Club Obi Wan

I just scored a pair of AWESOME natural chromexel Alden Indy's on the Bay and I have become obsessed with these boots! I love them!!! (do you sense a buttttt ?)

Buttttt, the tongues constantly sliding to the side are driving me nuts! After researching this I have found that everyone says "a good cobbler can put a tongue stitch in easily!"

Every local cobbler within 50 miles of me (that's a total of 3 cobblers) told me something to the effect of "I've never done it before, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem..." Well, I've pretty much waited over 40 years to get me a pair of these and "it shouldn't be too much of a problem" ain't gonna cut it. I have also contacted various cobblers that I could ship to, but they would charge like $40 and aside from that, I just got them!! I don't want to be without them for weeks!!!

So what's a good COW'er to do? DIY it! I'm pretty confident that if you are going to tackle this, I have found the best and safest way. And it's cheap and you don't have to send them off and it works...REALLY GOOD!

Materials Needed
A pair of Aldens
A tiny safety pin
Nylon upholstery thread in natural color (I just got this from walmart)
A lighter
A smallish hook needle (no idea the size, just got it in an assorted needle pack..also walmart)
If you are over 45 you might want a headlamp and glasses too
Lazy dog in background for moral support is also optional, but encouraged


Step one
Lace up your boots off of your foot as you would on your foot. I lace mine pretty tight, but your milage may vary.

Holding the centered tongue in place take the straightened tiny safety pin, make marks on your tongue where the needle will need to go through the tongue.

You will be using the existing holes in the upper of the boot so that no trace of a stitch will be obvious from the outside. I also chose to tack my tongue to the inside so that they would be less obvious combined with the fact that the tongues always drift to the outside.
Important note; I chose the top seam for a couple of reasons. 1. It is the color of thread that most closely matched my thread. B. The holes are spaced far enough in-between so that the distance could easily be achieved by hand. I saw a video where a cobbler did this and he used the inside seam on the other side of the speed eyelets...he also used a machine. I will be using these 4 holes

The resultant marks on the tongue should look a little like this

I then increase the size of these holes using my hook needle, thusly...



Step Two: Stitch the Tongue
I used about a yard of thread (WAY too much, but rather have too much than not enough) and put a double knot in the end of the doubled thread. Working my way from the back of the boot (heel) to front of the boot (toe) and starting inside the boot (so that the knot would not show)

I then stitched a basic in and out stitch. The thread goes through the tongue three times and through the upper of the boot 4 times. I did find that I had to put my small safety pin through the hole I was trying to go in on the upper of the boot so that I would know where to put the needle. Again, younger eyes may not have this issue...

I then pulled the thread tight, cut the needle off the thread and tied three overhand knots to end the stitch. I cut off tag ends inside and out and then burned the tag ends with a lighter (being careful not to singe or get soot on leather and not burn my knot off).

Step Three: Voila!!!


The stitches are completely invisible and I have a tongue that will not shift for love or for money!!!

Hope this helps everyone. I'm sure there are questions here. I tried to be as thorough but as concise as possible.

Great idea and great job, I love DIY, man!

Do the boots open up enough to put them on your feet easy with the new stitching?

I have some Wested's only, but I usually need to loosen the laces up to the bottom to be able to take them off/put them on.

Cheers,
Bear

No problem sliding them on and off. Your foot has to kind of slide more sideways, but it's just as easy as before just a slightly different movement. Kind of like putting on those old zippered dress boots...

Very cool! Then it's an easy and good solution!

Cheers,
Bear

DIY can be so fun…and nerve wracking sometimes! I commend you!

/That's a great job, but man, 600 $ boots shouldn't have that issues by default!

My first pair of Aldens that I got (in… ‘98?), never had that problem. But after years of needing a replacement pair but moaning about how much they cost, I finally nabbed another pair from eBay. And, man, does the tongue on one of them, always wants to take a dive… (not the other, only one).

I’d started considering doing the same thing, but had been planning to tackle it lower, around the last eye, where it switches to hooks… but doing it at the top on one side, that’d work….

Velahrn wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 3:19 pm /That's a great job, but man, 600 $ boots shouldn't have that issues by default!

If it makes you feel better I only paid $193 for mine...

But I hear ya. What's the worst part is that they pretty much have that problem across the board. If you look at Alden Indy reviews virtually everyone has tongue slip as an issue.

I claim a disease called "gearhead-itis." Ever since I saw this scene when I was like 7 years old I wanted these boots, tongue slip or not!!!

LNBright wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 3:30 pm My first pair of Aldens that I got (in… ‘98?), never had that problem. But after years of moaning about how much they cost, I finally nabbed a pair from eBay. And, man, does the tongue on one of them, always wants to take a dive… (not the other, only one).

I’d started considering doing the same thing, but had been planning to tackle it lower, around the last eye, where it switches to hooks… but doing it at the top on one side, that’d work….

I wanted to do the same. However, once you get into the boot you can't see what you're doing. And the stitch spacing up top is the only thing that I could replicate from hand. It works quite well!

This is really helpful. I make it a Sticky so it'll live at the top of the section for others to be able to use.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Indiana Jeff wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 5:03 pm This is really helpful. I make it a Sticky so it'll live at the top of the section for others to be able to use.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff