Putting heels into spandex tights

* a zentai suit
* a pair of heels (I love thrift stores for this, but new is fine too, as long as you’ve broken them in a bit. I look for plain jane leatherette, as long as the silhouette is right)
* Scissors
* Marker or some way to mark the fabric
* Extra fabric or paint
* Spray glue
* Hot glue (or industrial glue of choice)
* Masking tape
* A pair of non-skid pads for shoes

  1. First, check to make sure the zentai suit fits correctly — adjust where necessary. If the leg is too long, shorten it. You want a good fit for a nice smooth look.
  2. Next, slip the shoe inside the leg all the way down to the toe
  3. Pull it taut back across the heel as tight as you feel comfortable and mark where the bottom of the heel of the shoe wants to poke through. Pull the shoe out.
  4. Using matching fabric, cover the heel of the shoe. I use spray glue and wrap my fabric around it, trim off the excess fabric and tack it down on the inside with hot glue. Let this dry.
  5. Depending on how many people will be looking at the underside of your shoe, you can make this as thorough and complete coverage as you want. Alternately, if you do not have matching fabric, you can usually paint the heel to match the fabric as well, but again, remember to let this dry.
  6. Going back to the zentai suit, make a small slit where you marked the heel
  7. Slip the shoe back onto the suit and start to bring the heel through the hole — you will probably need to make a couple of more small snips in order to get it through all the way. Do it slowly and patiently, using small snips — spandex stretches and so do your holes!
  8. Taking the glue of your choice (I’ve had alternating luck with hot glue and more powerful stuff — it depends on the brand of the shoe and the type of material the outside is made of), carefully squeeze some into the space around the heel, to help the fabric stick to the underside of the shoe. Don’t over-glop it, or you will end up with glue seeping through and staining the fabric. All you’re trying to do is adhere it to the bottom of the shoe a bit. Do not glue the hole to the heel — you want that to slide a little bit as you wear it.
  9. As the fabric is going to want to pull away and relax it’s stretch, you’ll want to wrap the shoe up to help keep the bond, and let it dry overnight. Depending on the fabric, I usually find masking tape is just swell. This is another good reason not to overglue to the point of seepage — you’ll end up gluing other things….like tape!….to your shoe.
  10. Check for any places that might need a glue touch up, but other than that, you’re pretty much done! Finally add the non-skid pads to the bottom of the shoes — I can’t stress this enough! Spandex is slippery!! Non-skid pads can be found in most shoe stores that carry accessories, and are available online as well.
  11. Remember that your body stretching out the zentai suit will naturally pull the fabric up, so allow and encourage that stretch. Some people have asked about hemming the hole, but I don’t think that’s necessary – I think the line blends pretty well without adding another seam, and dang, that’s a tiny hole to try and hem anyway! Unless you have lots of people kissing your feet, I don’t think it’s really worth worrying about.

Courtesy of DJSpider. Check her out!

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