1950s DIY Saddle Shoes for Halloween Costume

Learn how to make these adorable black-and-white painted saddle shoes, perfect for a Halloween or 1950s party-themed costume!

The first shoe makeover I shared on my blog was faux saddle shoes. They did really well, but the design was pretty basic. Using only a black fabric Sharpie, I made myself a faux pair of something I wanted badly but didn’t want to spend $50 on. In the end, it was for the best because I wore the shoes maybe twice before giving them to my sister, where all the unwanted made-over shoes go.

My sister loves them. These saddle shoes she loved and wore and washed so much that the black Sharpie all but came out of the shoes. The saddle parts were a light gray at best. So I decided to make her a new, more durable pair with a bit more interesting detail. Now, if you want to see those first fake saddle shoes, you can see the DIY here, but I assure you these new ones are much more impressive!

I decided this time to use fabric paint, which is far less likely to wash out after multiple wears. I also decided that these shoes needed some cute little dots, just like the faux-painted oxfords I shared last year, to give them a little extra pizzazz. Most importantly, I mixed up how I placed the saddle marks. Want to make some of your own? Let’s get it.

Items Needed for DIY Saddle Shoes:

• white canvas sneakers
• black fabric paint (I used Tulip soft fabric paint in black)
• paintbrush (I like a firm brush meant for fabric painting)
• cotton swabs

How to Make Saddle Shoes Craft for Halloween Costume

Here is the obligatory before picture. It’s nothing special, just a pair of cheap tennies. The toe on the right one is kind of dented in, but it’s late in the season for these types of shoes, and you’ve got to take what you can get. Be sure to grab a pair now if you want to make some for Halloween (can you say it’s the perfect addition to a poodle skirt?).

Time to Paint

Make a little puddle of your fabric paint and dip your brush in. We’re going to go around the piping on the shoe and the eyelets and follow the shape that the toe portion makes when sewn on top of the shoe’s body.

You can use your fingers to lift/pull back the piping a bit to get a nice, clean edge. Also, clean your brush fairly regularly to keep nice, clean lines. As the paint loads up on the brush, it pushes toward the handle and makes heavier strokes than in the beginning.

See in the picture how I’m not going onto the toe of the shoe? That’s where the black will end. It will fall neatly in line while you’re painting.

Paint Some More

Also, if you get paint on your eyelets, it’s not a big deal. Use a cotton swab to remove the paint. I find that if I try to remove the paint right after my mistake, I tend to just move the paint around. But if I wait just a little bit, say a few minutes, as it dries up a bit (but not all the way), it cleans up much easier.

To finish off the middle sections, take your brush and paint a slightly curved line. Start it right where the stitching for the heel meets the sole of the shoe and goes upward.

When you’ve finished one side of one shoe, use it as a guide for your other shoe. This helps maintain more consistency than painting each shoe willy-nilly.

To finish, paint the back with a little stripe. You can make it straight up and down or curve the edges, as I did.

To finish up, take your brush and make sweet little dots all around. If you use a small brush and just barely dip it in the paint each go, you’ll have fairly uniform dots without any effort.

Let them dry all the way, and then get them laced back up.

I hope you love these easy and super-sweet kicks! Don’t forget to buy the shoes now if you want to make a pair for Halloween costumes!

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Allison

A crafter since her earliest years, Allison spends a little time every day making something. She crafts, sews, paints, glues things onto other things, and is a firm believer that a life spent creating is a life worth living. Visit Allison’s blog, Dream {a Little} BIGGER.