Customize Shoes with Spray Paint and Sugru

Raised on leather, with flesh on her mind, here comes the woman with the look in her eye.  Her words are weapons, sharper than knives.  It makes you wonder how the other half die. 

Here comes the man with the look in his eye.  He was fed on nothing, but he's full of pride.  Look at them go.  Look at them kick.  It makes you wonder how the other half live. 

Here comes the world with the look in its eye.  The future is uncertain but certainly slight.  Look at the faces.  Listen to the bells.  It's hard to believe we need a place called hell.

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When I lived in London, I spent a fair amount of time trolling around Camden, and it left an indelible impression on me for all things goth, punk, and cyber.  If there were a pair of AngryRedhead shoes, these would be it.

I'm making the deadline by the skin of my teeth after toying with these shoes for 3 weeks now.  This Instructable shows how to make a pair of stylized shoes using Sugru and spray paint and how to add treads to shoes that are a bit slippery.  Most of the instructions are on the high heels as they require more techniques and instruction, so if you are making the men's shoes, please read through the women's, too.

If you would like to save yourself time and a whole lot of headache, please follow these directions on how to paint shoes as carefully as possible, or you may end up spending a lot more time on repairing mistakes than if you'd been patient from the start.  Give yourself at least 2 weeks to decorate these shoes.  Each step is short, but there's a lot of time for curing necessary.  Don't skimp on the cure time! 

Since I have JUST finished these shoes, I cannot say what exactly the durability is.  Considering how specialized these shoes are, I'm guessing very, very few people are going to wear them on any sort of regular basis, and if there are cracks, breaks, snaps, etc., they are repairable.  Be careful with these for the first month until everything is totally and fully cured and has become a permanent part of the shoe.

If you want to change the design and placement of the Sugru, carefully consider what you do and how you'll wear the shoes.  Consider how you will put your feet together, stand next to a wall, or drive a car while wearing these shoes.  The horns are put on the toes for a reason.

Stay tuned for more custom shoe techniques and ideas!  I would have done another design for other options, but I ran out Sugru and time.  Bah!

Step 1 Materials

You will need:

• Shoes

You can use a pair of shoes that you no longer like or a pair from a thrift store.  I bought these high heels for $15 a few months ago with the intention of customizing them.  These are vinyl shoes, so these instructions apply to vinyl, not leather or canvas.  Avoid shoes with overlay, heavy stitching, buckles, bows, etc.  Very plain shoes are easier to customize.

• Krylon Fusion Spray Paint

I'm using Safety Red and Gloss Black.  I tried the Rustoleum Plastic Primer on another pair of shoes, and it didn't work as well as the Krylon Fusion which is why I'm mentioning this brand in particular.  It also comes in many colors and is easy to use.

• Clear Spray Paint

This one is acrylic, but I have a feeling you could use a wax finish.

• Sugru

You will need 8 packs for a pair of women's shoes and 2 for men's.

• Painter's Tape

I'm using 1".

• 1/4" Detailing Tape

I found mine at an auto parts store, but call around and be specific with what you need to do with it.  Many stores claimed to have it when they didn't.

• Paper Towels

For wiping away mistakes and cleaning tools.

• Newspaper

For stuffing.

• Exacto Knife
• Butter Knife
• Frosting Tip

Or any appropriately sized funnel-shaped, hollow object.

• Sandpaper

I'm using 60, 120, and 320 cut into 1"x2" squares.

• Steel wool

Fine, not coarse.

• Gloves
• Board wrapped in wax paper

This is a piece of board from an old picture frame that I wrapped in a couple sheets of wax paper and taped down.  This will help for molding the Sugru and protect your flat surfaces.

• Bulldog Clips
• Vaseline/Petroleum Jelly
• Red Shoelaces (optional; not shown)
• Black Fabric Dye (optional)
• Electrical Tape
• Shoe Goo for any repairs (not shown)

Comments

[m4l1n]

Absolutely awesome!! :D

[agupta11]

this is just so amazing..i so want to do it..bt the materials wont b easily available here..:'(

[AngryRedhead]

I can imagine some of the specific products/brands would be difficult to find, but you certainly don't have to use the exact same products as I did.  There's a Sugru substitute which you can dye any color you please, and for paint, you just need something that adheres to most plastics such as vinyl dye which you can find in auto repair stores - it's used for repainting car interiors or fixing trim.

Also, I haven't fixed this Instructable to say that the paint does not stick to the Sugru, so the horns and spikes in the back need to be the color you want.

