A lot of footwear these days simply have their soles glued on; it’s cheap and fast manufacturing. Except that this glue doesn’t appear to last long over here (we’re guessing it’s due to the extreme humidity levels – we’ve never had a sole drop off in temperate climates). Which leads to the annoying flapping sole problem:

Using glue just doesn’t work either, no matter how clean the soles are, or what kind of glue you use – superglue, rubber cement, shoe goop…they all last a few days at most. So something sturdier is called for:

It’s a leather sewing awl, designed to punch through thick leather and canvas, and really, just about anything in a shoe. Using it is relatively easy – it produces a lockstitch (kind of like a sewing machine) that holds whatever you’re sewing together.

First, push the needle through, and pull out a length of cord about twice the length of the edge you intend to stitch up:

Then, pull the needle back out:

Push the needle through again, just slightly away from the first point:

Pull the needle back just slightly, and a loop will form between the eye of the needle and the punched-through point:

Thread the long free end (what you pulled out at the very first step) through the loop:

Pull back the needle fully, and pull on both ends of the thread to tighten:

And that completes one stitch! Now, just keep repeating the stitching step around the edges you want to stitch up. When you’re done, simply snip off the thread at the needle, but leave a few centimeters:

Tie off the ends with knots, and cut off the excess. Here’s how the fixed sole looks from below:

Slipper’s as good as new again:

That should last a whole lot longer than glue! 🙂