DIY Spiked Loafers | Dearest Lou

DIY Spiked Loafers

Here's the DIY I promised you guys last week. I've been planning on doing this for a few weeks now but ordered my spikes for super cheap online and they took about a month to get here. I got my inspiration for these lovely shoes after falling in love with these shoes from Sheinside. However, I wasn't willing to pay $78 for them and figured I could do it myself and add my own personal touches for a fraction of the price.

There are many ways you can go about doing this project but for the sake of making things simple I decided to use the same color and size of spike and only doing the front (most visible part) of the shoe. However, feel free to go wild and do the entire shoe if you would like (;

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
one.//a pair of loafers new or old (I bought mine here for $19.99)
two.//a rotary leather punch (I bought mine here for $4.79 with this coupon)
three.//x acto knife
four.//sharpie (ended up switching the one pictured for a black one)
five.//pencil or pen if you are brave (;
six.//measuring tape
seven.//100 spikes (I bought mine here for $9.40 shipping included!)
eight.//small drill (optional)

*I used a gift card from our wedding for my shoes, so my personal total cost was less than $15!!*

TUTORIAL:

Step 1 PREPARE// Make sure you have all of the materials listed above and that your rotary leather punch is set at the right size you will be needing for this project. You can even do a test hole punch on an extra piece of fabric.

Step 2 MARK// I wanted my spikes to be lined up and sort of in order like the ones from Sheinside so I used the measuring tape and pencil to draw 1 inch lines on the shoes. I then did the dots (where I wanted to insert the spikes) 1/2 an inch apart from each other until I reached the point of the loafer. However, keep in mind that it doesn't need to be precise because mine sure and heck weren't ;P

Once I was positive about where I wanted to insert the spikes, I went over the pencil dot with a black sharpie. This made it easier for me to see where all the punches needed to be made.

Your shoe will look sort of like this once you are done.

Step 3 PUNCH// Start by punching your first hole. Make sure you apply enough pressure to cut through all layers of the shoe. Make sure that the punch is clean and that you can get the screw through it. At this point I inserted 1 screw and spike to make sure that it was the perfect size. After doing this continue to punch until you no longer can.


Step 4 USE X ACTO KNIFE OR DRILL// After this line of holes I couldn't get the punch to go any further. I personally don't own a mini drill so I used the x acto knife and manually did tiny holes throughout the rest of the shoe. Note that using a drill will save you SO MUCH TIME. However, I had nothing else to do the remainder of the evening so I manually did the rest of the tiny holes while watching the X Factor (;

If you are going to go ahead and do it by hand make sure and do what I like to call "the spinning technique". If you use all of your force to try and shove the knife through the shoe you are going to cause it to rip. To prevent this from happening take the blade and gently start twirling it around where you want to make the hole until you go through the layer of the shoe. I should have taken a picture of what I mean but like I said I was watching tv while doing this part.

Step 5 INSERT SCREW & SPIKE// This is the easiest and most rewarding part of the experience. After all of your hard work you slowly get to see your shoe come together! I inserted my spikes row by row so that I would reduce the chance of getting poked!

VOILA! There you have it, sexy spiked leopard print loafers for a fraction of the price. I hope you've enjoyed reading and if you end up doing this tutorial email me or tweet me a photo @dearestlou. I'd love to see how they turn out(;

26 comments

  1. Wow! Great tutorial! Looked like a pro. :)
    You are great with crafts too! Lovely. :)


    ~Chai
    http://chenmeicai.blogspot.com
    http://lookbook.nu/chenmeicai
    http://www.bloglovin.com/en/blog/2957855

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  2. just perfect!
    http://she-is-the-1.blogspot.ch/

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  3. Thanks for the fab tutorial!

    www.steffysworld.com

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  4. Wonderful! =) Wish we had spike packs like that in Norway. Anywhere online I can buy?

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    1. Piril this is the url I'm pretty sure they ship internationally! >>http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/201209936.html

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  5. wow, love how they come out! Very nice DIY!

    xoxo, Joana
    http://colorfulsense.blogspot.be/

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  6. wow. this is beyond cool! beyond!

    xo

    asteria-sparkle.blogspot.com

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  7. Great DIY project. Think I'll be doing this instead of buying them.

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  8. These look stunning!
    xx,
    Lilla
    http://lilycupcake.blogspot.co.at

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  9. Wow! Wonderful DIY! Thanks!

    XOXO
    Http://the-glambition.blogspot.com

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  10. This is such an easy and flawless DIY! Thanks for sharing it. :)

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  11. Awesome shoes! Love that you totally made your own- and rocked it!

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  12. These are AWESOME! They're not too much either like some of the spiked & studded ones I've seen. I love the animal print too! So cute!!

    -Jessi
    haircutandgeneralattitude.blogspot.com

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  13. Wow! I have to try it, thanks :D

    http://fashionmilkshake07.blogspot.it/2012/10/animal-tees-trend.html
    xoxo giada

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  14. this is the best tutorial! love the shoes! your blog is adorable!
    toriandalex.blogspot.com

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  15. Newest follower here! Super cool post. I don't know if I would be brave enough to wear those shoes, but I kinda want to make them anyway :)
    -meandmr.com

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  16. Awesome idea...haven't ever seen studs on leopard...an it's rocking awesome!

    <3 Cambria
    jupefashion.blogspot.com

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  17. Love this idea Cecilia! Spiked loafers are totally fabulous, yet so darn expensive!

    Shannon

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  18. WOW! Great job!
    http://shannonhearts.blogspot.com/

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  19. Love this - they look awesome!

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  20. You are gifted! Great job, I'm keeping this idea for later ;)

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  21. These are so cute! How in the world did you figure this out? way impressed

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  22. thank you for sharing this. back in my teenager days, i used hammer, a nail, and a wooden board to make this happen. this is soooo much easier!!! xoxo

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  23. They look gorgeous and so on trend!
    I've got a vintage giveaway on my blog if you'd like a look!
    Erica xo

    www.sushiturtlesandlife.blogspot.com

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