And that lasted all of perhaps two months. School kicked in and "real shoes" became part of the routine and my crafty angst was pent up for... a while. I kept looking at the curled tires, still glued securely at the heel of the blue flops, and wondered where I went wrong. Surely other glues would end in similar results. Gorilla glue 'eats' foam - a hard lesson learned working on the solar car project. Sewing would be a cool option if I had a needle that could survive bike tire stabbing and if my fingers could manage. Smashing nails into the tire edges to make holes was an option, but thick enough thread? Oof. Staples might have crossed my mind, but fleetingly.
July of 2012 rolled around - school finally done - new flops are on my feet. Black Teva Olowahu Mush. But I feel I've betrayed the old flops. Original black Teva Olowahu pair dates from 2004 and blue Teva Olowahu pair dates from 2005. Blue fared a wee bit better in sole condition, the black ones are beyond shot - but they did sneak to CA for the wedding that required a dress.... without sole improvement. On the return trip, I bought the new ones. And it started to haunt me.
Glue? No. Tried it and failed.
Sewing! My poor fingers. What threat to use? What needle? How to get through the tire?
Staple gun?
Staple gun.
STAPLE GUN!
Thankfully, after a few walks around the block with the dogs, both shoes are still intact. I'm glad there was enough flop-sole thickness left around the edges to hold the staples. And I'm sure when these come apart, I will dissect them... and make more staple holes around the edges, glue the sole to the shoe, alternately staple through the tire/sole where some holes are and make sure there's a consistent pattern of staple holes (without staples) around the edge to sew through. Sheesh!
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