DIY LIGHT UP SHOES | Make Thrift Buy #25

Hi! Welcome to Make Thrift Buy, a show where
you send me pictures of clothing that you've

found on the internet, and I try to recreate
them.

About 2 weeks ago, Jacky Owen sent me this
picture of these LED light-up shoes, and challenged

me to recreate them. And at first, I was totally
skeptical - I thought that you would need

a degree in electrical engineering or at least
some basic knowledge of how electronics work

- which I don't have - to be able to recreate
these. But no. No no no! Guess what?

I then came up with a way of making light
up shoes that doesn’t require any knowledge

of electronics, that should actually be really
easy…? I think? I mean - I don't want to

talk too soon, because I haven't tried it
out yet, but I think these are going to work

really well. So - let's begin!

I started out by getting myself a pair of
shoes.

And I didn’t own any shoes that were appropriate
for this project, but I found these for $10

at the thrift shop… and gave them a little
clean before putting them on my table.

For this project, I chose shoes that are hi-tops
and have a large tongue.

The first thing I did was to measure around
the circumference of the shoes.

This came out at 25 and a half inches, or
65 centimeters, so the lights I get will need

to be at least this long.

The next thing I did was to find myself some
"LED strip lights".

These are strips of lights with adhesive backing
that you’re actually, apparently, able to

cut up.
Because I don’t really understand how electronics

work, I made sure to get a set that already
had a battery box attached, so I wouldn't

have to do any connecting of wires.
The strip lights are also waterproof, which

I figured would be a good idea seeing as I
want to put them onto shoes.

Because the lights came in either 50, 100
or 150 cm, and the circumference of my shoes

is 65cm, I chose the 100cm lights. And I got
two sets, because I have two shoes.

So, when the lights arrived, I checked that
they worked – each set required 3 double A batteries.

Awesome!

They also came with this clicker to let me
change modes and colours.

So now I just have to figure out the best
way of getting all of this onto these shoes.

So the first thing I needed to do was cut
the lights down to the right size.

So I looked this up in HEAPS of places whether
or not you could cut these, and all the websites

I found said yes, you can, but – I’m still
terrified about cutting through something with wires in it.

So… here goes nothing.

Oh thank goodness, they didn’t explode.
But do they still work??

YESSSSS.

ALRIGHT! So, on the inside of the shoe, I’m
going to super glue the clicker down.

So I basically just put a bit of super glue
on the back, and I held it down onto the shoe

for a couple of minutes.

Now, the strip lights also have this adhesive
on the back – I just have to peel the backing

paper off first.
I connect the lights back up to the clicker,

and using both the adhesive on the back of
the lights, AND some super glue to make SUPER

sure that they’ll stay on, I attach the
lights all the way around the base of the shoe.

And once that’s done, I need to figure out
what to do with this battery pack.

I thread it up into the shoe like this, and
I think that I’m going to make a pouch for

the battery pack on the inside of shoe’s
tongue.

So I grab myself some fabric that’s similar
to what the shoe is made out of – this is

just some scrap PVC fabric that I had lying
around.

I draw a rectangle around my battery pack,
with about an extra inch on each side and

cut this out.
Now I also don’t want the battery pack to

be uncomfortable while I’m wearing the shoes,
so I’m going to put some batting into the

inside of the pouch. I used some fabric glue
to stick some folded-up batting onto the back

of the PVC material.

Then I place this bit of fabric onto the inside
of the shoe’s tongue. I use to needle and

thread to sew it on down the sides like this,
and then after making sure that the battery

actually fits inside, I sew the bottom of
the pouch down like this.

And while sewing, I made sure not to stick
my needle all the way through the whole shoe

tongue – just through this inside layer
of fabric, because I don’t want the stitches

to be visible from the outside of the shoe.

I then make a little closing for the pouch
with another small rectangle of PVC – which

I attach like this.
And then I glue on some Velcro strips so that

the pouch can open and close like this.
Now, I just need to make this wire here a

little bit less visible.
So basically what I do is to cut out another

strip of black PVC, wrap it around the wire,
and glue it down onto the shoe, again using

my good friend superglue.

So – do the shoes work?

[Loud dubstep music]

[Grocery store sounds and shopping centre
music]

"hmmm, beans..."

[Loud dubstep music resumes]

So - my conclusion is a definite: Make!
[scissor snipping sound effect]

If you want light-up shoes, make these for
yourself because it's actually really easy

and pretty cheap to do.

[Dubstep music resumes]

Okay, so I just want to add a little addendum
to this video. So I made these shoes about

a week ago now and, um, I kinda wanted to
road test them and see how they lasted. And

I've worn them a few times and unfortunately,
while it's all good around here, the lights

stopped working here.
And I've figured out it's actually because

of how my foot bends when I walk, it's actually
kind of torn the connector between the LED

lights here, and it's just with this shoe
- the other one is still totally fine.

So, these are actually just too cool, and
I need to buy more [lights] and fix this - I

know how I can fix this but it is going to
require me buying more lights. But, if you

are going to try this out, what I'm going
to be doing is just placing this strip of

lights more strategically around the shoe
so that the bit that joins the different LED

light sections isn't where my foot is going
to be bending. OR use shoes like flatforms

(creepers) whose soles won't bend at all.
So I hope that's a helpful tip if you do try

these out yourself.
And if you do try this out then hashtag with

#diyannika - because I'd absolutely LOVE to
see how you go!

Give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed
it, and I'll see you all next time. Bye!