I’VE MADE SOME REAL LEATHER BOOTIES!!! (screams hysterically and with a certain stunned disbelief)
And I’m sooooo happy with them, finally 
Leather; I bought both the olive/tobacco brown leather and the coloured leather strips for laces from a leather shop in the Nippori district in Tokyo, pictured on the top, above with my other Nippori treasures. Do you like the variety of shoelaces? They’re pretty fun, yeah? I bought three different colours, hot pink, golden yellow and caramel/mustard. I’ve also got some store-bought, bog-standard black ones for them (below).
I like all of the colours, simply cannot decide on a favourite. Oh ok, of course I can! for now, I’m digging that bright pink, sorta unexpected, like lipstick on a pig 
oink oink!
Pattern; In shape and style they look just like my previous paprika suede desert boots, and so they should because I used the same pattern! The heels on these are lower than my paprika boots; that higher heel looks a little more refined whereas a lower heel is casual which I reckon is better for the slightly grittier tougher look of this leather.
they fit with socks too
Thoughts on construction: I did find the leather both easier and more difficult to work with… easier, because leather really is a far superior material to work with than synthetics; it does mould and form far far better to the shape you want it too, plus it “skives” beautifully, whereas plastic leathers and that paprika upholstery fabric does not. However, and paradoxically; I also found these shoes to be more difficult to make than my paprika ones, because my leather was actually quite thick and less pliable than ideal. It was harder to sew; my sewing machine coped fine with it, but it was so stiff as to be difficult for me to manouvere it around the sewing machine while sewing it. and stretching it over and around my lasts took more effort and grunt-power too. Being a leather shoe newb, I did not fully appreciate that it was not ideal until I was halfway through making the shoes, of course. Anyway, I think I managed to wrangle it into submission eventually.
The shoes are fully lined with chocolate synthetic suede, bought from the Fabric store in Melbourne during a past trip, and all topstitching was using chocolate brown Gutermann’s upholstery thread. I constructed the heel counter and toe puffs using stretch cotton denim and PVA glue, and the soles are black rubber sheeting from Bunnings, which I cut up to make stacked heels and the sole. Like all my other shoes, these are sanded down before glueing together with contact adhesive, and the heels are nailed to the soles inside, as pictured in a previous pair here. Also as usual, I made the liners using foam inner shoe soles from Coles, cut to size and covered with chocolate suedette using PVA glue, so they match the interior.
Excuse the picture overload. I’m just so happy and thrilled with them, I’ve been excitedly threading and re-threading with the different coloured laces and prancing about my house, taking pictures of them. I LOVE all the laces! In fact, I’m just in love, full stop!
The only laces I’m meh on at the moment are unsurprisingly the store-bought black ones… which, simply because they are boring, paradoxically will probably become the most useful and worn ones. Or not. I think maybe I should stop being boring, I need to break out and wear the fun stuff more often.
And that’s it! Ahhhhh, I feel like I can hang up my shoemaking hat, or should that be lasts? for the moment, since I think I’ve covered my basics and probably have enough essential shoes to last me for this winter now. Although, of course I am not. In fact I’m already started on my next pair of footwear…. mwahahahahaha. eeek! I’m addicted! SO much inspiration to be had, and so little time!
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