How to fix a sliding tongue.

First you need to mark the tongue so you know the right place to cut or sew. Here I'm marking the tongue with a piece of chalk just below where the laces cross at the second set from the top.

Here I'm marking just above where the laces cross at the second set down.

Here the tongue is properly marked.

Now pull the laces out of the boot so you can work on the marked tongue.

Now there's two ways to solve the sliding tongue problem, you can either slit the tongue and put the laces through the slit or sew on a tab to put the laces through. First I'll show the slit method. Here I moved the initial marks to the outside and drew marks to the inside to show where to make the slit. Starting from the top use a sharp xacto knife, utility knife, etc and cut through the leather from the top of the mark to the bottom.

Cut to the bottom of the mark.

Now starting at the top of the second mark cut from the top to the bottom again.

Cut to the bottom.

When your done just thread the two laces through the slit at the second lace cross from the top. Do make sure when you cut, your cutting at the right place because you have only one chance to get it right.

2nd Way.

Now for the second method which is to sew a tab onto the tongue. It would be best to make the tab out of leather but can be made of anything durable. Here is a tab of leather that measures 1 inch by 3/8 of an inch.

Here I layed the tab across the marks on the tongue we made initially.

Normally I would use this boot repair machine.

But seeing as your not going to have access to this type of machine I'll show you on a standard $150 sewing machine.

Here I'm sewing (on the line we drew) one side of the tab to the tongue. Make sure you go back and forth a few times to ensure it won't come loose.

Here I'm sewing the other side of the tab (at the line we drew) to the tongue. Again go back and forth a few times.

This is what the finished piece looks like. Now with this method you can mess it up and then only have to cut the stitches out and start over. Again just thread the two laces through the tab at the second point at which the laces cross.

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