Altered Shoes – Craft Gossip

I’ve been seeing altered shoes around recently including from a woman here in Oakland who does not have a web site apparently. How can that be? websites are pretty much free at this point.

Hippy of Doom on Etsy has some nice altered shoes. I love these hummingbird shoes.

There is also an entire book about altering shoes and I bet it has great tips on the kinds of paint to use, etc. The book is called Altered Shoes: A Step-By-Step Guide To Making Your Footwear Fabulous and was written by Marty Stevens-Heebner. Marty looks very interesting and is, I think, the creator if ReBagz, a line of handbags made from upcycled materials. you can read about them here.

I’m shocked that there is not an altered shoes flickr group! I have a few altered shoes stories from recently myself, although, does it count if the altering was done my my most excellent local cobbler?

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Just about anything you can make in fabric you can make in knitting, but there are some styles that you just don’t see that often translated into knitting.

For example, a button down collared shirt. This is a classic design, of course, and it looks great in a knit version, but it’s just not something you see much of.

Noma Ndlovu’s Guglethu shirt is the pattern to try if you want to knit your own button down shirt. This one is inspired by cashmere tops (though the sample was made out of yak yarn, not cashmere, and uses two strands of lace weight yarn held together) and includes lots of high-fashion details like double-knit cuffs, collar and shoulder seams.

It has a patch pocket on the front and 10 buttons including the button band and the cuffs.

The designer says you can also use a DK weight yarn held singly if you’d rather, and that the shirt looks good in a variety of yarns. There is another version on Ravelry that uses Berroco Remix Light, which is a mix of nylon, cotton, acrylic, silk and cellulose fibers. It has a more relaxed look but it still really pretty.

The pattern has 12 sizes, with a full bust measurement ranging from 32.35 to 72.25 inches, or 82 to 183.5 cm. The designer suggests 2 to 6 inches, or 5 to 15 cm, of positive ease when you pick your size. I could totally see knitting one that’s even bigger to wear more like a jacket, because I do that a lot with button down shirts I already own.

I love all the details on this shirt, which isn’t necessarily difficult to knit, but might introduce you to some things you’ve never knit before (like those cuffs with the plackets, or a shirt collar like this).

To learn more about this shirt and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself, head to Ravelry.

[Photo: Noma Ndlovu]

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