It's not too hard, all I did was wrap each boot section in newspaper and press to find the seams, then cut out the newspaper and you have a pattern to use on the lace scraps!
I do wear them, for cosplaying only - not for trips to the shops! I have had them since Feb 2010 and nothing has flaked away yet. I certainly would not wear then in the wet as the glue would probably let go as any glue would. I haven't had any problems. I guess that if you didn't clean the leather really well and left traces of polish on them then the paint (obviously) would not adhere properly.