Toe guards for my derby skates

Hello! Exciting news! This week I'm Cut Out + Keep's Crafty Superstar - yay! I've got a project going live on their site every single day this week; some are from my archives but others are brand new, never been seen before projects! It's been so hard keeping them a secret so I hope you check them out during the week and let me know what you think ^____^

Now, on to my most recent project: do you, like me, always want to craft something anytime you get a new hobby or interest (or see a new movie, or read a new book, or play a new video game ...)? I've been threatening for ages to make myself something for use in Roller Derby - and I finally have! Yay!

The front of my roller skates were looking a little scratched up, so I decided I better make myself a pair of toe guards. DIY Roller Derby have a free pattern for boot covers so I printed it out and got started! A while ago I tried to crochet some toe guards but didn't have much luck - the test run of this sewing pattern confirmed my theory as to why: my Riedell R3s need more cover at the top than they do at the bottom. Luckily, this is much easier to fix when sewing than it is with crochet! I added three centimeters to the top of the pattern, making sure to curve the edges down to meet the top of the original pattern smoothly, shifted the holes for the laces, made the toe stop bolt hole larger, and added darts on either side of the aforementioned hole.

Unfortunately, I can't make a pattern for you at the moment since my computer died, taking all my graphic design programs with it! I'm currently using my ancient laptop, which struggles when running one internet tab so I'm currently rather limited in that regard. When I have Illustrator again though, I shall edit this post to include a pattern! Edited to add: Well, my computer is still down, but with the help of the library's scanner and my old friend Paint, I made a pattern for you! Yay! You can download it from my Google Drive here.
 

The darts on either side of the top stop hole make the cover fit a little more snugly around the trucks. They aren't the most perfect darts ever, but since they're underneath the skate they aren't that visible. 

 When I sewed up the sides of the cover, I also sewed across the front. This meant that when I turned the cover right way out, they didn't have little pointed horns from the seam. The holes in my cover aren't that visible, but to make them I poked a pair of sharp scissors through the pleather and then widened the holes with a crochet hook handle which was the same thickness as my laces.

To make them look a little fancier, I also sewed on some red leather hearts. I think they look really cute, and hopefully they'll add a little more reinforcement to the covers. The pleather I used isn't very thick, so I'm not sure how well they'll hold up; but I shall simply have to wait and see!

 

Overall, I'm happy with the fit and very happy with the price. Since I already had the pleather and red leather scraps in my stash, this project cost me nothing at all! Huzzah!

 

I've got a Pinterest board of more Roller Derby crafts to do, but I haven't decided which one I will do next. What do you think?

- Lisa xx

P.S. Don't forget to enter my tiny beanie giveaway!