So, I have a shoe problem. More specifically, I have a boot problem, in that I have thicc calves and have yawned at every single style of wide-calf boots I've ever seen. Sometimes I get lucky with 'normal' boots. Sometimes I don't. Cue these:

I found them for a STEAL on eBay. I lusted after them. I bought them. Alas, I couldn’t get them over my calves. Soooo, I did what any rational person would do, and DIYed these to Malfoy heaven. I started by cutting down the back seam just far enough so that the boot would pull all the way up:

Which was unfortunately pretty far, and required more than just my initial idea of using 2" elastic to cover the gap. But, these are snake boots, right? I ordered some snake appliques from Amazon and boy, were they gold.

Did you know that enamel paint works incredibly well on fabric? Neither did I until I tried it.

I would recommend using fabric paint for fabric usually, but these were going on shoes and needed the durability. Also, the silver fabric paint I bought was super thick and not ideal for painting these tiny details.

While these were drying, I cut that 2" elastic ever so slightly shorter than the exact width needed to close the gap, and dug through my fabric bin to find some plain black fabric with a little bit of stretch, which I cut to size.

I first sewed through the leather and the elastic with a leather needle upholstery thread, pliers, and a lot of profanity.

Using the same thread and needle, I sewed in the fabric panel. Then, I decided I hated the way the seams looked and added some upholstery trim before sewing on the snakes. Don't look at the mess. This was Halloween week.

All in all, this took a good 6 hours of hand sewing and my hands were sore for the next week from pushing through the leather.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. Would I invest in a leather punch first or at least use a hollow needle? Also absolutely.

Have you ever DI-Widened (heh) a pair of boots? Are you going to try now? Tag me if you do!

Final thoughts:

Price: Roughly $20 in materials, plus the cost of the boots.

Time: 8hrs, but only because I’m a big dummy and didn’t use/have the right tools.

Skill: Not difficult once I figured out where I was going with them.

Impact: I've worn these at least fifteen times and they've held up beautifully, even the enamel paint. I'm already hunting for another, less Lucius-y pair to DIY.