Upcycling summer sandals with gingham
I’ve been hunting down the perfect gingham sandal for a while now and after nearly giving up I noticed my plain black trekking style sandals in the cupboard and had a thought… why not try and give them a gingham makeover! I thought about wrapping fabric around the straps but then soon realised I’d still need to be able to use the velco, then I thought I could just attach fabric into the plastic triangles because even that would add a little interest to them so grabbed a piece of ribbon to try it. As soon as I thread the ribbon through I realised I could cover them completely in ribbon in a few easy steps, so I popped to my local Haberdashery in search of the perfect ribbon & they did not disappoint… Lilac, floral and gingham, literally the perfect combination! I thought I’d share how I made them here as it was so simple and only took about 20 minutes to give them a picnic ready makeover.
How to upcycle sandals with gingham
You will need: Plain trekking sandals, Scissors ,Ribbon (I used about 2m) or fabric cut to size & a glue gun
Firstly cut your ribbon to the lengths of all of your straps with a little overhang so you can tuck the fabric round, Get your glue gun plugged in and ready to stick…
Begin glue gunning your ribbon over the straps making sure you have enough ribbon to fold underneath the strap so that the sandals have a well finished look rather than cut edges at each end. I covered every strap inside and out except for the velcro strips that join on the ankle part of the sandal, for these I just covered the fabric side to ensure I could still do them up. It’s totally up to you how much you cover you could keep it simple or go for full coverage like me…
Tie small lengths of ribbon at the joining points of the sandals to add a little extra gingham jazz and you’re picnic ready! Hopefully if you also have a pair of these sandals (I know they’ve been quite a popular style over the last few years) and they’re sat in your cupboard not being worn you might feel inspired to make your own customised sandals this summer!
More upcycling ideas to try…
Reuse cardboard to craft no sew garlan