Floaty Tunic

Today we are thinking of going down to the states to do some shopping.  Our younger son needs new shoes - his feet are bigger than mine now!  So we thought we would grab some lunch at the buffet (great for the diet) and stop at the mall.
It is a hot day, so I have on a loose sleeveless tunic top over a tank:

I'm not sure where I got it, it was $6 and about 10 years ago, and at first I was hesitant to wear it because it felt a little bit maternity-like.  But now that everyone is wearing tunics and smocks, I've hauled it out from the back of the closet.  I quite like the flowy-ness of the top - it has two layers front and back:

But again, felt a bit bare so I put a scarf over it lol-style.  The scarf is from a Danish furniture store JYSK which is similar to IKEA. They quite often get in items which I think have been liquidated from another store.

The shoes are also quite old.  I got them for 900 pesetas in the old Continente supermarket (yes supermarket) in Spain which has since been bought out by the giant French Carrefour chain.

They are super-comfy and I always regret not buying the tan colour too.

Walking on Air

What do you do about those shoes which are hard in the sole area?  Sometimes shoes have little lumps of glue which just poke into you, or they are just hard, period.  Today's post is a quick make-your-own item.

So I have some shoes which although flat, are quite hard on the soles of the feet.  I tried putting in some insoles, but they were a bit thick and made the shoes a lot tighter. 

Then, I spotted this:

This is a sheet of that bumpy squishy plastic that is used to wrap electronics.  My thrifty self thought it might work if I cut out a sole shape.

Voila!  Sooo comfy!  The shoes felt like new Docs!  You can see after a day of use how they really cushioned the feet.  And they don't eat up all the foot room.  Very pleased with this cheap way to add instant air pillows to my shoes.  And a way to re-use/recycle too!

Lattice Lacing

I don't wear them very often but do have some skate shoes.  In summer when Big J and I go for long walks they are the perfect walking shoe: comfy, slightly more presentable than runners and a lot more stable - I'm constantly turning my ankle.

A great way to liven up your skate shoes or runners is to do a fancy lacing.  If you also buy a coordinating (or contrasting) shoe lace then your shoes can sport a cute look for little effort.

These are my skate shoes:

They originally came with white laces which I switched out for pink.  Then I laced them up lattice style et voila!

Flapping Tongues

I'm not sure if this is considered a refashion or not but I've definitely altered these:  I have a lovely pair of Doc Martens Airware boots which I got while on holidays in Idaho a few years ago.  They are the cracklin half boot:

Doc Martens are my absolutely favourite shoe. They are a must-take when travelling - they are so comfy.  I didn't notice at the time I bought this pair, but the right boot had an overly flapping tongue.  

A Wagging Tongue

The leather was a tiny bit softer and it wasn't as stiff as normal.  This caused the tongue to flop over when I wore the boots untied (which is how I usually wear them).  Not so bad under a pair of jeans, but I didn't like how it looked with a skirt or shorts.

So, my favourite notions store to the rescue.  They have piles of leather pieces which though not quite as cheap as a few years ago, are still reasonable.  I was looking for a pink piece, but all the pink ones were huge and cost big bucks ($8.99 or more).  I finally found this purple piece for $1.99:

First thing I did was "measure" the tongue by tracing its outline onto the leather:

Then I cut it out

Then, using the same glue as from the Swag Bag refashion, I glued both the leather flap and the tongue:

Then it was just a matter of slapping the two pieces together, and pressing it down a bit.

Check out those chocolates in the background!

I liked it so much, I did the other boot too:

Too bad I didn't do this sooner before the flowers rubbed off the floppy tongue!

If The Shoe Fits

One Hallowe'en, I was dressed as a "prior era" person - which means I didn't really have a costume, but just made something up to wear to work.  I tied my hair up in a low pony tail, wore a gold-trimmed jacket and lace ascot, rolled my pants up to my knees, wore knee socks and some plain black shoes.  This is how I imagine people dressed in the 1700's.

The refashion item for this post are the shoes.  The ascot doesn't count because it was just a length of lace folded around the neck.

The shoes were just some plain square toed ones to which I added a belt buckle.  It looked great!  People even asked where I bought them!  I wore them as regular shoes later on.

Here's what I did:

First, I sewed the belt buckle to a piece of elastic. You could actually use any piece of fabric, I just used elastic because that's what was on hand.

Front View

Back View

Then, I just taped it in place! This next picture is a bit fuzzy, but it;s just to show the masking tape:

Fold the elastic and tape to the front of the shoe on the inside only.

Et voila! your 1700's shoe is done:

 

What do you think?  The great thing is that if the buckles aren't right for your outfit, you can just untape them!