Transforming unfashionable shoes in a few hours

Lately, finding simple and minimalist genuine leather shoes at a reasonable price has been a big problem (at least that's how it seemed to me). I found some inexpensive shoes at a sale, but the design—or rather, their final look—was, to put it mildly, not in fashion and not to my taste. I decided to buy them immediately because I already had a vision of how to transform them.

## Here is what the shoes looked like before the transformation, and at the end of the tutorial, you will see how they turned out.

For the work, I needed:

• a thin, short needle and reinforced polyester thread;
• a seam ripper;
• scissors;
• round-nose or flat-nose pliers;
• a thimble (optional).

To avoid damaging the upper part of the material, I unpicked the thread from the inside. It is important to leave small thread tails (approximately 3-4 cm). These will be needed to tie the ends with the new thread. Carefully remove the insert so as not to stretch the leather on the front of the shoes. If you are afraid that this might happen, you can carefully cut the insert and then remove the small piece secured by the stitching (which is what I did).

At this stage, the edge of the lining had peeled off a little. I glued it back in place.

Stitch along the edge of the shoes, imitating a machine stitch. This is the moment to tie the ends of the original thread to the new one and sew, following exactly the same holes where the previous stitching was. If it is difficult to do, you can and should use a thimble.

If you are worried that the thread is white but the seam is black, don't worry, there is no secret. After pulling the thread to the front side and returning it back, insert the black thread into the loop of the white thread and pull it to the inside.

Continue stitching along the entire edge that you unpicked. At the end of the work, tie all the threads securely and fasten them. I advise not just making a knot, but weaving the thread ends into the stitching through the stitches.

The final touch: put a tiny drop of glue into the hole where the last thread fastening was made to secure the thread 100%.

If traces of the white thread are visible on the front side, they can be touched up (there is nothing wrong with that).

Here is the result.

And here they are on my feet.