DIY: Black Lace Booties

So, this DIY is actually inspired by a very close, awe-inspiringly gorgeous friend of mine who showed me pictures of hers in these beautiful pair of white lace booties that were incredibly amazing:

Stunning isn't she?

Such a diva! An absolute head turner. I just love her and her style... But alas! She is just too good a person I'd say… She gave those magnificent shoes away to a nagging friend of hers who just wouldn't stop begging for it! Can you believe that!?!?! If it was me, honey you could beg all you want, I wouldn't part with such gorgeous shoes of mine, unless of course, you are my best friend OR am in a mood to give away ;) But, my sweet friend is just too sweet and gave it away against her own wish… Bless her good heart!

Well, ever since I just couldn't shake the image of the shoes off my head… So, I searched for the booties everywhere much to my disappointment and dismay. Even ebay had it sold out, or just not in my size :( Ultimately, I decided to take things in to my own hands and make one of my own!

To start with, this is the one that I planned to base my design on:

D.E.Licious!!!

For this, I went on a hunt for a plain pair of nude shoes, and guess what, I got one from a thrift store for about £7. However, unlike the one above, my pair of shoes had a black elastic band across the top ankle part:

My nude shoes…

And this is the BIGGEST reason why I decided to opt for a black lace booties DIY instead. Will do the white booties some other time ;) But before we move on to the DIY, let's take a look at some of the black lace booties by the likes of Christian Louboutin, Dior, Jerome C. Rousseau, etc.:

Fancy!!!

Well, here we go… For this DIY, I collected the following items:

1. A pair of nude shoes (a black pair could go nicely too)

2. A pair of black lace pantyhose

3. Black lace trims

4. Fabric glue

5. Scissors

All the tools!

But before we start with the procedure and explanation let me tell you, I actually hated doing the DIY… Although I honestly absolutely LOVE the outcome! It was messy, time consuming, the glue took looooong to dry, and me being clumsy, had to fix the edges, then re-fix it, then re-fix it some more from time to time!!! But don't be put off by this, I am only being honest… If you love DIYs and you are good at it (not a clumsy novice like me) you would actually love it especially for the gorgeous end result! There is nothing better than creating your own wonders :) Am I right ladies?!

Anyway, here's what I did:

Step 1:

First of all grab one of your shoes and cover it with fabric glue.

Glue it up! Glue it up!

Step 2:

Next, take the black lace pantyhose that you can get from boots, Primark, ebay or any retail shop for about a quid or 2, and put the glue covered shoe through one of the legs of the pantyhose. Tie it up at one side or two to smoothen out creases.

My pantyhose

Tie it up tightly to keep it in place

Piece of advice: I chose cheap pantyhose just cause I didn't want to buy a lace fabric yet and end up wasting a lot of it (since it is my first of its kind). But you can very much as well use lace fabrics (stretchable or otherwise) to the maximum efficiency.

Step 3:

Let the glue dry for a bit before snipping the sides and the middle. At this point you can either trim the edges or glue them down. What I found was that this step could be slightly tedious especially if you are working with extremely stretchy fabric.

Snip, slash, tear, rip!

There you go… The first part of the DIY is done!

Dandy little lace heels

Step 4:

Finally, for the last step... But before we move on to assembling the final piece of the puzzle, behold my CARNAGE!!!

Bwahahahahahaha!!!

And all that remains is scraps...

Now to cover the front part of the booties with lace fabric... I had a little piece of black scalloped lace trim tucked away in my DIY box of craft items and such and I thought "well, that could work nicely!" So, I cut it into four 3" sections, and one by one glued them on to the shoes. You could also sew the lace down if you prefer. Am lazy so, glue it is ;p Just glue some lace trims in the opening between the elastic band and the shoes.

So much for my lacey endings!

I glued it down from both the sides of the outer shoe edges leaving a bit in the middle of the elastic band so that it stretches easily while wearing without stressing the fabric trim out and undoing it.

Pin it down to help it stick...

Honestly, hated this step too since it took like forever for the glue to dry and the lace kept getting undone, also I was quite impatient to get it over with. Stitch it down to have a more permanent result!

And…

LO! AND BEHOLD!!!!