I bought a pair of comfortable and cheap but boring black loafers a few weeks back with the plan of customising them… eventually.

I debated adding pom poms (yup, really) but decided some simple embroidery would be more subtle. This was the easiest make I’ve done in a while and it took about 15 minutes in all. Here’s how I did it…

Supplies:

– Shoes

– Embroidery floss

– Sturdy embroidery needles

– Grey or white pencil and other stationery (ruler, etc) to draw on design

Step 1) Choose your design, I went simple because I’m not a very skilled embroiderer. Draw the design on to your shoe using a pencil – it might not show up very well, just go over it until it’s visible enough to follow.

Step 2) Separate your strands of floss – I halved each skein and used 3 strands BUT if I was going to do this again I might try it with all six strands so the finished design is more defined. Thread the needle (obviously).

Step 3) Embroider away. I used the most basic stitch, a straight stitch, to create my triangles. You’ll find some awesome tutorials for a bunch of stitches over at Sublime Stitching.

Step 4) Tie the thread off at the end and move on to the next colour. Lather, rinse, repeat as needed.

Total cost of project including shoes: approx. £5

Words and photography: Leonie McDonald