This stage was one of the most brutal in regard to getting it right. Because I have a dog, and one who sheds a lot, her hair will get in the air along with dust. Each stage of the painting process I had had to check for any particles to ensure it was clean and ready for the next.
Cutting the leather, especially thicker veg tan leather, will be quite painful, but it was the same type of leather originally used, so the pain is always worth it for the best product.

The Cream colored collar of the shoes came from some Tan suede which I used hardener on, then numerous coats of White paint. After applying a clear coat over it all, it cracked nicely and really sold the aged look.

When looking for liner fabric, I wanted something that would match the same blue, but unfortunately while the color matched, the texture of it did not. It was more of a fabric used for a lightweight hoodie, but in the Winter time is has been quite comfortable.

The tongue of this shoe is not the best in regard to overall quality. I got some fabrics that I thought were best, but because they were cheaper, didn’t hold up to what I needed.
Instead of a single 1 cm thick foam, I used only two pieces with an adhesive side that came out to .6 cm. When ironing on the inside mesh, it held for only a couple wears before it started to peel away.
While it was a failure there, I learned what NOT to buy and would soon purchase better foams and fabrics.

This was a not so fun moment to experience on the home stretch. When I was gluing the panel to the toe, I had used a clamp to make sure they were tightly secured before stitching. When clamped, the lower eyelet panel was flat, but the sewn panels of the body and toe were bent, so when stretched out the eyelet panel shifted exposing all the piloted holes which were then in the wrong place. To correct this I used hardener and matching paint to fill in the holes which took several hours as I needed to let them cure. In the next photo of the completed pair the holes are not noticeable.

1985 UNC