New Boot Style

I had a customer recently who brought this pair of boots.. one of my favourite pairs, I love this colour combo..  and while she was generally happy with them I get the feeling that she had expected them to fasten tighter around the leg. 

Purple and green Icelandic with soft slate blue leather soles

The fasteners on this style of boots are only intended to close the flap up and keep drafts off your ankles.   I have no intention of changing the way that I make these boots 'cos I'm very happy with them (and so has everyone else that has ever had a pair) but it got me thinking about adding a new design to my repertoire. Booties that fit snuggly around the legs. 

Lucky for me I had dabbled here before :)  do you remember these?

Green Icelandic with leather soles

I made these for Rachael.. must be about 4 years ago now.  They had a pretty cotton gusset sewn into the tongue area, and laces over the tongue.  I loved the look of these.. the only down side was that they took a while to put on and take off. 

I decided a couple of years ago to make a very similar pair for myself.. but never got round to finishing them.. the question of how to fasten them got in the way.  They have been sitting in my UFO (UnFinished Object) basket ever since.  

So, I got them out and gathered the other materials.  I decided to make a pair with a quick release fastening rather than laces.. Velcro was my friend for this :)

Gathering materials

Fixing velcro tabs with zig-zag machine stitch.
I placed the scratchy part on the leg of the boots and the soft on the flaps

Once the velcro was sewn on both sides the flap was stitched on.

The flap is 2 layers of felt, velcro sewn to the inner,
then the 2 pieces joined with a zig-zag stitch all round the outside.

Closes nice and snug.  The velcro means it's easily adjustable to fit different width legs

The boys think they look like SuperHero boots..
these must belong to The Green Hornet lol :)

I'm really pleased with how they turned out.. it's nice to of finished a new boot design.  

I just needed a guinea-pig to wear them now :)  and I knew the perfect person.  My mom is feeling the cold this year.. and she is probably the most 'awkward to please with footwear' person that I know, so I'm sure I will soon know how much she likes wearing them!  So far she is loving them.. shuffling round in her Green Hornet boots with warm ankles :)