Kittens on My Toes

Many years ago now, TSwift stepped out in some super cute kitty cat flats, and as I am probably a bigger cat person than she is, I HAD to get a pair. That is, at least, until I found out her shoes by Charlotte Olympia were $700 (now only $500!) and I don't have that budget. Some internet sleuthing revealed a few attempts to DIY a pair, but I didn't have all the supplies the other crafters suggested, so I developed my own method for making a look-alike pair of kitty shoes =^.^= It's pretty easy and cost me a grand total of ~$20, including the shoes!!

Step 1: Supplies

Supplies needed:

Pair of loafer style shoes - I went with a black suede pair I found at Target for $20, but other colors and fabrics should work!

Scissors - I used paper and fabric pairs because I had them, but only one pair is necessary

Gold paint & Thin paintbrush (Alternative: gold paint pen)

Black marker - or whatever color matches the shoes you purchased.

Paper

Blue marker - not strictly necessary, anything really works to create stencils, but this what I grabbed from the drawer.

Step 2: Make the Shoes!

Since my pair of loafers had a plastic band going across the toe, I first removed it with my scissors to leave a plain loafer shoe. The next step is to cut out the ears by cutting into the loafer tab. I'd recommend cutting conservatively first and then narrowing and evening out the ears until you like the way they look. The size and shape are up to you and what size your shoes are - I aimed to have the middle part between the ears be ever so slightly above the horizontal level the loafers tab came with.

Next, use your paper and pen to mark out stencils for the eyes and nose. I found it helpful to cut out two eyes and mark one with where I was planning to put the iris to get a good idea for size and placement. Remember that you'll be marking around the outside of the stencils, so make them a hair smaller than the final size.

Using your paint, stencil around each eye and nose with faux-stitching markings. Fill in the iris, ears, and nose solid gold and then finally paint in the kitty mouth. It was helpful for me to count the number of 'stitches' I was going to paint in in order to plan placement.

Because the leather was beige when I cut it away for the ears, I used a black sharpie to color in the edge between the ears and make the shoe more finished overall. This is totally optional, but I liked the way it finished everything. The other totally optional finishing step is to paint the heel gold :)