A brief photo/instruction guide on constructing a pair of Princess Leia boots from "Star Wars: A New Hope"
Date(s): December 9, 2008. Album by Cheralyn Lambeth. 1 - 18 of 18 Total. 8545 Visits.
1 A good view of Leia's boots for reference
2 A close-up of the boots, showing the different parts--a top band, two "vented" side pieces, and a front piece that is also part of the upper sole running around the entire bottom edge of the boot. There is a center front seam that appears to stop just where the upper arch begins
3 I started with a pair of old boots I already had that were already well-broken-in (or rather, almost falling apart!).
4 A close-up of the boots before I began modifying them. I knew I would have to remove the heel and cut down/even out the top
5 And there's the heel.
6 I also modified the toe (pulling the soling away and tucking in/glueing the toe edge to round it out), to more closely match the shape of Leia's boots
7 Once I had finished all cutting/glueing, I stuffed the boot with newspaper to hold its shape while I draped the pattern for the cover
8 Draping the pattern. I used several separate pieces of muslin--the piece covering the toe/bottom/back is one piece, and the right/left sides are two more--and pulled them tight to fit the boot closely. The marker lines are where seams fall in the finished boot.
9 Back view. A continuous seam runs up the entire back of the boot
10 Side view.
11 Front view. The seam across the upper sole is not accurate to the actual boot, but is necessary with this method to make the cover fit properly. The center seam shown here also does not extend into the upper band in the finished boot--I was able to take that out and make the band one continuous piece when I traced the pattern pieces
12 The finished pattern pieces, cut of white leather and arranged in the order they are stitched together--top band, center piece, two "vented" side sections, and the upper sole
13 The "vented" side section. The base of this piece is a stretchy white fabric (I used heavy white polyester jersey knit) with 5/8" strips of leather stitched evenly throughout
14 Once the pieces were stitched together, I fit them to the boot and took up any extra "slack" in the back seam
15 After stitching the back seam and re-fitting the cover onto the boot, I wrapped the edge of the upper sole around the bottom of the boot and glued securely using leather cement (Barge cement is good for this and can be found at many shoe supply stores)
16 The almost-finished boots. Once the bottom sole was secure, I turned and glued the upper edges, making sure to keep the cover pulled tightly to the boot
17 The finished boots, with a black crepe sole glued to the bottom to complete them. This can be done at most shoe repair stores
