Matt's New (old) Shoes

Matt has had the same pair of sandals as long as I've known him.  A couple years ago the velcro started to show signs of wearing out.  By last summer the velcro on the ankle strap was officially beyond function.  The loops no longer caught on the hooks and so the sandals wouldn't stay fastened on Matt's feet.  The tread was still in pretty good and the shoes were quite comfortable so he fastened the ankle strap closed with electrical tape and started using the heel strap to get in and out of them instead.  But, in the end, this wasn't as convenient and before long the sandals were languishing in the back of the coat closet and Matt was just wearing his lightweight sneakers instead.   There was talk of buying new sandals "someday," but we'd never actually gone a looked at any or anything.

So, that was last summer.  Last week the sandals crossed my path through the course of my daily rummaging around the house.  I looked at them (trying to decide if it was time to just pitch them) and thought it was sure a shame they were essentially useless when, in general, they were in pretty good shape--it was just that velcro on the ankle strap....  And then a light bulb went on.  I can replace velcro.  That is easy.  Why don't I just replace the velcro on the strap?!  Brilliant!

So, that very evening we went to JoAnn Fabric and bought a loose 9 inch section of velcro (Yay for no packaging!).  I removed the old worn out velcro hooks from the strap with my seam ripper.  I cut the new, 9 inch section of hooks in half (i.e. two 4.5 inch sections) and sewed them back into place where the old ones had been.  It took under an hour, including the trip to the store!

Bam!  New (old) shoes.  You'd never even know that I had done it, looking at them.  Matt was pleased.  More than that I was pleased.  I cannot believe I didn't think of this fix a couple years ago when the velcro first started wearing out!  I must have said that ten times--"I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner!"  It was so simple.  I am always tickled when I can come up with such a thrifty, resourceful, easy solution to a problem, especially when it extends the useful life of something that would otherwise be rubbish.  It makes my day.  This one might make my summer--every time I see Matt wearing his sandals.