed the black stitching that was already there. A note if you make some of these try to thread the needle like I did in the photo above it is super hard to fit your hand inside of the shoe to pull the needle back and forth and I finally figured out that you can almost whip stitch right on top.

Lastly I top stitched the hearts together with my sewing machine right down the middle and then glued them onto the shoes, this time I pulled out the big guns and used some E6000. They dried overnight and are perfect for the chilly fall like weather we have had her in Seattle today! It was a simple little restyle project to keep my fingers busy over the weekend. 

What have you been working on lately? Hope you have a wonderful Monday friends!