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Wednesday 22 May 2013

Yellow Skirt Freak Show Update!! and more...

Temptress Amber  of  Butane Anvil

has had her way with

the Travelling Yellow Skirt HERE,

and so has her HEN!!? 

See her twirl, mysterious in the cracking light

DO NOT MISS THE
Freakishly Wonderful Styling of this World Wonder
Go! GO NOW!!
_________________________________________________________

In more mundane news, I have finished my stretchy-boot upcycling project. (What a let-down topic after Temptress Amber and her Alpha Hen...)

BEFORE (as seen in post of May 13, Lurex in the alley)

AFTER

Groovalicious boots of blue and aqua MADNESS. I am very satisfied, I am.
Here's the process.


NOTE: I do not recommend painting stretchy fabric but desperate boots require desperate measures.
HOW TO:
  1. Cleaning/Mending. I scraped and picked the remaining vinyl stretchy bits off the boot uppers to the extent possible with a wire brush and toothbrush and thoroughly cleaned and sandpapered the smooth surfaces. I sewed up a rip in the rear seam of the upper too.
  2. Masking. I taped the boot soles and zippers with painters' tape and masked my calves with paper towel because I had to wear the boots during painting to reduce paint-cracking later.
  3. Base coat. While wearing the boots, I applied two coats of gesso as a primer using my fingers to avoid brush marks. I wore rubber gloves for this. Although gesso is more brittle than regular acrylic paint, I wanted super coverage and adhesion on the stretchy black substrate, especially on the fleece-like areas where the adhesive wouldn't come off.
  4. Painting. I applied coloured acrylic paint with rubber-gloved fingers. I wanted colour variation so one boot is noticeably more greenish than the other. For a clean line, I hand-brushed areas along the zipper and sole.
  5. Finishing. I applied a coat of clear acrylic for protection and added shine.
  6. Decoration. I hot-glued a fabric stripe down the front of the boots and added daisy zipper pulls that I bought at Dressew fabric shop for $3.00. I had to buy a glue-gun for this step.
  7. DONE. But these can only be worn in fine weather. Do I care? NON!
This project took a couple of days with all the fiddly scraping, masking, and multiple coats of paint (while I was wearing the boots), but the time was worth it. Depending on how gingerly I wear these (not very I imagine) these boots will last a little longer, and when they start to deteriorate more, I'll love going crazy with more paint AND safety pins. The good thing about working on something I would otherwise junk is there is no risk of screw-up; that's true freedom.

I owe this project's success to Pao at Project Minima where I first learnt about shoe-painting. Hugs to you, Pao and all the other bloggers I have seen since in their upcycled footwear.

AND
Over at blog taibhsearachd (Gaelic for second sight), Janet of Yellowknife in the Yukon was needing an emergency yellow skirt fix so she upcycled a big sundress into her own version of it.  


Very cool - the perfect outfit for this beautiful indoor garden. Thanks, Janet. Gorgeous.

That's all from here. Hope you're having a swell week, everyone!



39 comments:

  1. Holy effing upcycle!! Those boots are amazing! I was wondering where the yellow skirt had gone...
    Becky :)

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  2. Fabulous! Thanks for the detailed DIY!

    Sue xo

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  3. Wow, I love what you did to those boots! They are truly astounding. This reminds me to get a move on decorating my Vizzini'd Fluevogs!

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  4. Great job with the boots, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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  5. Great work on those boots ! They look amazing in their new colour !

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  6. Those boots rock! You are so feckin' clever! How cute are those crazy daisy/fried egg zip pulls, too? I want some. xxx

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  7. Gasp.......that is one very cool transformation. You are one clever lady and after reading the how to list.....very patience to.
    OK off to the world of the travelling yellow ballon skirt.....around the world in 80 days????? Hmmm the book rights!!!!!!
    Love V

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  8. wonderful transformation, love that aqua blue color and that stripes!, your boots are über cool! wish they stay so cool for ages!
    besos & booties!

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  9. Nancy Sinatra would love. Fabulous! (And the daisy zipper? Well, you could get married in them boots) x

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  10. Zazoo - what fab boots you've made! And thanks for the intro to Janet, love her style. Stay awesome, xoxoxoxo

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  11. Wow, you have more patience than I, would have given them the proverbial 'boot' (heh)...awesome job!

