Create Easy DIY Fabric Covered Sneakers in One Hour

Upcycled Dollar Store Sneakers Covered in Fabric

I will walk you through all the steps as well as tell you what not to do. Learn from my mistakes and missteps and find out my hack for making the eyelet part of the sneakers blend with the material. Using HeatnBond Liquid Vinyl® from Therm-O-Web makes the tennis shoes water-resistant and I can't wait to wear them everywhere!

Here's what you need to make Sneakers Covered in Fabric:

• HeatnBond® Liquid Vinyl Gel Coating from Therm-O-Web™
• DecoFoil® Parchment Paper from Therm-O-Web™
• Chunky Canvas Sneakers
• Cotton Fabric – 1/4 Yard
• Paintbrush – 1″ Flat Wash
• Scissors – I love my Fiskars Amplify Shears!
• Scissors – Detail
• Pencil

Here's how to create Material Covered Dollar Store Tennis Shoes:

STEP ONE

To begin the DIY Fabric Covered Sneakers, gather all supplies. I found these canvas tennis shoes at the Dollar Store for just $5.00, so they are perfect for this upcycled craft project. These sneakers have a trendy style with a chunky sole and are all canvas with no rubber toe, so they are perfect for adding material to create a custom pair of kicks! Whenever you are using fabric for a craft project follow these steps before you start. Pre-wash material without fabric softener, tumble dry, and then iron to remove wrinkles. Remove the laces and set them aside.

STEP TWO

Stuff the sneakers tightly with plastic bags. This will give the canvas added sturdiness and provide a water-proof barrier.

Using the DecoFoil Parchment Paper, trace the outline of each section of the canvas tennis shoe with a pencil. These sneakers have a left side, a right side, and a toe section. Use the seams as guidelines.

STEP THREE

Rough cut the material utilizing the areas of the pattern that you want to highlight. I love the large butterfly and positioned it right on the toe of the shoe.

Roughly cut out the DecoFoil Parchment Paper patterns with scissors.

Lay the pattern over top of the material and cut it out with scissors. The Parchment Paper is transparent, so you can line up the design perfectly within the pattern.

STEP FOUR

Apply a generous coat of the HeatnBond® Liquid Vinyl Gel Coating to the canvas toe and tongue of the sneaker with a soft bristle paintbrush.

Place the material on the sneaker and apply a top coat of Liquid Vinyl. Using small detail scissors, cut around the perimeter of the toe and tongue section of the tennis shoe. Let the rubber sole and stitched edge be your guide. Apply additional Liquid Vinyl to the edges and gently burnish with the handle end of the paintbrush to make sure that you have good adhesion of the material to the canvas shoe. Repeat this step with the second sneaker.

STEP FIVE

Repeat this same process as above with the right and left sides of the sneakers.

Apply Liquid Vinyl to the right and left sides of each sneaker then cover with fabric, and then go back and apply the material to the right sides of both tennis shoes.

Use the stitched edges and rubber soles as guides. Then make sure all edges are sealed.

STEP SIX

And here is my secret hack. I wondered how I was ever going to cut around all the lacing grommets and then I had an idea. I happened to have the exact color match for the background color of the fabric in my craft stash, so I painted those areas instead. You can see the difference in the photo below.

The painted areas make the sneakers look finished. This tip also works to cover up any places where your cuts might have been a bit wonky. Let paint dry and apply a light coat of HeatnBond® Liquid Vinyl Gel Coating.

STEP SEVEN

Laces, who knew it would be so hard to select the correct color of shoelaces for these sneakers? I tried satin ribbon in coordinating colors of robin's egg blue and lilac, but they just looked too busy to me. I texted my crafty bestie, Laura, and she agreed that the plain white shoelaces made the fabric on the shoes the star of this project. It's nice to always have someone to bounce ideas off of. White laces for the WIN!

Weatherproof DIY Fabric Covered Sneakers

Use my tutorial for covering canvas shoes with fabric using Therm-O-Web Liquid Vinyl as a jumping-off point to try some new craft products very soon.

I was intimidated at first by this new HeatnBond Liquid Vinyl Gel Coating product, but after reading the directions on the Therm-O-Web website, I felt equipped to create a pair of upcycled weatherproof tennis shoes covered in material. This project turned out awesome and I cannot wait to try the Liquid Vinyl on all the ideas floating around in my head.

Create a pair of DIY Butterfly Fabric Sneakers with HeatnBond Liquid Vinyl Gel Coating by Therm-O-Web and make any fabric weatherproof and waterproof for year-round outdoor use. With all the rainstorms we get here in Florida, I am excited that these sneakers won't leave my feet soggy. The perfect coating for the kiddos sneakers, so they can go puddle jumping!

Check out this quick and easy Hello Fall Pumpkin Garden Flag created with part of an old canvas dropcloth and HeatnBond Liquid Vinyl Gel Coating by Therm-O-Web to make it weather-proof.

I have all the instructions and FREE PATTERNS over on this blog post.

Sharing is Caring!

Too busy to make this right now? Pin it for later! I'd love for you to pin this DIY Fabric Covered Sneaker project to your favorite craft board on Pinterest and then it’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready.

Visit my website Creatively Beth for a TON of Craft Tutorials, Home Decor DIYs, and FREE Printables.

Thanks for stopping by!

Creatively, Beth