All posts tagged: shoes

Tutorial: How to dye leather shoes & handbags

My tutorial on how to dye fabric shoes is one of my most popular posts, and lots of people have used it.  I thought you might also appreciate a tutorial on how to  colour leather shoes, because that can also be done.  Technically you aren’t dyeing leather: you are staining it, and this is infinitely more awesome than dyeing, because it means that you can colour almost any colour leather shoe to almost any other colour.  A black shoe can become pale blue, a green shoe can become pink, etc. You can also use this tutorial to dye leather handbags, and to refresh leather goods that have become a bit worn with time. What you’ll need:   TRG the One Colour Dye & Preparer Leather (but NOT suede or patent leather), synthetic leather or canvas shoes or handbag. Newspaper to protect your work surface A Green Scrubby or other slightly abrasive cleaning pad Gloves (optional, but a good idea) Today, to show you how to do it, I’ll be dyeing/staining a pair of chestnut brown …

There is just something about red shoes

I just love red shoes.  They are like happiness for your feet. Amazingly, I’ve owned very few red shoes, because the modern ones just aren’t as pretty as my historical ideals. Want to see some of the ones I lust after? This pair is darling, but so practical.  If a modern shoe company came out with a replica, I would buy them in a heartbeat! This pair may not be quite as practical, but, oh, that fabric! And just imagine how gorgeous these shoes would have looked when worn, with the little tassel swaying jauntily with each step.  Darling! Actually, now that I think of it, that tassel and buckle is something I could do myself.  I must make it happen! I like the juxtaposition of the tasseled pair and this much more recent pair.  I’d wear either in a heartbeat. Speaking of red and black shoes, the next pair is more red than black, but I think we can agree they deserve to be featured.  They are embroidered in strawberries after all! Speaking of …

Unexpected treasures: antique textiles at the Honolulu Museum of Art

When I go on a trip, I like to look back over my images when I get back and see what the first image I took was: the first thing that inspired me to pull out my camera and commemorate it. This is my first photograph from my recent trip to Hawaii: It’s an 18th century shoe in the textile store at the Honolulu Museum of Art. I love this.   It’s so typically me: the first thing I wanted to do on Oahu was go to the HMA, and the first thing I immortalised was a 250 year old shoe — not the usual Hawai’i image at all! I’m lucky enough to know the director of the Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Art), and he really wanted me to meet the textile curator and tour the textile store.   Was I interested?   Are you kidding!   Of course! I thought the HMA textile collection would be very Hawai’i focused — all Hawaiian quilts, vintage holoku, kapa (barkcloth) and woven …