Quick 'Fix' Friday // DIY bootie heels

I found this pair of booties sometime last year, and wore them a handful of times. The problem with them was that the sole of the heels had completely come off and I was walking on the plastic core of the heel...loud, for one (sounded like I was always stomping around when wearing them), and not good for my feet (the heels were meant to be at a certain height and the difference was hurting my feet).

So, I decided I'd find a way to re-heel my boots all by myself. I'd taken boots to a local shoe repair shop before and walked away with unmended boots for the simple fact that he was charging more than I could afford. So, though replacing only the heel of these booties would have cost less, I still wanted to give DIY a go.

I gathered my supplies: rubber shoe soles I bought online, scissors to cut the soles down to size, shoe goo for repairing (and waterproofing), and some leather scraps.

As you can see, I'd already completed the project without taking pics of the step-by-step...but you can imagine what it looked like, right? ;)

I started by cutting the soles down to size. Now, if I'd found a pair the right size, then this step is moot, but I didn't on the first round of searching (I'm lazy and didn't want to search for too long). I traced the shape of the heel onto the sole, cut them out, then did a bit of trimming to get them just right. Now, because I used scissors, I didn't have a completely clean edge. Would have preferred something that'd leave me a clean looking sole, but oh well.

Next, I put shoe goo on the exposed heel and the sole, then pressed them together. I allowed them to cure for the full 72 recommended hours before taking on the finishing step of covering the seam with strips of leather. Once they'd cured, I cut the strips to equal widths and using shoe goo, adhered them to the heel/sole seam to cover it. The seam wasn't completely clean (as I'm not a professional and the heel was worn a tiny bit more in the back), so the strips helped to give the boots a finished look and a tiny added detail. Again, I let them cure/dry for a couple more days and voila!

I've got enough of the rubber soles left to repair another pair if need be. And figuring cost of materials...it was about $3 taking into account the amount of each item left over for future projects.

Time on this one isn't that bad. Yes, you have to allow the adhesive to cure for a few days, but the amount of time you actually spend working on this project is well within a half hour! Not bad at all, if I do say so myself.

These thrifted beauties went from practically unwearable, to my most wearable pair yet! Hope you found this repair inspiring, and that it pushes you to try out your own DIY mending/repairing project that's been sitting there for ages. Any questions, comments...feel free to drop me a line! And don't forget to check out Agy's Fix It Friday post here.

Peace,
Andrea