Tutorial: Toms Makeover

If you're like me (and so many others) you've found that after wearing your Toms for awhile, all of a sudden (seemingly out of nowhere) your big toe has made a hole in your pretty shoes.

After continuing to wear them for awhile and ignoring the problem, I finally decided to retire my first pair of Toms.  I put them in my crafting corner with high hopes of one day coming up with a great solution.

I had been eyeing these Toms that a friend of a friend makes with new Toms, but I didn't feel like I had the creativity to pull that off.  However, with a little searching on Pinterest (of course) I found my solution--along with a magical adhesive product I never knew existed. 

So with out anymore chatter, here is {the fabric stack}'s very first crafty tutorial.
Toms Makeover:
1. Get a coupon and go to Michael's craft store.  Find the Aleene's® Permanent Fabric Adhesive Sheets in the glue aisle. I'm not sure if that link is to the same exact product I got, the package looks different than mine, but just get the one that says it's for fabric (see picture above.)  I think it was $7.99 before coupon.

2. Go home, dig out your old dilapidated Toms and patch the toe hole(s.)  Patching your shoes isn't 100% necessary, but I felt like it would feel weird not to patch them--plus it makes them stronger.

3. Carefully spread your adhesive sheet around the front half of your Toms.  (In my first picture I stuffed a shoe because I thought that would make it easier, but as it turns out, it was easier to have my hand on the inside.)  The adhesive is like double stick tape, so you can reveal one side and stick, cut and fit it, and then peel off the top.  The second picture shows the glistening of the adhesive spread on my shoe.  Do your best to get it all the way to the edge of the canvas and then not onto the sole so that your lines will look clean when you're finished.

4. Select your fabric and give it a fresh cut on the line that will be on the diagonal to avoid the frayed look.  Then decide how you want to place it and start placing onto your adhesive, being sure to leave enough hangover to cover the toe. 

5. Gently press the fabric over the front of your shoe, working your way to the center/front.  You're basically trying to follow the folds of the canvas, so you'll want to push the sides towards the front and stop at the folds, then fold your fabric in to match and push down over the front.  I chose to put extra little pieces of adhesive in between my folds to keep them looking sharp.

6.  Once you get it all pressed down, take some scissors and trim your fabric up to the top of the sole of your shoes.

7.  I used Fray Check on the edges of my fabric in hopes to keep the edges as clean and neat as possible.  If you don't mind yours fraying with wear and tear, then you could skip this step.

8.  All done!  Clean up your mess and wear your new shoes.

Who She Is - {the person behind the fabric stack}

Hi!  My name is Mary.  I'm married to Lee J.--the J stands for Jameson.  He's the best.  We married each other in May of 2008.  We got a dog named Truck in May of 2010 and had a baby boy in January of 2012.  We love it.

I've been sewing since I was in middle school.  I learned on my moms old metal Singer.  They don't make em like the used to!!!  It was a great machine to learn on because it could stand up to the abuse of my learning to sew.

In December of 2007 I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University and in January of 2008 started working at a craft store.  Within a week of working there I was promoted to assistant manager (ok, technically I was the MTL--merchandising team leader, but I was second in command just weeks after graduating college!)  While I can't say working in retail was the most exciting thing I've ever done, I LOVED being surrounded by new ideas and creative people--and the discount didn't hurt either!  I bought my  own Singer after working there a few months.  This is when I learned that Singer's aren't made like they use to be.  My machine did basic work, but could not hold up to my abuse.  I'm not a perfectionist at all when it comes to sewing rules!

Less than a year into our marriage, my husband was laid off from his job and I was in between jobs.  In my panic of having zero income for our family, I decided to finally venture out and open an Etsy shop to sell some creations.  On January 27, 2009 I opened my shop which was called "maryberriesart."  I didn't like the name after awhile so I opened a new shop, which was originally called "thebirdsoftheair."  Soon after that, Etsy changed their rules and allowed shop owners to change their shop names.  By that point, I had a little more focus about where I wanted my business to go, which is when I renamed my shop to "thefabricstack" and I renamed my previous shop to "thepaperstack."  My main shop (as you might be able to guess) is the fabric stack and I keep the paper stack open for a rainy day when I want to get out my rubber stamps, glue, and findings to make fun paper goodies.

I was incredibly blessed to inherit my husband's grandmother's sewing machine after her passing in March of 2008.  I now use her Husqvarna Viking to do my sewing.  (If you know much about sewing machines, you may need to get a tissue and wipe your drool now!  Haha)

This past Christmas my mother-in-law, who is an avid quilter (and graciously does embroidery for me), gave me a Singer serger.  I am not great on it yet, but am taking small steps to become more proficient.  The washable fabric nursing pads I make in my Etsy shop are made on the serger!

Hopefully you've learned a little more about my fabric background.  I'd love to talk with you more sometime soon!