. . . patch a tear in a shoe

I don't know exactly how it happened, but while waxing the floors at work, my $13 Target shoes split open on the pinky toe side.

Since this town is so small, there are no good places {like the ARC} to get used boot-style shoes.  Therefore, I decided to try to repair these shoes by gluing a piece of leather over the crack.

I got this piece of leather from Hobby Lobby for less than $3.  {They are having a 30% off crafts this weekend, so all leather is on sale.  I'm thinking of going back and buying a bag of scraps to use as sewing machine testing.}  The first thing I learned about repairing shoes this way is to bring the shoe so I can buy a closer-matching color.

I have many glues sitting around due to my jewelry glue testing.  One of them, Beacon Glass, Metal and More®, claims to be flexible when dry, so I am going to attempt to use that one on the shoe.

The first thing I did, of course, was wash the area to be glued using Dawn dishwashing liquid; and I allowed this to air dry to the touch.

I then attempted to cut a leather patch to cover the split.  I used a pair of desk scissors.  You can see in the picture the need to get a better matching color, but I'm going to proceed anyway.

Now, the glue says to “apply evenly to surface” and “need not be applied to both surfaces.”  I got out a toothpick {left over from my universal knife block project {posted on my Facebook page before starting this blog} to use to spread the glue evenly over the back side of the leather.

While checking the patch fit, I accidentally turned over the leather patch.  As you can see in the picture above, this is less of a contrast to the shoe color and should, therefore, be less obvious.  Hence, I decided to use the wrong side of the leather as the right side of the patch.

Using a toothpick, I roughed up the surface of the shoe a little bit to assist in adhesion, then I waited for the shoe to dry.  In the meantime, I ate a bologna, cheese, and pickle sandwich and watched Dogma on DVD again.  At the first confrontation between the angels and the prophets, I used a toothpick to spread glue onto the leather {and my fingers}, flipped it over, and placed it on the shoe, using a clean toothpick to push it into the corners and crevices.

Here is the shoe with the repair.  The glue says it takes 24-72 hours to cure.  I will probably not wear this shoe again until Monday night at work, which is 42 hours away.  We shall see at that time how the repair holds up.

1 Jul 2014 Update:  When I got home from work last night, I checked the repair.  The glue had come loose on one side.  Since I need the shoes for work, I cannot do another patch attempt today.  I am going to have to wait for the weekend to get here.  I have placed another shoe repair attempt on my schedule.  Next time, I think I will use the E6000® glue and see what happens.

1 Jul 2014 Update:  Trying to repair shoe again.  This time took a jewelry file and scuffed up the surface of the shoe, in hopes of better adhesion.  I also used the E6000® glue; I then read the directions.  I was supposed to wait 2 minutes before sticking the pieces together.  Oh, well.  Live and learn, right?  So, the shoe is once again repaired and will be drying for over 72 hours before I wear it again for work.  Hopefully, the repair will work this time.  Either that, or I'm going to have to get off my cheap ass and buy another pair of work shoes.

The pictures on the page appear smaller than they are.  To see them larger, simply double click on the picture.  Also, I always welcome your constructive criticism.  Click on the Comment link below next to the icon of a pencil; it may say "No" or have a number in front of it.