[mary candy]

favorite.
absolute.

[AngryRedhead]

Thanks!

[tbcross]

I have been drooling over these ever since you put the ible up. Great ible!!

[AngryRedhead]

Awww, shucks! Thanks!

[jen7714]

These look great! And it just so happens I have about 8 packs of sugru left...

[AngryRedhead]

Huzzah! If you don't really care about the treads, you could use 6 and have 2 leftover for something else!

[momonkey1997]

I liked the old title of this 'ible.

[AngryRedhead]

I'm still debating which is better. I've also been considering the title "His and Her Shoes with The Devil Inside".

[lemonie]

Wonderful.(my ankles can't cope with heels though...)

L

[RavingMadStudios]

Try doing the Time Warp in five-inch platform pumps four sizes too small. These are a piece of cake.

[lemonie]

Mmm, I'll remember that rather than try it..

L

[RavingMadStudios]

Killjoy. ;-)

[Burf]

Very cool and kudos for originality in the use of materials and subject matter.

[jnifrwebb]

LOVE!!!

[jeff-o]

I'm not a foot or shoe guy, but these are really cool!

[daveamy]

They are awesome....I may have to invest in some sugru as I have the most boring pair of court shoes upsatirs but I think I would be more inclined to mould flowers and butterflies on them and make them girly, as cool as your shoes are, I am not punk enough!

[AngryRedhead]

I was hoping to have had enough time and material to do another option that was less goth/punk because I like whimsy in all forms. Hopefully the instructions make enough generalized sense that you can alter them for your design!

[RavingMadStudios]

SO cool. I'm totally gonna steal this idea. Now I just have to find a pair of FM pumps in a size 14....

[AngryRedhead]

Pleaser Pumps.  But the cheapest I can find is $27-28 which isn't so bad.  That's pretty cheap for a pair of shoes.

[RavingMadStudios]

Especially good for women's shoes in larger sizes. Where were these folks when I was doing Rocky Horror twice a week?

[AngryRedhead]

Follow the drag queens and you'll find the best stuff whether it's shoes, makeup, wigs, or costumes.

[paganwonder]

I'd shave my legs to wear these "WICKED" FM Pumps! (wife and daughter perform synchronized eye roll) Nicely done, as usual!

[AngryRedhead]

Or you could wear a pair of red tights underneath a pair of fishnets!

Which is what I would have done if I'd had a pair of red tights.

And thanks!

[onrust]

Your photos ROCK!

[AngryRedhead]

My neighbor took the modeled shots, which was super nice of him, and he works on films. Honestly I don't know what he does on films, but I figured he could use a camera and compose shots correctly - I was right. He did a good job, and funnily enough, one of my favorite shots was a snapshot. Go figure! I did the editing and the rest of the photography, but this Instructable wouldn't have been as good if the shoes weren't modeled and photographed properly.

[BrittLiv]

This is a really cool mod, does the spray paint stay on the sugru? Every time I've tried it, it flaked of after a time.

[AngryRedhead]

It seems to stay. When I was testing this method, I ran into an issue with the spray paint flaking off, and I suspect it's because I didn't let the Sugru cure long enough which is why I say 48 hours for Sugru cure time but even longer is better. Mine could also be sticking on better if only because I did a pretty thick coat over the entire shoe and not just the Sugru, which I think might make a difference. And I sanded the Sugru and used the Krylon spray paint for plastics, not Rustoleum.  Maybe one or all of those four things is what's keeping it on.  I'm a bit nervous to really try chipping it off, and I think the potential chipping problem will decrease even more with time.

[BrittLiv]

Thanks a lot, the thick coat and the sanding might be the key. I've used spray paint for plastics as well, and let it cure a very long time. The issue I had, is that sugru can be bent and the paint can't, maybe the thick coat makes it stiffer. Please let me know how it goes, because I'm very interested in painting it.

[AngryRedhead]

Also, I live in Texas, and the temps are still in the high 80s. I've been putting the shoes in the sun on a dark surface or hanging in the air to essentially bake, and they get mighty roasty. The horn and the back spikes are quite thick and don't bend all that easily regardless. After painting they don't bend at all, not that I've really tried, and they don't really come in contact with anything such as flat surfaces. There are just a lot of variables, so I can't say that this method would work for something else.

[Ninzerbean]

Wicked cool!

[JamesRPatrick]

Fierce!

[Kiteman]

Wow!