Re-sewn Converse!

[Jonas]

When I suddenly felt the sun shining again after a long, wet, winter (they tend to be like that in Norway..) I figured I had to find my purple converse from last year. However, they were really out-worn and full of holes (I had totally forgot), so I ripped the old fabric off and sew some new! 



Closeup:



As you can see, I just cut the old fabric off right above the rubber, and then glued the new on! 

[zandila]

Nice job!  I would never have thought to do that, but you've rescued some great shoes.

[Digsy LaRaspberry]

That's awesome! Care to share how one does that?

[nataluna]

wow, you can DO that?!

this rocks!!

[rhymewithorange]

That's so cool! I have like three pairs of old converse sitting around my house that are pretty much too worn-out to wear anymore...this is a great idea for giving them new life! What kind of fabric did you use? And how exactly did you do it? Did you just sew the new fabric over the old?

[shortleggedsarah]

I've heard of people doing this but have never seen it done until now. I would love love love to see how you did this!!!

[spirals420]

bahhhhhhhhhh i should try this with my old beat up pair.. i have already bought new ones... BUT i should try with the old and if i mess up its ok....

nice work!

[himnik]

i love it. i just wish i had the guts to do that to but i love my pair to much... good job!

[Buggins]

Wow I never thought of doing that. Just think of how much $$$ I could have been saving. Can you give a step by step on how you did it. TIA

[NyteRayn]

OMG how did you DO THAT???!!!!

*thinks about the number of fabrics in her stash that could be shoes & cries*

[nataluna]

...just cut the old fabric off right above the rubber, and then glued the new on! 

I think the hardest part must be to copy the shape.  I suppose you could do that after cutting off the old shoe cloth, make a pattern from it...

it must be some heavy sewing, if the cloth is canvas like the old ones...

[Ja]

so you ripped out the outer layer of fabric, but left the inside layer intact to glue the new fabric to?

hmmm, I so want to do this!

[VALiant]

Awesome! Great idea!

[medea]

Funny: my converse always wear out on the sole and rubber parts waaaaaaay before the fabric. I would never be able to work this one out. However, I AM saving my fabric uppers to make some kind of purse

[iamawesome]

This is pretty awesome!! and the fabric choice is so awesome too! I can def see converse selling shoes with that fabric!

I was also wondering what kind of fabroic is that? canvas? how come everybody finds cool canvas and I only find offwhite one! not even white! NO! OFF-white!

I have 2 or 3 (or 4 or 5..yes..i have a converse problem ) that are rlly worn out and are now tucked away in a shoe box waiting for me to come up with something..so I might just do that..dont know if my little sewing machine can take it though (brother LS-2125)..anybody knows if it would??

oh..and to spare u from doing a tutorial, I recall seeing a tutorial for something like that on instructables.com  (However, ur fabric is def way prettier!)

[ikkepagrasset]

That's totally brilliant. The fabric is fantastic. How durable is the glue?

Mad love to Norway, also!

[camilaustral]

great!!!
if only mine  didn't have the sole all worn out and completelly flat

[kaishabackwards]

This is so amazing! 

[Jonas]

Thanks everybody! 

Basically what I did was just cutting off all the old fabric, so all I had left was the sole. Then I used the old fabric to draw a new pattern. It's really easy, because you don't really need to think about making a 'shoe-shape'. The two pieces of fabric (on the left and the right of the shoe, sewn together in the heel) are identical 
Also, the fabric isn't particularly sturdy, I only laid it double, and thus it became just as durable (well... almost) as the original Converse-canvas
I have, like, the cheapest sewing-machine ever, so it shouldn't be any problem
I think I used about a tube of epoxy-glue to attach the sole to the fabric. That is, I technically used two tubes (epoxy, you know. Has it's own rules)
As I don't have any more shoes in urgent need of recycling, I cannot provide you with any picture-based tut yet, but this tutorial on instructables shows you basically the same method as i used. 

[Kumikana4]

That is genious! I hit "this rocks", because it clearly does. I must try this. Although it still isn't a converse-weather here in Finland

[kelly_bear]

That is so cool! They turned out really well.

I love the fabric you used.

[Rakuette]

you are awesome!

there is this stuff called "krud kutter" i don't know if you can get it in norway but i accidentally got some on the toe of my cons and wiped it off and they were bright shiny white again. i then put it all over the rubber and in like 5 minutes had brand new shoes!

great job

[rhymewithorange]

Thanks so much for the explanation and the link to that instrucables website....I am totally totally going to do this once I'm finished with school (well, that is if I have enough self-control to make myself wait that long, haha). I will def let you know how it goes!

But I had just one last question...where did you get the gromets for the shoelaces?

[rockindancer86]

Those are awesome! I would love to do that, but mine have the opposite problem - the sole is broken (across the ball of my foot) but the fabric part is fine    Of course that's probably because they're cheap knockoffs.

[NerdyCrochetGal]

Oooh this is so neato, I bet this would work on old worn out canvas slip ons as well... Neato.

[Jonas]

I found the gromets at my local crafting-store 
Don't know if I really put them on the right way, but they're still stuck on the shoes, so I'm happy 

I would definately love to see the result if any of you should try the same! 

[RachelKristin]

wow, those are awesome! i didn't know you could do that!

[katiekutthroat]

i LOVE these!!

[letmeshine_s]

Thats very cool I never would have thought to do that.. I Love them!

[MissMoonlight]

Those are great

I don't think I'll ever have the guts to cut up my shoes

[Theperilouspopsicle]

its cool to see someones finished project of this, these turned out great!

im working on a pair myself out of some pink polkadot stuff with vintage 50's housewifes on it. Ive got tons of the rubber parts sitting around since im working on a tennis-shoe dress...

[idoless]

THOSE ARE AMAZING! Wow wow wow. I would never do that too my Chucks though for a number off reasons like autographs and stuff. But still<333 Hahah and a bit of random/useless info, I have a penpal/friend in Norway actually. =P

[rhymewithorange]

So I finished my pair a few days ago. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Jonas]

So I finished my pair a few days ago. Thanks for the inspiration!

http://www.craftster.org/pictures/data/500/thumbs/DSC000714.JPG[/img]

wow, I'd say those turned out way better than mine!
Great job! 

@ idoless: There is no penpal like a Norwegian penpal! 

[sweets4ever]

Congrats!!

Craftster Best of 2008!