Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Leather Bow Cuff Tutorial

 
 

This lovely little cuff made its debut a few days ago in one of my outfit posts.  Ain't she cute?  :)Anyway, today I'm going to show you how to make your very own!


 
This picture that I discovered on Pinterest was my inspiration.  I saw it, I loved it, and I knew I had to make one.  So here's how I did it.
 

You will need:
  • 2 strips of leather/pleather. (I picked my faux-leather up as a remnant at my local fabric store.)  The main strip needs to be long enough to wrap around your wrist with a little overlap and as wide as you want it to be.  Mine was about 3 inches wide.  The smaller strip is to wrap around the middle of the bow, so as you can see, it's pretty small.
  • A hot glue gun
  • A snap
  • A needle and thread

 
I made a hair bow using the same technique to demonstrate how to make the bow.  I studied a pre-made bow, and from there figured out how to make the traditional bow shape.  I made it so that there are 3 "mountains" and 2 "valleys", if that makes any sense at all.  :P

 
Once you have shaped your bow, wrap the other strip of leather around the pinched section and glue in place.  If you're making a hair bow, you're done.  Slip a bobby pin through that bad boy and wear with pride. 
 
 
Ta-dah!  But wait, if you're making the bracelet, keep reading!
 
 
To finish the cuff, wrap it around your wrist to figure out where to put the snap. Sew on the two halves of the snap, and you're done! 
(After I made the bow on my cuff, I ended up trimming it a little to make the bow a little rounder and the ends narrower.  This wasn't necessary, I just thought it looked and felt better that way. )
 
 
I love way my cuff turned out.  I've been wanting a leather cuff of some sort for ages, and this one is feminine and slightly edgy at the same time.  This definitely has potential to become a new favorite accessory of mine.  These would make wonderful gifts as well!
 
Thanks for reading!
 
Niki
 
(EDIT: The hot glue did not hold up very well.  You might want to do a few hand stitches instead to band in the middle of the bow together.)

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