Brightest Young Things

DIY: Miu Miu-inspired shoe ruffles

Do It With: some scrap leather, pleather, or thin plastic (like from an old bag or jacket you've been hanging onto), scissors, a sharpie, straight pins, a sewing machine and thread, some embroidery floss, a needle, a thimble, and the pair of shoes of your choice to attach the ruffles to.

Do It Why? Miuccia Prada's Fall 07 Miu Miu line featured multi-colored spectator pumps with some most unexpected ruffles - her take on them was something along the lines of "they're a bit of unexpected feminism blah blah blah." When I remember where I read this/understand what it means I'll fill you in, but here's my take: I don't care WHAT their significance; they're just so oddball-cute that I want them on everything. Since paying $575 for the real deal is, ahem, NOT EVEN a possibility, I'm more than happy to spend the 30 minutes (and $0) it'll take to make my own with stuff I've already got around the house. And then I will affix them to every pair of shoes I own.

Is Miuccia Prada going to be quite unhappy? These are Miu Miu-INSPIRED; we're totally lacking the great color-blocking possibilities and the neat laser cut edges. Also, she lives in Italy. She will never know exactly to what extent she has INSPIRED you.

Difficulty Level: This is about a 2.5; I broke 2 sewing machine needles and once INCURRED INJURY pushing the needle through the shoe (I was not paying attention.). If you're using a pair of shoes that have some straps that you can sew the ruffles around (or if you use a material for the ruffles that's not as thick as the crappy plastic I chose) then the job is way easier, but all the other steps are simple and easy enough.

Cost: Assuming you've got an item that you don't mind sacrificing to the ruffle cause and a pair of shoes to attach the ruffles TO, this one is $0.00. That's right, FREE. If you don't have anything you're keen on cutting up, you can pick bags up at the thrift store for around $2 or $3. If you really want to get fancy you can pick up some leather from any old fabric store, but be warned: even the remnants are pricey, and you need so little for this project that it's worth it to get creative with what you can find on the cheap.

Tips: For a sleeker look, choose ruffle material that matches or works in context with the material and color of your shoes - but using a contrast color or a print will make for a more interesting piece. Also remember that it's entirely up to you how large or small your ruffles end up; the measurements I've given are just a guideline so feel free to ALTER as you see fit.

DO IT, YOUNG THINGS:

1. Cut two 5 or 6-ish inch squares out of your ruffle material, and don't worry about perfect symmetry or size because this is soooo not an exact science. Set one square aside and cut the other in half diagonally. After you've cut the square into two triangles, put them in front of you, put the square back together, and rotate the square to make a DIAMOND - the 45 degree angles should be at the top and the bottom, and the looooong edges of the triangle should be against each other on the inside (with the 90-degree angles pointing outwards). Got it? THAT'S how they're going on the shoe.

2. Take one of the triangles you just made and use your sharpie to draw a horizontal line about 1 1/2-2 inches from the bottom point.

3a. Now to make it RUFFLY: using your straight pins, fold and secure your material vertically across the line you drew - again, it's not an exact science, and you can make a ton of folds for a DRAMATIC ruffle and fewer for a more understated one.
3b. Once you're all pinned, take it to the sewing maching and send a few lines of stitches horizontally across the folds and over the sharpie line to hold the ruffles in place.
3c. Repeat the steps for the other triangle.

4. Taking both your triangles, fold the "extra" inch or two of fabric underneath your stitch up and secure it with a pin, then place them where you'd like on your shoe and stick a pin through to secure that. The placement doesn't need to be EXACTLY 3.45634342 INCHES FROM THE TOE or anything, I'd say a good rule is like an index finger from the toe of the shoe. Basically just put them where they look best. I TRUST you. For maximum cuteness make sure they overlap a bit in the front.

5. Now for the horribly irritating part: using the embroidery floss, the needle, and the thimble, attach the ruffles to the shoe. Since there's no way you're going to be able to tie the knot off on the inside, here's my suggestion as to how to go about doing this:
-Using a long piece of floss, push the needle through both layers of the ruffle AND the shoe using the thimble to help out. Once the needle has made it all the way through to the inside of the shoe, pull so you've got a nice amount of floss left to work with, but MAKE SURE to leave lots of floss hanging on the outside.
-Now push the needle back THROUGH the shoe (thank your thimble for making this possible) but NOT through the ruffle. Remove the needle and leave the floss hanging (it should be between the shoe and the ruffle layers).
-Re-thread the needle with the floss you left hanging in the first little step. Push it down through the ruffle layers so it can meet up with its other end, then tie them off.
-Do this in 2 places on each ruffle, so 4 times total per shoe.

6. Repeat all the steps for the other square and shoe and you are SO DUNZO.

Awww how neat are these? I might go back with some pinking shears and a hole punch to trim-and-fancy-up the top, but either way I'm so stoked on my new kicks. I used just basic black ruffle material (as opposed to a neat print or a color pop) but I went big with it and my once-boring oxfords were transformed by the unexpected new shape - the patent is totally on trend for F/W and I can't wait to wear them with tights and a dress. And hopefully you can't either!