I’ve owned these J. Crew pumps for a little over a year now (which are 50% off now) and they’ve never been worn. I give myself a ton of excuses like the suede is seasonal, the heels too chunky, I don’t wear much black. But if I’m just being honest with myself (and you), I find them booooring.
Cue music for very simple DIY. Attach a bow. Not once in my life has a bow ever steered me astray. So one quick visit to the fabric store and $3 later, I have a shoe that I actually love, and most importantly, wear.
It’s the perfect shoe for the season. It’s super festive and can be paired with a little black or red dress to fit right in for the holiday season you can make the bow detachable by attaching it to a little hook that goes on the back of the shoe. It’s not an option I was interested in because the bow goes with everything for me.
I purchased a 1 1/8 yards of fabric. I guesstimated based off of my previous experience of making bows and tying one together as a rough sketch in the store. You may want a smaller/larger bow for yourself so adjust accordingly.
Fold your velvet strip in half and then cut. This gives you two pieces of velvet strip.
Cut both strips in half. Then use one half of those strips to form the main part of the bow as seen below.
After forming the main part of the bow. Glue it down with just a dab of glue. Cut the other half of the original strips by taking enough to rap around the center of the bows. See the picture below so you know exactly what I mean.
Now you have your bows formed and those bows need tails.
I cut one triangle first by eyeballing it. Then I used that one as a template by placing the other strips on top of it and trimming for four even triangles.
This DIY is very simple and can be applied to any shoe. You could also add the bow to the front for a little something different. I’m also considering glittering the heel but I guess we’ll see how much wear these babies get first.
What do you think? Will you be making your own bowed pumps any time soon?
XO Prepfordwife
Great way to upcycle old shoes
Thank you!
Gahlee you’re really good at this!!
I love the prepford touch in this, really enjoying your blog
Oh my goodness I bought the same shoes from J Crew and they have been sitting in my closet collecting dust…same reason, boring shoe! I now have a weekend project! I am going to tackle putting the bow in the front of the shoe. Fingers crossed.
Love your Blog, just discovered it…keep posting.
Yes!!!! Let me know how it goes. They are a total snooze fest in their current condition. I also wrestled with the idea of glittering the heel. I may have to buy another pair and make it happen. I love them so much better with the bow! Crossing my fingers for your redo
So cute! I need to try this out, I love it 😍😍😍