Leather and LacES (or, The Toe Protector's in Town)

Not too long ago I posted about some leather jewelry I made, and I called the post Leather and Lace (well, not really). Now I am kinda wishing I hadn't used that really, really awesome title, because this time, it's for real!! I made some toe covers for my roller skates. I made them out of leather. And you can thread the laces of the skates through them. Get it? Leather and LacES. Oh, how I crack myself up.

Anyhow, in the rough and tumble world of roller derby, a girl can do a lot of damage to the toe of her boots. There's falling, sliding, dragging, etc, and once there's a hole in the boot toe, that's the end of the boots. Well, maybe they can be repaired. I don't really know. I also can attest to the fact that I try to avoid falling, sliding and dragging as much as possible. But, sometimes it can't be helped. And in the short time I have been participating with the Charlottesville Derby Dames, I have done a bit of damage to the toe of my boot.

So, I set out to protect them.

First, I made a pattern.



Then I cut it out of leather. I am hoping that this will be durable.

I stitched up the sides. It kind of looks like a bug, don't you think?

To add a bit of cuteness, I have added a leather heart to the toe guard. This will add extra sturdiness, sort of an extra layer of skin for the rink floor to get through. I found it easier to just stitch back and forth through the heart rather than stitch around the perimeter. I think this will also make it wear tougher.


Then I used an exacto knife to cut holes out of the top for the toe stop to go through. I used my grommet maker to put a grommet in for the hole, but the grommet was too small to allow the toe stop through. I don't think it is necessary for the grommet anyway. For the top part where the laces thread through, I added little eyelets.



To increase durability, I have added thick interfacing to the back side.

To add a bit of cuteness, I have added a leather heart to the toe guard. This will add extra sturdiness, sort of an extra layer of skin for the rink floor to get through. I found it easier to just stitch back and forth through the heart rather than stitch around the perimeter. I think this will also make it wear tougher.

Here is the first one. Here is the one that has the upside down heart. Sigh. Luckily, I figured that out before I made another one.

Here are a pair that look right.

Look how beautifully it hugs the toe of the boot! Ah, if my skating skills were half that nice.




I haven't tried this model out. I did, however, make a set that was blue with no heart or interfacing on them. I used them one night in practice, and they got pretty scuffed up.


I am hoping these will hold up better. You can buy a set in my Etsy shop!