Removable Leather Boot Cuffs for Pirate Costumes

I recently started reading Space Adventure Cobra, and it got me thinking about how to get the right look for his boots. I settled on these removable boot cuffs and a pair of old roper boots I got secondhand. I wanted to be able to add cuffs without modifying to look of the boots themselves, since good leather boots can be expensive, and I'm not always going to be up for a shwashbuckling sort of style.

If you want a classic pirate look to these boots, you'll want to make sure the boots don't have decorative stitching on the shaft and toe. Something plain with few "western" stylings will probably be best.

Planning Materials:

1. tailor's measuring tape
2. long steel ruler
3. packing paper or a large paper bag
4. scissors
5. pencil
6. boots (NOTE: If you're going for a classic pirate look, you might want boots that have a plain shaft with no decorative stitching. They're your boots, so do as you like. You're a pirate after all!)

Cuff Materials:

1. veg-tan leather (mine was 4-5oz or about 2mm thick)
2. leather dye & rubber gloves (If your leather isn't already dyed)
3. plastic tray, newspaper/cardboard, & daubers or clean rags (for dyeing the leather)
4. craft knife with fresh blades
5. steel ruler
6. leather hole punch or a steady hand with your craft knife
7. leather or fabric cord (4 equal lengths to tie the cuffs to your boots)
8. snap button kit (will use 2 snap buttons to secure the boot cuffs at the back. Could also use more cord or some elastic if you so choose)

Finishing Materials

1. leather balm or shoe grease, something to replenish the oils and protect the leather after dyeing (if you aren't dyeing your leather you can probably skip this).

Measure the shaft of your boot using the measuring tape.

You'll want to measure how long the piece of leather will need to be in order to go all the way around the shaft.

You'll also want to measure from the top of the boot shaft peaks down to maybe an inch past where the shaft is all the same height. Your goal is to hide this distinct feature of most cowboy boots with the outer part of the cuff. You want a bit of extra overlap here, because a thick material like leather will come out slightly shorter when you fold it over.

Last, you'll want to measure the inside of the shaft to figure out how far down your cuff will go so you can tie it to the inside of the pull tabs. You'll add this measurement to the previous one to get the overall width.

Take your packing paper, paper bag, whatever, and cut a piece to your length and width measurements, add the inner fold and check your work on your boots. Make whatever adjustments necessary and now we can move on to cutting the leather!

Apologies, I didn't get any photos of the cutting process, so here's the cuffs after being cut, dyed, and oiled. If you have a whole or half hide of leather, you'll probably notice the edges of the leather have marks from where it was stretched out to cure, or there might be places where the leather is scarred from when the cow was alive. I chose to use parts that had scars and marks because I could hide them by positioning them on the inside part of the cuffs that would face my legs. The first photo shows the scarred part.

Instructions

You'll want to transfer your measurements to your leather. Whatever leather you get, you'll want a nice flat surface that you can cut on with a cut resistant mat or some thick cardboard. You can make light marks with a pencil, or use some appropriately colored pencil.

Take your time, you want to make sure your angles are square and that your cuts are accurate. After you have marked your lines, lay down your ruler on your lines on the part of the leather you'll keep, This way, if your blade wanders away from the ruler, it won't ruin your piece.

Make sure it's straight and use the back of your blade to check that your cut will be on the line. Hold your ruler down all along the cut. If possible, get a helper to hold down your big ruler, because odds are you can't hold it across the whole length with one hand. If you cut without pressing down the ruler, you will get a crooked line, even if it's just at the very end.

Once both are cut, we can move on.

WORK IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA

If you need to dye your leather, now's the time. I had to dye my boots and cuffs, so I already had all the supplies.

If you need to dye your boots, I suggest getting a leather deglazer or preparer, something to strip out the protectants so the dye will go on uniformly. Then, you'll need to rehydrate them with a leather balm.

For your cuffs, it's much easier. You can dip dye your leather using a tray that's wide enough to accept your leather, and deep enough to hold some dye. Instead, I just used the tray and wool dauber I used for the boots.

This won't take much dye at all. I only used maybe 2oz on my boots and under 1oz on the cuffs. pour a very small amount to start with and then add more if you need it.

If you don't already have some daubers, you can cut up a clean rag into smaller pieces, pinch a piece or two into some disposable chopsticks, and use a rubber band to cinch it tight.

Either way, don some gloves, dab your dauber of choice into the dye, and apply liberally. Wait a minute and watch the dye soak in, you may need to add another coat to make it come out uniform in color. Dip dyeing is much easier for making it uniform, but I always end up with excess dye, so I just wipe it on.

Let your leather dry in a cool dry place that has good ventilation or is just away from your living space. You don't wanna smell this stuff! Wait 24hrs and then you can add balms or oils of your choice. I used Tandy Leather Balm and then used Huberd's Shoe Grease, because my leather is several years old and really dry from sitting in storage. Don't ruin your leather by letting it dry out and deteriorate!

For this step, we'll need the cuffs and boots ready to go, along with 4 equal lengths of the cord, hole punch, and snap button kit (+ hammer for the snap buttons)

I marked the place for my holes using some masking tape and a pen since my leather is black.

I placed my folded cuffs onto my boots and added the tape, then marked it.

NOTE: Attaching the cuffs to your boots may differ from mine. My boots have small holes at the bottom of the pull tabs that I used to loop my cord through from the outside of the boot shaft. This let me anchor my cuffs down tight. If yours don't, you may want to glue a small loop of cord inside the bottom of the pull tab. This will give you 2 loops that let you tie down your cuffs securely. If you just loop your cord through the pull tabs, it will slide up and down and your cuffs will flop around. See the diagram for details.

Almost done. Put your boots on and see how they fit. You will notice the ends of the cuffs may splay out and flop around. Here's where the snap button comes in. take the two short corners of the boot cuffs and hold them together. This is where we'll put the snap button. You can try marking this spot, but I just did it without marking it. Just put your hole where the corners have overlapped enough. Don't make them too tight on your leg or you might make them uncomfortable.

If you have a helper, you can have them punch the hole while you wear the boots, thus ensuring a good fit.

Take off the boots if you have no helper, hold the two corners together again, and punch the hole through both layers at once. This is easier if you have one-handed punch pliers instead of hammer driven punches or are using a blade. You may have to remove the cuff if you don't have the punch pliers. Avoid cutting the leather while holding it in your hands if you use a blade.

Next, attach the snap buttons to either side. I arranged mine so that the nice round "outside" part of the button faces away from my leg, and the less nice "back" piece faces my leg. Now you're all done! You might want to dye the back side that shows, or glue on some same-color lining with rubber cement, I'm probably going to leave mine as-is.

Whether you sail the high seas, or plunder across the stars, stay free!