So, what do I do for shoes in the mean time? Head to Salvation Army!
I purchased these shoes from Salvation Army. Had a nice period looking sole with visible stitching, so I thought that these would be a good starting point.
Step one was to slice out a much larger opening. This was easy enough to do with a simply box cutter.
Next step... test for fit and of course snap a few photos. Here is what the shoes will look like with the hose I made.
Next step, darken the leather a bit. Was originally thinking black, but after seeing the way these looked with a coat of polish, I really like that look.
Next I took some blue leather from a chopped up coat, also from Salvation Army, and used it to make some strips which would be used as trim for the opening. I had some green and purple leather but chose the blue since it matches the blue wool trim everywhere else on the outfit.
Final step is to add some straps. The shoes surprisingly stayed on well enough without straps. I plan on doing some dancing in these and want to ensure they stay on comfortably though. I took some scrap leather from the Tandy Leather scrap bundle I had bought in the past. I polished it up a bit to make the leather match the color of the leather on the shoes. I used an awl and leather needle to stitch the straps on.
