How to Make Stunning DIY Butterfly Wing Heels at Home
Have you seen the Sophia Webster butterfly wing heels? They are absolutely gorgeous and I’m going to show you an expensive way to make your own DIY butterfly heels.
I had a lightbulb moment and figured out a way to create these pretty shoes without them looking cheap or stuck down with glue. I’m so excited to show you how to make butterfly shoes, so let’s get started.
Tools and materials:
- Shoe with ankle back
- Crystal trim (optional)
- Vinyl or plastic
- Brads (large and small)
- Butterfly pattern
- Awl
- Scissors
- Gem glue
- Fabric glue
1. Find the perfect heel
In order to make these gorgeous DIY butterfly heels, you need a shoe that has a back part like the one I’m holding up.
Whether it’s a pump, boot, regular strappy sandal, it doesn’t matter; as long as you have a firm backing to the shoe, you’re good to go!
2. Measure the ankle back
Figure out how long you want your butterfly to be. Don’t make them so large, as that will look too dramatic. For this specific shoe, I went for 4 inches.
3. Draw the butterfly
Now, mark 4 inches on a piece of paper and draw a butterfly wing within that space.
Tip: You can either freehand the drawing or download a pattern off the Internet.
The tabs pictured above are super important. Create a ½-inch tab centered in the top and bottom wing.
Now, cut out your pattern and this is how it should look.
4. Cut the fabric
So, I found this really cool glittery fabric online, and I’ll be using this for my butterfly wing piece. Lay the wing pattern on top of four pieces (you need four wings for each shoe), and cut around.
The reason why you need four wings is that each wing needs a glittery side and that they mirror each other.
5. Glue the wings
Using fabric glue, glue two wings together, wrong sides facing.
Do not glue down the tabs; these should be left untouched. Place pegs on each side of the wing and leave to dry.
6. Use crystal trim (optional)
I had these sparkly crystal trim accessories from leftover DIYs and I decided to glue them down to the outline of the butterfly. This step is totally optional, though.
Remember to use gem glue as fabric glue won’t hold as well.
Tip: Put little crystals on each end as anchor points.
7. Poke holes
Take your awl, and poke a hole in the center of every single tab.
8. Assemble the butterfly wing heels
Take a large brad, and insert it through the top tabs of both wings. The first brad connects the wings together. Also, repeat from the bottom tab.
Now, figure out the placement of where you’d like to attach your butterflies. It’s best to hold the butterfly up to your shoe and eyeball it. Then, puncture a hole through your shoe with the awl.
Puncture a hole on top, too, exactly where both brads are placed on the butterfly.
Take the butterfly with the brads and push i through each respective hole. Do not bend the ends just yet.
Next, place smaller brads into each tab and use the awl to make a hole in the shoe, too. Also, use the awl to bend them on the other side since they are sharp and small.
Now, close the larger centered brads. Cover the inside of the ankle back with moleskin so that the ends don't hurt you.
I wanted to customize my heels even more, so I added the glitter fabric on the strap, too.
Then, take precision scissors and cut the ends accordingly. Make sure it lays just over the side of the shoe.
Bonus inspiration
Ok, now that we are done with the glitter DIY butterfly heels version, let’s do something a little funkier! Here, I’m following the same process as above, but with vinyl.
The only difference is, that the vinyl has a protective film that you need to peel off.
I added the crystal trim to these beauties, too.
Attaching the butterflies is the same process, too. Just be careful when working with the awl!
DIY butterfly wing heels tutorial
So, what do you think? The hardware on these butterfly wing heels really makes it look legit. It honestly holds everything together and upright without having to mess around with glue that can end up looking tacky.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to make butterfly shoes and that you have the inspiration to spruce up your own shoes! Thanks for joining me!
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Comments
Join the conversation
The only problem I see is the metal brads on the inside of the heel area. I would think they'd rub against your heal with every step. Even flattening them down as flat as possible, it's still a sharp edge rubbing against the heel. Did I miss them being covered or ?
It said to cover the brads with moleskin which will stop any discomfort. Moleskin sold in the shoe department.