Korra Cosplay - Boots

I still can't figure out which part of this costume has been the most daunting. Korra's top was a challenge in terms of drafting and construction, and the fur wrap was difficult as it used many new materials and tricky parts. The boots brought another challenge, as they had to stand up to a full three days of walking around the convention floor.

Trying to find a perfect match for the boots was a little out of the question. Most brown slipper-type boots with sheepskin inside would cost upwards of $50.

I had a look around for alternatives and discovered you could actually make a fabric cover for an existing pair of boots. I read through Sarcasm-Hime's bootcovers tutorial which was intended for stretch fabric, but would suffice for the application I was thinking of.

First step was to cut out all the pieces.

I had a vague idea of how it was going to be constructed.

Yes, that's corduroy. There was a sale on, $6/m, don't judge.

Looking good so far! The cover for the boot shaft was a little too tight around the top - I should have given it a lot more ease.

Next up was more sheepskin work.

After assembling the cuff, it was onto some very nerve-wracking gluing. The edge of the boot slip by the sole needed to be notched all around so it would fold under, then glued with contact glue (it took so long to get it all off my fingers).

The cuff was glued on as well, from the inside and the outside.

I gave that glue a workout after it had dried. The boots are a little small for me in that the ankle is quite tight, so it takes a lot of tugging to pull them on. I'm pretty confident the glue will hold. :)

I'm so glad I used sheepskin for the leather wrap instead of fur - it gives a better sense of cohesion this way.

I'm very close to finishing. I'm going to remake the bracers (so I can put them on by myself) and make the hair ornaments, then work on the finer details and adjustments.

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Next post: Korra's hair ornaments and new wristbands