How to Paint on Canvas Tennis Shoes

Painting on canvas tennis shoes is a great way to add that finishing accessory to an outfit. Canvas tennis shoes come in a wide variety of colors. Choose simple designs keeping the shoe color in mind. White canvas tennis shoes have the greatest versatility for using what ever paint colors you need, but experiment with different shoe and paint colors to achieve the perfect look. Painting on canvas tennis shoes is an easy technique to do and the results will make great last minute gifts.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• One pair of canvas tennis shoes Design of your choice Transfer pencil requiring heat Iron Pins Newspaper Acrylic paints Acrylic fabric medium Paint brush Black permanent marker

1. Choose a design to paint on your canvas tennis shoes. You could use clip art, coloring pages reduced in size or draw your own. Choose or reduce designs to fit over the toe and sides of the shoes.

2. Wad up newspaper and firmly stuff the shoe.

3. Tape your design, face down, to a window. Trace the lines of the design using the transfer pencil.

4. Position the design on the shoe, with the transfer side down. Pin the edge of the design to hold in place.

5. Iron over the design to transfer. Do not let the iron touch the rubber on the edge of the shoe. Gently lift the edge of the design to see if it has transferred. If not, iron again. Do not remove the design until it has completely transferred.

6. Mix the acrylic paints with the acrylic fabric medium according to the manufacturers instructions for the fabric medium. Using the fabric medium will soften the paint so that it won't crack while wearing the shoes.

7. Paint the canvas tennis shoes. Allow the paint to dry.

8. Outline and detail the painted design on the canvas tennis shoes using the black permanent marker. This will really clean up any messy edges and make the design pop.

Tips & Warnings

• These painted canvas tennis shoes are great for a craft show, but because you can never anticipate the sizes you will need, paint only one pair of each design and take orders for the sizes needed. If using dark colored canvas tennis shoes, paint the design with white acrylic paint first and allow to dry. This will make the painted design brighter and more vibrant. Extra touches like swirls and stars can be added to the canvas tennis shoes using different colored fabric markers. Dots can be applied by dipping the handle of the paint brush in paint and dotting the shoes. Replace the shoestrings with a coordinating ribbon using the shoestring for the measurement.

[crazymind]

on 7/26/2009 Nice blog...i too have a written a article on the same...
but its without all that ironing stuff..
http://hubpages.com/_21vfaykt8v5mb/hub/How-to-paint-your-canvas-shoe-to-make-it-look-cool

[Kromminga]

on 6/17/2009 I used the computer printer paper that I printed the designs on.

[chickey]

on 6/16/2009 What kind of paper did you use during the transferring process?