Bejewelled Leather Cuff

Leather has really come into it's own as a jewellery style in recent times. I just love the way that it works equally as well for the country girl as it does for the city girl. Today I'm dressing up a simple strip of metallic leather with acrylic pearls and rhinestones to give it an urban chic look. Don't you love how well pearls and crystals go with leather?

Metallic bronze leather cuff studded with teardrop pearls and rhinestones.

Finished length: 9” (23cm)

Here's what you'll need:

Materials:

Metallic Leather TrimPiece – Bronze

Assortment of clear acrylic rhinestones

2 x 14mm white round pearl flat back cabachons

4 x 10mm white round pearl flat back cabachons

Assortment of white teardrop pearl flat back cabachons

Silver snap setter kit (includes setting tool)

Beacon 527 Adhesive

Tools:

Hammer

Rotating hole punch

Ruler and pencil

Scissors

toothpick

Decide on the layout of the rhinestones and pearls for the cuff according to your assortment. Download this placement guide to help you. The guide will help you work out how wide your leather strip needs to be. Place the components directly on the guide ready to transfer to the leather when the time comes.

Trim the width of the Metallic Bronze Leather Trim piece so that it's wide enough to accommodate your pattern. I've cut mine 2” wide x 9" long (5cmx23cm), but cut yours to suit the pattern you've laid out on the placement guide.

Placing a mark for the width of the bracelet.

Place the leather strip on your wrist to determine how long you need to make it. You need to allow for an overlap of approximately 26mm (1") at the ends where the studs will be. That's 13mm (½”) extra on each end. Round the corners with scissors.

Place the leather strip on your workspace in the landscape position. Measure in 13mm (½”) from the top and right-hand edges and place a mark. Do the same at the bottom edge of the cuff. Repeat at the left-hand end of the cuff.

Marking the position for the snap studs.

Punch a hole at each of the marks that is slightly smaller than the shank of the studs.

Following the package instructions, set a snap at each of the holes on the right-hand side (wrong side of the bracelet facing up with the cap on the metallic side of the leather) .....

.....and a snap base at each of the holes on the left-hand side (right side facing up with the post sitting in the anvil). Double check before you set them that each component is facing the correct direction.

Find the centre of the leather and transfer all the rhinestones and pearls from the template onto the leather. Once you're happy with the positioning, attach each flat back cabachon, one at a time, with a small amount of adhesive and place them back into position.