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How to Make Button Embellishments for Shoes!

comments (12) March 22nd, 2009

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Susan Beal, contributor

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These button embellishments are quick to make and so pretty on a simple pair of flats!

Choose a pair of favorite buttons and felt in two coordinating colors for your embellishments.

Embroidering a contrast running stitch on the felt leaves is a sweet little extra.

These button embellishments are quick to make and so pretty on a simple pair of flats!

Photo: Susan Beal

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Adding fun button embellishment to shoes is such an easy style update! I stitched a little set of blue button rosettes with brown felt leaves to a pair of canvas skimmers, but you can also make these as shoe clips or glue them right on if your shoes have a leather or vinyl surface (see the variation ideas at the end of the post for more on these options).

What you'll need:

A plain pair of shoes
Two favorite buttons in a color that matches or contrasts your shoe
Sharp scissors and pinking shears
Remnants of felt in two coordinating colors (I suggest using wool felt or a thicker style of acrylic felt for this project)
Needle and embroidery thread

Here's everything you'll need to make these shoe embellishments.

1. Choose two buttons and two colors of thick felt that you like together. For mine, I arranged blue buttons on a similar blue felt for flower rosettes, and then added a dark brown felt leaf pairing to coordinate nicely.

2. Cut out two round rosettes with pinking shears in color #1 and two sets of marquise-shaped leaves (I made one slightly smaller than the other for a little contrast) in color #2 with sharp scissors.

Cut out two felt rosettes and four felt leaves.

3. Thread your needle with a double strand of embroidery thread in color #1 and knot it securely. Embroider a simple running stitch from one tip of the leaf to the other, varying your stitch length as you like. Knot securely at the other end. Add stitching to all four leaves this way.

Add a simple, pretty running stitch to each leaf.

4. Arrange two leaves together, the smaller over the larger one, as shown, and layer your button over the felt rosette. Hand-stitch the two leaves together at the join, using a few stitches to secure them, and then stitch the felt rosette over the leaves. Now add your button, stitching it down securely.

Layer your button over the rosette and the leaves together as an underlayer.

5. Finally, stitch your rosette right onto the shoe—you could place it front and center or offset (as I did). You can hide these last stitches under the button, especially if it is a shank style. If it's a sew-through button, you may want to hold off on attaching it to the rosette until now and add it as a final step to cover the rosette and leaf layers.

The finished rosette embellishments are perfect for spring!

Variations:
Stitch (or glue) this embellishment to a hairclip or other barrette style that grips securely without a catch to make a removable shoe clip. Just position the top of the embellishment at the closed end of the clip and sew or glue it in place.

If you are using a pair of shoes made of leather, vinyl, or nonstitchable material, you can use industrial-strength glue to attach the rosettes in place.

Make a coordinating pair of knee socks using my tutorial from last year!

These button rosettes for your knee socks are easy to make, too!

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posted in: embroidery, how-to, buttons, craft, felt, flower, embellishment, easy, button, crafty, shoes, button it up, embroidery thread, makeover, rosette, leaves

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Comments (12)

ntongson writes: These are SUPER cute. The stitching on the leaves is what really makes them perfect. Pieces of lace look amazing as well :)
Posted: 12:33 pm on October 26th

MSJEN10 writes: These are absolutely darling :)
Posted: 3:12 pm on June 30th

kmd811 writes: I think this would work for crocheted towels. I put buttons on my crocheted kitchen towels and think this would look cute on them! Thanks for the idea!
Posted: 11:39 am on March 28th

Carole_OR writes: I've got so much felt....these will be fun!
Posted: 6:11 pm on March 23rd

IMKraftKrazy writes: What a cute idea! I will attack my daughter's stuff with these first and then my own stuff!
Posted: 4:15 pm on March 23rd

susanstars writes: thanks, ladies! I'd love to see yours if you make some :)
Posted: 12:27 pm on March 23rd

Jen_W writes: These are so sweet. You have me pulling out all of my boxes of shoes to see what I can spruce up and give new life.
Posted: 7:07 pm on March 22nd