Make a leather flower necklace or hair clip :: Jewellery to make

Leather flower necklace to make - Make a leather flower necklace or hair clip - Craft - allaboutyou.com

You will need

● Pattern template (below). Print this out and enlarge until the large flower measures approx 7.5cm across
● Scraps of leather – approximately 20cm x 10cm (the biggest flower piece fits onto a piece approximately 10cm x 10cm)
● Suede lacing – about 50cm for the centre of the flower
● Leather lacing – long enough to tie as a necklace (or a brooch pin or hair clip)
● Hole punch
● Needle with an eye big enough to take the suede lacing
● Spring hair clip and a leather needle (for the hair clip option)

Cutting out

Using your pattern template, cut out one large flower, one smaller flower and three leaves.

Starting the flower-making process

Half-fill a bowl with boiling water and add enough cold water that you can put your fingers in it. Dunk your leather petals and leaves into the water and swish them around until they are soaked through.

When they’re thoroughly soaked, lay them out on an old tea towel (image 1). They’ll look a bit mangled at this point. (Our leather shrank a little – if yours does too, don’t worry, just carry on.)

Get distressing

Now you need to stretch, twist, pull and generally abuse your leather petals and leaves. Twist them up into a tight roll so the water is wrung out, then pull the sides of the leaves, scrunch them up in your fist, tug and pull them so they’re stretched and aren’t in uniform shapes.

When you’re happy with the crumpled way they look, leave them to dry, which will take a few hours (image 2).

Make the holes

When they’re dry, punch two holes into the middle of each flower piece and two holes into one end of each leaf (image 3).

Stitching the centre

Thread your needle with your suede lacing (image 4). Starting from the right side of the flower, push the needle through the smaller flower, then the bigger flower and then push each leaf onto the needle. Draw the needle through (it’ll be at the back of the flower now) making sure that you leave a long piece of lacing dangling on the top side (you’ll be using this to tie a big knot at the centre of the flower).

Now bring your needle back through the other holes so that the needle is back on the right side of the flower. Wiggle the leaves and petals around so you’re happy with how they look and then tie a number of half knots one on top of the other.

Trim, leaving a centimetre of lacing for a stamen.

Repeat these steps a couple more times, so the petals and leaves are securely fastened and you have four to six stamens.

Adding the lacing for a necklace

Measure your piece of lacing around your neck so that you’re happy with the length (image 5). Turn your flower over and thread the lacing through the stitch at the centre of the flower.

Tie in a knot at the back of your neck and you’re finished!

To make a flower hair clip

When you’ve stitched your flower together and made the centre, turn your flower over so you can see the back (image 6). Using a leather needle (they have sharper points that cut through the leather) stitch on to the leaves.