I recently, finally, retired my
Games Maker trainers. Although I was selected as a Games Maker in the Venue Protocol Team (Copper Box) for both the Olympics and Paralympics in London 2012,
I broke my leg on the 30th June, and didn't make it to the games (it was early September before I was anything like fully mobile again, but because I was immediately post-op the Paralympics remained off-limits). Nonetheless, I've worn the trainers for years. They were the only shoes comfortable when my leg was healing, and I love wearing them, but to avoid wearing them out I've decided to retire them.
I couldn't find any I really loved to replace them. The
Vans/Liberty collection are lovely but a bit fussier than I like for everyday. In the end I opted for a really cheap-and-cheerful pair of boys' trainers from Tesco (£4 on sale after Christmas). I wasted a lot of time looking for fun, silly or decorative shoe laces but they all seemed expensive and not quite right.
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| Finished laces |
The
Now That's Pretty shoelace tutorial was an epiphany! I dug around in my craft box (I'm really trying not to buy materials if I don't need to) and found 2.1m of gold satin ribbon, 20mm wide. Gold isn't a colour I usually use, but I wanted a quick craft fix and our lovely local Haberdasher is sadly not open 24 hours, so I cut it into 2 lengths, sealed the ends with a gas lighter, and followed the instructions on Ally's blog. My gold glittery nail polish (bought to make green-and-gold nails for
Aylesbury Concert Band gigs) sealed the tops.
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Before and after:
F&F trainers |
After seeing them on the trainers, it all looked a bit incongruous. I had just bought a lovely pair of 'vintage' (nineties?) Marks and Spencer boots from my local Cancer Research UK shop, and I tried the laces in them. They are perfect together.
If I were to go ahead and make these again, there are a few alterations I would make to my version:
- I would ruche the top of the laces tighter.
- I would use clear sellotape instead of Scotch Tape, to make a slightly sharper finish.
It took about 45 minutes to do both (I'm quite slow, you could probably do it faster!) and I will definitely make more ribbon laces, it's a great way to add some glam to a boring pair of shoes. They feel just a bit more 'me'.
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| Perfect |
