Candy W. Ardlay - Uniform St. Paul's #6

the boots, the grommets, the grommet setter,
the blue cord, and the aiglets

I found the perfect cotton cord at a Chinese bazaar near my Dad's, the only thing is, they only had these huge spools. Well, I can always use the cord to tie corsets or other stuff. And, If I decide to make additional grey laces, I only need to dye them. I also ordered the lace ends, or aiglets, and a grommet setter, from AliExpress, as using the pliers with these grommets hurt my hands and I can't set them properly.

It turns out, even though I measured correctly, the setter is one size too big, should be 4,5mm (#200) instead of 5mm (#300). But I'm not in the mood to order a new one, not for now, so I start by giving the grommets a good squeeze with the pliers, and then finish by hammering them down with the setter and hammer. I'm also only setting two grommets at a time, because it still takes a bit of strength and my right hand isn't 100%, so I'd rather not stress it too much.

right boot with grommets and blue laces

grommets, laces and aiglet

grommet detail

Unfortunately the setting of the grommets removed the white paint from some of them, but I was expecting this. Hoping it wouldn't happen, but expecting it. I managed to reduce the paint chipping a bit, by using the pliers first, but carefully. Still, the boots look much nicer now and only one left to go.

Even though I don't have the correct pliers to set in the aiglets, they were quite easy to add to the cord. First I trimmed the cord end and glued it with a drop of UHU glue, so it doesn't fray. Then I add some superglue to the inside of the aiglet, and put the cord end inside. Carefully, I start closing the aiglet over the cord, by squeezing it with flat end pliers, a little bit at the time, so not to leave any visible dents on the aiglets. One thing for sure, the laces are much easier to lace with the aiglets on. So, besides giving them a more professional look, the aiglets make my life easier too.

I also cut a small piece of the royal blue velvet ribbon and left it a few days in a bowl of water, to check if it would bleed (I never trust cheap ribbons, especially to put on top of white fabrics). It didn't, so it's a relief!

+ Slowly but steady, one boot is now done, and looking good. 

- The grommet chipping is unfortunate, but maybe I'll retouch them later with a brush.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Keep setting the left boot grommets and only cut the second blue laces after trying the right boot on and making sure it's the right length, as it doesn't stretch as much as the original laces did.