Lately, summer catalogs with richly printed dresses, bangles and bold accessories have been grabbing my attention. While flipping through these catalogs, I’ve been dreaming of making one of the dresses. But since big projects like that intimidate me, I decided to try making a bold leather cuff instead.
Materials:
* These instructions and materials will make a cuff that fits a wrist 6.5″ in circumference. You should adjust the length of the strap based on your personal size and preference.
• Scrap of leather ( at least 19 inches long and 1.5 inches wide)
• Scissors
• Rotary mat and rotary cutter
• Straight edge ruler
Process:
1. Cut your leather 1.5″ wide and 19″ long.
2. Using a rotary cutter, mat and straight edge, make straight, vertical cuts the length of the leather strip. Start two inches from the bottom of the strap and stop the cut two inches from the top of the strap. Vertical cuts should be approximately 15 ” in length. Repeat vertical cuts so that they are spaces approximately 1/4″ apart. This is not an exact science.
3. Once you’ve made the cuts in your leather strap, it’s time to make the closure. Cut an arrow shape at the top of one end of the strap. Make the width of the arrow head about 1/4″ narrower than the width of the leather strap on either side, making the broadest part of the arrow about 1″. Use the image below as your guide.
4. Now wrap the cuff around your wrist twice and determine where the closure should be placed at the opposite end of the strap. You should have some flex space with the two inches of uncut leather you left in place. Once you determine where this closure should be, cut a small slit approximately 1″ wide. Gently snip the small slice you just made into an extremely narrow rectangle so that the slit is visible. Make certain to keep the slit centered in the middle of the strap so that you have at least a 1/4 ” of leather on either side. You want the slit to be large enough to slip the arrow closure through, but you also want to make sure there is enough leather on either side to stand up to the wear and tear of taking your cuff on and off.
5. You are done! Wrap twice around your wrist and fasten. The leather will stretch and loosen gradually with wear and make your cuff a really comfortable, carefree accessory.
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