Boogie Shoes.....

I knew that I couldn't get out of making Zar some new boots. He is worse than Tessie, when it comes to whinging and complaining. You would have thought that he had been going barefoot for the past two years!

And on top of that, he banned Tessie from the bedroom, where I was working on them.

You see, he demanded new clothing as well...I knew I should have hidden the Clockwork Cottage pages from him.

I had to strip him down the the bare minimum, thus you only get photos from the knees down.

I got out my leather gloves and found a pair of dark brown ones. The back of the gloves had the requisite three rows of welted stitching on them, so I decided to use that part in the design. It worked out pretty well.

I am not going to give you measurements for this project because each person's foot is different. I will give you general shapes and directions. If you want to work out patterns, I suggest that you use a scrap of fabric and wrap it around the foot. Then, using a pen, roughly sketch where the overlapping seams will be. Once you get that right, cut the leather a bit larger than you think that you will need.

As you can see from the photos, I am gluing the leather right to the foot. It will stay on as long as you want it to. If you ever decide to change shoes, it peels right off if you use white glue.

The first step on these boots was to cut a piece from the back of the glove with the welted seam running down the center. Then shape the part that will go over the foot in a semi circle. It needs to be long enough to go around to the bottom of the foot.

You don't want to overlap the leather, so carefully cut Vs in the outer edge that goes on the bottom. Also make sure that the sides are short enough that they don't overlap one another either.

the second piece goes around the back of the foot. The bottom edge is narrower than the top. It only has to cover the sides where the slit is. The top needs to wrap around the ankle and up the leg somewhat. This piece gets glued over the first piece on the sides. It doesn't meet in the front.

If you were making shoes that laced, you would cut a tongue and place it between and under the edges of this piece. Since I had the welting, I didn't need to do that.

Instead, I cut a narrow strip for the ankle strap. I had some mini buckles, but if you didn't you could use chain links from an old necklace.

The next step is to glue a piece of brown leather to the bottom of each foot. When it dries, carefully trim it to the edge of the foot.

The very last thing is the heel. I used the same leather as the sole and glued a square, a little less than half the length of the sole to the back of the bottom. Let it dry and trim all around, even with the sole.

I need to get back to work. Chaos is ensuing.

Zar is screaming for his clothes and Tessie is pounding on the bedroom door, tormenting him. She keeps saying...."Cover up, Zar! I'm coming in! You are making me miss my soaps!"

I know that's not going to happen. I barred the door before I came in here to write, but I had better go get Zar dressed now.

See you tomorrow.