I went out and bought my own pair of Converse sneakers after my 10 year old daughter bought a black pair with bright green laces. I had the option of white, red or black. White just seems to be asking for trouble, who can keep a pair of white shoes clean? I thought about red, but went with the black.
I then tried to figure out what I would want to bead onto the sneakers. I went with the old standby of a floral theme. Here are my design sketches for the shoes.
Next, I wanted to have an outline to follow on the shoes. A trick my mother taught me she learned from an old quilter was to use slivers of soap to draw a design onto dark fabric. It works like a charm. What I learned pretty quickly is that I have less room on the shoe for the design than I had on paper despite the fact that I drew it to the exact size on the paper.
I wanted to cover up the insignia, so I went with bright red and blue on the center. This was the hardest part to bead because of the thick coating of plastic used to print the insignia. However, if your hands are strong you can use a thimble or a pair of small needle nose pliers to push and grab the needle.
I haven't quite finished beading both shoes. I have finished one shoe, and have almost finished the inside of the other with another new design. My daughter suggested I bead on four different designs. Here are photos of the first shoe that is now completed. Once I finish the second, I will take a photo of me wearing my crazy shoes, which, by the way, my 13 year old son says I ruined. Although my daughter has asked to wear them as soon as she can wear my size, which won't be long since she is already in a size 7 1/2 women's!
