Suedette Repair

[SleekHeels]

I was wearing my strappy black suedette heels to a cafe the other day, as I was sipping my coffee I crossed my legs and glanced down at my shoes (as you do of course) and noticed a horrible blotch where the suedette had somehow worn away. So, I wondered how I might repair this, and decided to try with a small strip of self-adhesive felt (like you can get from some art and craft shops in roughly letter-paper sized sheets). It's by no means an invisible repair, but it looks way better than the blotch did. I tried to take quite bright photos to show the damage and repair clearly, but in everyday scenarios unless they're in direct bright lighting the repair isn't too noticeable.

 

 

I figure maybe thin strips of this felt sheet in a contrasting colour could be used to add a styling detail to a plain pair of shoes, and I wonder if it could even be used to re-cover an entire pair of shoes, though it would be quite difficult to cut all the pieces to the exact shapes needed.

 

[Shafted]

If it's anything like real suede, just use a suede brush to raise the grain.

[Dr. Shoe]

It isn't and this is a common problem with Suedette, the surface layer wears away.

 

That is a very good repair on something a professional would suggest throwing away. Well done!

 

Using a contrasting colour is a fine idea too.

[Thighbootguy]

Put another strip on the other side of the shoe then two on the other shoe so they match.  When something like that happens in computer software, we call it a feature.  I'd go easy on using a contrasting color.  Contrast attracts attention.

[SleekHeels]

Dr Shoe, I agree, it's a shame to throw away a nice pair of heels if there's some way to repair them with a little effort.

 

TBG, I didn't think of adding other strips to match everything up, but I did wonder about cutting a larger piece that looked more like a part of the shoe by design. I figured I'd try the small strip first just to see how well the repair holds up before trying a bigger job.

 

I think this particular pair of shoes is way too busy with the straps for any contrasting colour, but it would be fun to try some embellishment to add a colour accent detail to a very plain pair of courts.