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  12. your sense of style is really good.

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  13. Those boots are gorgeous that color has me weak in the knees! Great work on this now you enjoy the old boots you love in a whole new way!
    Xxoo

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  14. Amazing transformation from Meh to Marvelous! Can't wait to see them on your feets.

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  15. Those boots will have everybody gawkin'! Wow, you continue to amaze me with your marvelous DIY ideas, and your skill and discipline in bringing them to fruition. I can barely get to the "ideas" stage ;)

    The Yellow Skirt is on its way to me at this moment, so I've been plotting what to do with it...

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  16. Two eye-popping projects!!! The boots are way more work than I would be willing to do, but oh my gosh the results are glorious!

    I've been wondering about the skirt - well worth the wait!!! I keep thinking "I want to get my hands on that skirt!", but I think I would be 90 by the time it got to me lol!

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  17. You did a wonderful job on those boots. They are adorable now.

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  18. What a brilliant refashion/save of the boots, Melanie, they look incredible!
    I love Amber's Yellow Skirt pics so much, Janet looks lovely too, and I am so looking forward to seeing what Shelley does with it. It's doing its Freaky Tour of Canada before heading over to MEEEEEE! xxxx

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  19. amazing boots. you're a very talented girl. love lucyx

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  20. isn't acrylic paint just the best? So versatile - and these boots just look amazing! what a makeover. Love the choice of colour... I've seen the hen, one of the best photoshoot props I've ever seen on a blog. xxxx

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  21. COOL COOL COOL! You are amazing, and so are your boots! And I loved what Amber did yellow skirt! So much fun!

    xoxo
    Lynn Dylan

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  22. those trashed boots went for oh no to go go. Well done

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  23. Hot damn those boots are gorgeous!! I officially need to get me some paint asap. I purchased a pair of shoes specifically to paint, now the idea is spreading the blog world! I need to catch up.

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  24. Can I borrow those boots this weekend? Definitely need them. :-)

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  25. Any chance you'll open a cobbler's shop? The boots turned out so well! I'm off to check out the new blogger you've introduced me to.

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  26. What a fabulous DIY idea!! Those boots look brilliant. It's always good up-cycling things you were going to throw out, definitely takes the stress off it. Can't wait to see you wear them!

    Janet's skirt looks great too and I agree - it's the perfect ensemble for the garden backdrop.

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  27. The green ones are so cute!!!!
    Very good idea to do so.

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  28. Me, a temptress - imagine!!! Thank you, Melanie - it's indeed a World Wonder that you have set in motion, and I am so excited about its future adventures. I love Janet's version!

    I'm in awe of your boot-customization-while-wearing-them - holy smokes! The stripe and daisy pulls are ready for a coordinating Vespa! Fantastic!

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  29. I'm a big fan of The travelling skirt! Who's next?

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  30. LOVE LOVE LOVE the boots!!

    I have beat black clogs that NEED painting.

    Ever hear of Lumiere fabric paint? It's fantastic--and comes in the scrummiest metallic colors.

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  31. Fearless boot DIY. I love the finished product.

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  33. Talk about recycle your boots, they look great!
    I especially like the first ones and the new 60's look.
    The yellow gypsy skirt and blouse is also pretty, my kind of clothes.
    Have a good weekend!

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  34. You've given those boots a fab new lease of life, I love the colour! Good to see the yellow skirt continues its travels.

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  35. Amber is a star in the traveling yellow skirt. A vision to behold. As are the aqua boots! Pao's brilliant idea is traveling too.

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  36. My gourd, I'm such a douche-canoe. SO MANY times I have ditched shoes because I didn't like the colour and here's Sacramento spraying hers fluoro and you making these INCREDIBLE boots and NOW I WANT TO MAKE ALL TEH FABULOUS FOOTWEAR TOO!!! You're clever and patient and marvellous and beautiful.

    Sarah xxx

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  37. Wow you did a fabulous job on these!! Love them, and a great color too! ~Heather

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