Today I’ve got my first grownup tip for you: how to fix tears in leather shoes. (Just writing this blog post makes me feel like I might actually have reached that mythical land of adulthood!)

You know how, sometimes, you get tears in leather shoes when you wear them? I get them all the time, specifically on the heels when they get caught between cobbles or in grating outside. And while no one is specifically looking at the back of my shoes, I often feel like my shoes are done for once they’re blemished.

This used to really upset me, especially with this pair because I wore them to my wedding and I was all like: Nooooo…! My wedding shoes! Ruined! When I wore them out a few weeks ago.

So I started googling… and kept drawing blanks because the majority of the solutions involved finding a cobbler to replace the leather, and quite frankly that sounds expensive.

Then, after a few days of trying different search terms, I stumbled upon a blog post* by someone who looks after costumes for theatres. She suggested using fabric glue to fix the tears in leather shoes for dancers, and I figured: Hey, why not? What have I got to lose? And so the DIY began…

*I didn’t save a link to this blog and haven’t been able to find it again, so unfortunately I’m not able to properly credit the original blogger!

And it’s really simple. All you need is:

1. A shoe with ripped leather. (If you don’t have this, you can skip to the end!)
2. Fabric glue that’s safe for use on leather.
3. Optional: large bulldog clip. (I say optional because I couldn’t find one for this fix and it seemed to work out ok, but I imagine the clip would help ensure the leather dries flat.)

Once you’ve got everything, delicately pull the leather down so it’s not all bunched up, then put a thin layer of glue underneath, and hold until it’s firmly in place. If you have a bulldog clip, place this over the tear to help the leather dry flat. 

And that’s all there is to it!

It’s not the most perfect fix, but for about £3 I’d say it’s totally economical, easy, and a great way to get a bit more mileage out of my heeled shoes.

Have you tried this already or do you have another method you prefer for fixing the tears leather shoes can get? Let me know in the comments!