An Edwardian Summer - Issue 5 Painting and Customizing Doll Shoes

One of the subjects I talk a lot about is overcoming the limits of what is manufactured. Customization and personalization is how we make things speak directly to us as individuals whereas what companies manufacture is made to generally appeal to the masses. This is why doll customization is so popular because we can re-create childhood memories, create new ones, and explore ways to integrate our own crafting and hobbies.

Today I'm going to talk about customizing shoes, and for the purpose of our current series "An Edwardian Summer" we are going to use examples from our Edwardian Shoe line to show you how to increase your options and use your creativity.

Let's get started!

For those that know me well, I have a background as a costume and bridal wear designer, which comes in rather handy when I am crafting and sewing for dolls. A lot of techniques I use in the entertainment industry can be adapted to dolls. In fashion, matching your shoes to your dress is a big deal, whether you are going for matchy matchy or for a bold contrast. But when you are shopping for matching shoes and nothing seems to be right, you still have options.

In costuming, I had a lot of fun creating custom fairytale shoes using a combination of dyeable bridal shoe options that I bedazzled and embellished. But not all movie characters have a sparkly dress shoe, so I began to explore paintable options to convert everyday shoes into movie replicas. I tried many brands of paint, but the one I liked the best was Angelus. Quality is really important to me, and when you are creating a custom shoe that a human can wear, you have to look at things like scratching, dirt, water, and wear and tear to make sure your work will survive the wear. Angelus paints are all that and more. They even have a video that shows exactly how durable that is, so click on the video below for a fun demonstration:

Humans will do the most damage to a shoe but playtime can be equally vigorous. If you watched the video above you might already be getting ideas on painting shoes. It can start with just painting a logo, color blocking, adding a stripe, changing the entire color of a shoe, or adding elaborate painted artwork and designs.

Most of our shoe collections are offered in basic popular colors and neutrals that easily match such as red, black, white, pink, brown, etc. But that doesn't cover everything and sometimes you need that custom color. This is a very true story for many of us who sew and design one of a kind or limited pieces. Angelus has an extensive amount of ready made colors in the full spectrum of the rainbow and also including glitters, metallics, neons, glow in the dark, etc. This opens a range of options beyond just historical, but in creating works of art for modern dolls. It's also helpful to know that just with any other paint, you can mix your own colors. This means yes, you can exact match your shoe color to your dress with a little paint mixing activity.

When I first started out painting shoes, it was a little overwhelming looking at the color options on the Angelus website. There were just so many I wasn't quite sure what to start with or what I would need. I ended up just purchasing the Best Sellers Kit (photo above). There are many primary colors in this kit and even some extras, and I found that worked for most of my projects. As a particular project came up, I would sometimes add a new color to my inventory if I couldn't or didn't want to mix it up. For those of you who sew multiples of an outfit, it is sometimes easier to choose a pre-mixed color for consistency rather than having to mix and paint to order. This way you can do things in an assembly line fashion or in batches.

So let's dive in!

Process of painting a doll shoe

You don't really need much to get started.

Tools:

1. A paint brush about 1/4" wide with flat firm bristles

2. Paper towels

3. Paint palette

4. Small cup of water

5. Baby wipe

6. The pair of shoes you will paint

   
   

I find that a paint brush about 1/4" wide with flat bristles works the best. Firm bristles allow you to get very close to the edge which is useful when painting near the sole. I also have several paper towels nearby for setting the shoes on and to keep my workspace clean but also to stuff into the boots. The boots are small and having the paper towel as a gripping agent becomes very useful. The paint palette allows me several areas to mix colors. The small cup of water is to rinse my brush, and the baby wipe is to quickly clear away any oopsies if I mistakenly paint a button or a sole to wipe away while the paint is still wet. If you are really worried you don't have a steady hand, you can use a roll of blue painting tape to block off areas you don't want to get paint on.

For the purpose of this demonstration, I am using the Edwardian Cut Out Boots in White to match to my plaid dress from Issue 4. Note that with leather paints, the sole color becomes more important than the original color of the shoe. I have had no issues painting over black and dark colors and I find that the sole needs to be in an appropriate matching color - light soles for light colors and dark soles for dark colors. Since you are changing the color of the outer, you'll want to make sure that the new color matches with the interior and sole that will remain unpainted and that it looks like it belongs.

Tip: Shake your paint before you open it to ensure it's fully mixed before pouring. Each jar has a brush attached to the lid to help wipe the edges as your pour, it's a very drippy paint.

