Flashy stable boots repair

[Mulesaw]

One of my regular customers had somehow managed destroy some short boots that she had just bought. She had forced her foot into them without opening the zipper - and the thin leather of the shaft had ripped apart. As far as I understood, her old similar boots had elastics in the side, and out of old habit she had just forced her foot into them as soon as she got them without using the zipper..
She called me and asked if I could do anything about it, and they were intended to be used as stable boots, so looks really didn't matter, she just liked them since they were like her old and well worn (and slightly wider) boots. She had gotten them on a sale, so it was technically just a question of getting them back to some kind of working state as cheap as I could.

The jagged rips were maybe 3.5" in each and not along a stitching but right down the skin itself, not in the same spot but in the front so it was really visible. 
After looking at the problem and pondering over different solutions, I decided that it was easier to make something that would look like a decoration rather than a repair patch. I called her and suggested the idea and she loved that idea, so I was given free hands to make something a bit flashy.

The result was two bubblegum pink lightning bolts on the front part of the boots. So now they look like some cartoon hero boots, and she is the fastest parent in the local horse club stable:-)

[Wepster]

excellent idea, like bow ties in wood working

[Mulesaw]

16 minutes ago, Wepster said:

excellent idea, like bow ties in wood working

Thanks, and yes kind of the same idea, if you can't hide the defect you can instead make certain that people can see that you have dealt with it.

Brgds Jonas

[NatesLeatherGds]

Snazzy!

[TomE]

Definitely should tuck in the pant legs to show off those boots!  Nice work.

[Sheilajeanne]

Nice work! But did you consider replacing the zippers with elastic so this wouldn't happen again? Or has she learned her lesson about what zippers are for? 

[Mulesaw]

On 5/11/2024 at 2:08 PM, NatesLeatherGds said:

Snazzy!

Thanks, I think they turned out pretty hot myself  :-)

Brgds Jonas

[Mulesaw]

23 hours ago, TomE said:

Definitely should tuck in the pant legs to show off those boots!  Nice work.

Thanks Tom, She's really funny to be around, so I'm pretty sure that she flashes those boots the bet she can.

Brgds Jonas

[Mulesaw]

23 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Nice work! But did you consider replacing the zippers with elastic so this wouldn't happen again? Or has she learned her lesson about what zippers are for? 

Thanks

She wanted it done as cheap as possible, so elastic was never even discussed :-) I think she got those boots at some kind of sale, so she didn't want to spend too much on it. 
I found this to be a fun repair job, and it really didn't take long plus I had those pink scraps lying around, so it was just a quick and easy repair. 

Brgds Jonas