Highly Suspicious

I've had this idea in my mind since I read this post on The Clothes Horse. In her tutorial, she drew eyes on the back of a trench coat, and while I love the idea, my mind instantly decided that shoes would be better. And I'm so glad I did shoes, because I think they look so cool!

In her tutorial, she also used chalk to mark the eyes. As I am lazy and don't plan on washing these shoes until they are well and truly horrific (also, I get weirdly paranoid by it, don't ask for the logic, there isn't any), I used pencil instead.

I did basically draw the same eyes, since I thought they looked so cool, but you can be original, unlike me. In fact, you don't even have to draw eyes! I had an idea to write Hello on the toes and Goodbye on the heels, but the eyes won. You're free to take that idea and run wild. That would probably look cutest on a pair of simple ballet flats.

What you'll need:

• Plain shoes that you don't mind marking up. Mine were $9.95 from WalMart, and maybe half a size too big. Don't care, they're comfortable and they're cool.
• Paint pens. I actually found fabric markers made by Sharpie, for about $8.95. So you're looking at a roughly $20 project that's so much cooler than anything else the world has to offer. Plus, once you buy those pens, you can look around and try to find other things that sorely lack doodles. It's almost distressing.
• A pencil. Or chalk. Or one of those special markers they use for sewing—they're blue, and they have a name, but I can't remember, but surely you can.

So, I'll let you gather your things before we go off and draw on our things.

Ready?

Good.

Now that you have your things, and maybe some inspiration to guide you, then prepare to draw. If you're doing an item of clothing, or anything with layers (think of a totebag), put cardboard or something in between the layers. That also helps to give you a stable surface to draw on. You might have to do this with your shoes, too. I got lucky, since the toes are fairly structured.

Next, sketch your design in pencil. If you're doing shoes, or two doodles, or whatever, it's probably best to draw both/all things before going onto the permanent stage. This way, you can make sure they match, or are at least similar enough to your liking.

And then, the fun/dangerous part: the markers! My mom and I kept telling my niece and nephew to just be still as I was tracing over my design, and luckily, they were. They were entranced. It's like magic.

If your paint pen/fabric marker/whatever says something weird after you've put on your design, then follow those directions. But if not, you're done! Just like that! It is magic.

Your feet won't be as fancy as my Banana's, though.
Sorry.

(Also, wow, I am really good at making a simple project seem more complicated than it actually is. Sorry, guys, I just have a lot to say. Don't mind me.)