thanks so much for the advice!

The insoling leather looks fine. What are you planning to punch the holes with? How are you planning to cut/shape it?

Hmm, I guess I was assuming an awl? and for cutting it, a fresh razor blade in a utility knife, would those be good?

With the thread, I'd go for the first link. The second is for if you were working on the uppers. Tiger Thread is a pretty popular brand. I am sure you can find it closer to you, but here's a link. Again, what are you going to use to sew it with?

ah that's good to know. For the tiger thread do you mean for sewing the uppers to the insole, or if I were doing work on the uppers? (I don't plan to mess with them). I have a pretty sturdy sewing needle like these, would that work?

The soling you've linked is significantly thinner than what you had on there. It's hard to see in this pic, but the Vibram 2021 for example is a very soft wedge sole. It's more similar to what you had on originally (softness) but is a wedge shape, rather than a defined heel stack (like the crepe was). If you really want a sheet rubber, I'd recommend perhaps a birkenstock soling knockoff, as at 10mm, it's gonna be way comfier than the 4mm rubber you linked.

Ah, yeah. To be honest I'm pretty ambivalent about the sole material/softness, but I wouldn't mind just a classic reasonably thick rubber sole, and I found the crepe wore away really quickly. That vibram one looks good, I'll go for that instead I think (unless there's something a bit cheaper that's still as thick/good?).

Please do not use shoe goo. You most definitely need contact cement as you linked there. Barge is another common brand for beginners/hobbyists.

sounds good!

Remember, before you glue any surface, you need to sand it. So for example,before you stitch the insole to the upper, make sure it's been sanded on the bottom. Otherwise, when you need to glue the outsole on, you'll sand through your nice stitching trying to get it on. Shoe repair and shoemaking are two different skill sets - but both require you to think two steps ahead, or you'll paint yourself into a box.

Ah that's a very good tip... a couple more really dumb questions if that's okay:

• should I also sand the top of the outsole?
• is there some specific way I should sew the upper to the insole? (e.g., when I've done sewing things in the past, I'd sometimes tie off knots periodically to make it so if one part breaks, the whole thing doesn't break)
• when I glue it, I have a bunch of spring clamps like these that I'd just clamp around the edges, and then a couple ones like these that would let me clamp the inside too... would that work or is there something smarter?

I'm fully at peace with me messing these up completely, but I figure it'll be fun to give it a shot :P