The dress we created from Orange Plaid had a number of tones from a pumpkin orange all the way to an orangy brown. Although orange is a fun color, I wanted to bring the more orangy brown color to the outfit to pick up the ribbon color I used in the belt and balance the outfit. Since I had already named my color orangy brown, it seemed fitting that I used a combination of Angelus Orange and Angelus Brown to mix together to get the color I needed.

I used my paint palette to put brown in it's own spot and orange in it's own spot so that I could gradually mix them together and test to get the shade I wanted. I do this because it wastes much less paint then just pouring them together. It's very visual as you are mixing and several times I said, I need more orange and less brown, etc until I was happy with the coloring.

STARTING TO PAINT

Take the boots out of their plastic wrapper. Stuff each boot tightly with a paper towel leaving a small amount up almost like a tissue in a tissue box.

Leave the buttons and straps closed for now. The straps will hold the paper towel in, and the little tissue top will be useful in picking up the boot and holding it while painting to keep it away from your fingers while it's wet.

Paint the first coat. The first coat always looks thin and streaky, and it will continue to look that way until the final coat so don't panic. Concentrate on making the paint smooth and even and try to eliminate any areas of excess or gloppy paint. This usually involves changing direction on your brush strokes from just up and down to side to side so that the paint applies without creating raised paint lines. I find it helps to dip the brush once and continue painting until the paint brush is completely dry before adding more paint.

I find it best to work along side a fan - either next to your painting station or under a ceiling fan. In this way, you can apply a coat to one boot, set it down and the wind from the fan will dry it while you are working on the other boot. This way you can keep the flow going to paint coats and have them dry quickly without waiting around too much. It also forces you to allow the dry time so you won't be temped to add more paint to a boot while it's still wet. Adding paint on top of a wet surface makes a gloppy finish.

As you apply each coat, the paint will get darker and it becomes easier to get closer to the edges near the sole. Keep evenly applying your paint.

After several coats, your boot's solid color will form and the thin streaky brush stroke look will start to disappear. This is the part where you can touch up any areas that may look uneven and where you can concentrate on painting close to the sole. I find the easiest way to get close to the sole is to push the paint on the very tip with the straight edge of the brush towards the sole until the white fills in, trying to brush close to the side almost always gets paint where you don't want it. Keep your baby wipe handy for any oopsies if you paint into the sole by accident for the perfect paint job.

Note that it is easier to paint the straps when they are fully buttoned, so I recommend that you paint as much area as you can get close to before finally unbuttoning to get the last white spots around the buttons.

Pro tip: If you run out of paint during painting, mix more paint. If the shade is not exactly the same, it will not matter as you layer up with each coat, however for your final coat you want to make sure you have enough paint to paint the entire last coat the same shade. Your final coat should go over all the areas even around the buttons.

Once the majority of your boot has a solid paint job let it fully dry so that it's not sticky or wet to the touch. When it's dry, unbutton all the straps and leave the paper towel inside. Paint the area around the buttons carefully filling in the white space especially beneath the button. Let it dry in between just as you did with the boot's larger surfaces. If you get paint on the pearl buttons, gently remove it with the baby wipe for a flawless finish.

When you are satisfied with your paint job and there are no more touch-ups needed, let your boots dry overnight before putting them on your doll. Angelus does sell a matte sealer, but honestly I've never needed it. The paint is very powerful as it is. The only time I would use a matte sealer is if you used another medium like a pencil, pen, or different kind of paint along side the leather paint. The paint will dry with a semi-gloss look, it's not overly shiny or glossy, but it has a nice finish and doesn't dry dull.

Finished Boots

Clean-up

Rinse your brush(s) in water, and scrape any paint off that has dried using your paper towel working it in a circular motion. This paint dries solid and doesn't dilute much in water so you do have to use a paper towel to fan your bristles and work the paint out of the brush. The paint palette will peel out of your tray, the rest will need to be scrubbed out with the scratchy side of a sponge or brillow pad. Regular dish soap will return your painting tools to a clean state.

Pro Tip: If you managed to get any paint in unwanted areas, dip a swab/Q-Tip in nail polish remover and gently brush over any spots. This can include any paint that got on the interior of the boot through the straps or holes as you were painting, or along the sole. A quick dab and the paint will loosen. If it smears, simply get a fresh tip wet with nail polish remover and go over a second time. Do not use this method for the buttons, it will take the "pearl" off it. Instead clean with water on a damp paper towel and work the paint off.

Finished Outfit with Custom Painted Shoes