Cherry Blossom Shoes

So I really like cherry blossoms.  I also have multiple days a week I need to be in closed-toed shoes for proper lab protocol.  So I mixed the two.

I've had this idea for a while, but have never really had the opportunity to get around to doing it until now.  It also helped that I was recently at Target and saw these white canvas shoes by Mossimo for $17.

Blank Canvas

 The label in the shoes said that they were made entirely of man-made materials, but didn't go much into detail about exactly what materials they were.  I decided to use my Rit DyeMore dye instead of just the regular dye since the regular dye is better for natural materials.  If I do another pair, I might try using the regular dye and see how it turns out.

Removed the laces

I used about 3 tablespoons of dye in about a gallon of hot water.  After I wet the shoes in the sink, I submerged them top-down in the dye for about 5 minutes.  I was a little nervous that the boiling water would affect the rubber, but so far, so good.

Submerged in the dye

The color was darker when wet, but the change wasn't as drastic as it usually is when I work with the regular dye.  After I rinsed out the excess dye and let the shoes dry overnight, they dried down to a nice pale blue color.

Immediately after rinsing

In the meantime, I dyed the laces pink to match the pink fabric paint I would be using to paint the blossoms.  I used a tablespoon of Rit Petal Pink dye and a teaspoon of Rit Fuschia in a little under a half gallon of water.  I took a gamble using this since I had no idea which dye the laces would take, but it worked out in the end.

Tea kettles are so convenient for dye.  Also note the red towel on top of the red rug.  I'm well prepared for this one.

I attempted to ombre the shoelaces so they would be light in the center and darker on the ends, but it didn't really work out well.  I guess I didn't have enough dye to really make a difference in the saturation, but I'm not heartbroken over it.

Attempting to ombre

I rinsed the shoelaces out as well, and left them to dry overnight.

Everything fully dry

Now came the fun part.  I pulled up a picture of the cherry blossom bow tie I painted for Casey for reference, then basically did the same thing.  I made everything a little bigger since I had a bigger space to cover.  I used Tulip Soft Matte fabric paint in Chocolate, Crimson Red, and Petal Pink.

Branches and red blossoms down.  Also enjoy the Hansen's Sno Bliz cup cameo.

Sorry I forgot to rotate all my pictures before I uploaded them.

Once the fabric paint dried, I laced the pink laces back in.  All in all, I'm pretty happy with how these turned out, and I can't decide if I can't wait to wear them, or if I don't want to wear them because they look so nice and I don't want to get them dirty.  Until I figure it out, I'm sure I'll be crafting again.

Getting pictures of these was a struggle.  And of course this is the only good one.