To achieve the black detailing, I painted over the pen using an extremely fine paintbrush and black matte fabric paint.
After I let the first part of the black detailing dry overnight, I traced and painted the petals on to the flowers, and added the shading. Again, after waiting at least three days for the black paint to fully cure, I then painted the heels of my boots gold using the same paint, brush, application technique, and number of coats.
To construct the black and red leather hearts, I picked up pieces of each colour vinyl at a fabric shop, traced an appropriately sized heart onto each, and cut them out with a pair of fabric scissors.
I then applied the hearts to the top of the boots using Household Goop that I got at a hardware store. Three days later, I affixed the red hearts to the balls of the soles of the shoes with Household Goop, after priming with acetone and waiting for it to evaporate off.
To complete the red inner lining (my boots were lined with black initially), I got some appropriately red fabric, and after removing the carrier bags I’d stuffed the boots with, lay the boots out as flat as I could and measured enough red fabric to line the boots with. After cutting out the two pieces of red lining, I ironed them well to remove any wrinkles.
I then got out the clear double-sided fabric adhesive squares I’d bought, and measured and trimmed the squares appropriately so that the inside of each boot from the top down to just above my ankle would be sticky.
Then, working with one piece of adhesive at a time, I removed one side of the paper backing and firmly pressed it into place inside my boot. When all of the adhesive pieces had been pressed on, I removed the final paper backing from the tongue and firmly pressed the red fabric in place. I used my hands to smooth the fabric and get rid of any wrinkles. The adhesive is strong but not permanent (at least at first) so you have a bit of working time. I wouldn’t lift and re-press the fabric too many times but I did it once in a couple areas and haven’t had any issues with the fabric coming off.
I continued this process to line the main part of the boot using one continuous piece of red fabric. It was difficult to maneuver the fabric and the boot once all of the adhesive had been exposed, but after a bit of contorting myself I managed to get 90% of the red fabric to lay smooth. Since the boots are tapered, I trimmed off the excess red fabric so it wouldn’t bother me when I was wearing them (and you can’t see where I trimmed once my feet are in the boots). Finally, I went around the boot edges and trimmed any excess red fabric and tidied up any stray threads.
I left the boots overnight to make sure that the adhesive had time to cure, and then I took a paperclip that I unwound a bit, and poked through all of the eyelet holes for the laces. Although the Red Queen only laces her boots half way, I opened up all of the lace holes for aesthetics. Lastly, I re-laced the boots and very gently tucked them into separate bags for safekeeping!
Tried your hand at painting footwear? Fancy sharing tips, tricks, wins and/or fails?
It Takes A Village To Cosplay!
Earla Alara
*I wore these boots to a convention recently (all three days!) and they held up incredibly well! None of the paint peeled, flaked, or cracked, the red and black hearts are still firmly affixed, and the red fabric lining hasn’t budged or peeled off near the edges! Also, since I was wearing these 6+ hours at a time I bought some Dr. Scholl’s gel inserts for high heels at the local drugstore, and they worked miracles.
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