Cute Shoes Reboot

Do you have a pair of shoes that could use a cute reboot? This is an easy tutorial on how to draw on canvas shoes to give them a quick refresh.

I love slip-on shoes but never really loved the color of these Converse. I finally decided to be brave and try rebooting these shoes myself. The materials are simple – a pair of canvas shoes and a fabric paint pen. I used DecoFabric pens from Uchida, because it was the only brand that sold the silver color individually, but any brand of fabric pen should work.

First things first, my shoes needed a wash. I unlaced them and sprayed them with stain remover. After letting that soak in for about an hour, I threw them in the washing machine/dryer but the internet says you should NOT do this, so here are detailed instructions on how to clean Converse.

Once completely dry, I stuffed the shoes with old rags. That gave me a smoother surface to work with and ensured the fabric paint didn’t bleed or smear. Then I started doodling. I wanted to do something geometric, so I went with my favorite type of doodle – never ending triangles.

I finished painting both shoes using only 1 pen. If I had done more solid coloring, I might have needed a second pen. I let them dry for 24 hours and I am really pleased with the results. I will absolutely wear these more often now.

Kawaii Design Inspiration

If you’d like to do something a little more picture-like, there’s a great tutorial on Instructables for cute comic book shoes.

Or you can get some pattern ideas from sites like Spoonflower – try search terms like doodle, geometric and kawaii. Remember that you should only copy a design exactly if it’s for personal use.

If you decide to give this a try, I’d love to see your kawaii results! You can tag us @sckawaii on Instagram.