How I Fixed My Son's Broken Sandal

I bought my sons sandals in April, since the weather here is good enough by then to wear sandals, which my boys live in until October or so. Unfortunately, despite my not buying the cheapest pairs of sandals I could find, Lee's sandals were very close to breaking to the point of being unwearable. The fabric that holds down the ring through which the velcro strap used to close the sandal feeds through was nearly ripped all the way through. On both sides.

I am loathe to spend more money on yet another pair of sandals for my son, especially so soon after buying this current pair, but I can't leave my son with no shoes to wear. So, I planned on replacing the leather type fabric holding the ring in place, but currently can't find my leather scraps that I had, so in the meantime, I "hacked" a repair that should work temporarily, and at the very least, stop the shoe from ripping more.

Here's how I did it.

I took a needle and thread, and doubled the thread then tied a knot at the end.

I stuck the needle behind the flap of leather, sewing together the two pieces of leather on either side of the ring, and pulled through.
I then looped it around the metal ring and then stuck the needle back in from the back to the front, between two pieces of leather again.

In short, since the leather wasn't forming a loop around the metal ring anymore to hold it in place, I closed the leather around the ring, and then sewed loops of fabric again... and again... and again... around the ring.

I did these close together until the loops were nearly overlapping each other all the way across the length. I then knotted the ends...

I then cut off the extra bits of string that were sticking out, left over after I tied it.

Voila. All finished. 

Almost as good as new.

Then I did the same to the other side.

I realize that this won't last forever, but again, as I said, this is a temporary fix until I can find the leather scraps to make a more permanent fix.

Have you ever fixed yours or your kids shoes at home, either temporarily or permanently? How did you do it? How long did it last?