I haven't really worked with leather that much. But when I was looking for fabric in the garment district, there was a plastic bin at a store that I could not ignore.
It was filled with all kinds of leather scraps! From neutrals to metallic, even animal print. They were priced based on size and thickness. I just had to get a piece.
I settled for this tan pebble finish. I paid $3.00. I guess that's expensive for this little piece...but this is New York City. So if you're lucky to be working with leather products, always keep the remnants.
For today's blah to TADA! transformation, I'm going to make a tassel key chain. I've seen these in shops and thought to myself (like I do many times), "Why buy when I can DIY?"
These are what we'll need: a hot glue gun and glue sticks, a pair of scissors (or an X-acto knife and self-healing cutting mat), and a key ring (this came from an old keychain).
Cut yourself a piece of leather and even out the sides turning it into a rectangle (you can eyeball it or use a ruler and pencil).
Cut one long strip of leather that will become the handle. Cut it as long or as short as you want it.
For the bigger piece of leather, cut fringes, making sure that the size of each fringe is uniform.
Insert the leather strip into the key ring and hot glue the ends together.
Attach the end of the leather strip to the top of the bigger piece of leather, also with hot glue.
Tightly roll the fringed piece of leather, adding a bead of hot glue every so often.
Secure the end with more hot glue.
An easy to make tassel key chain. TADA!
Use it for keys or as an embellishment for bags and purses.
Have a good week!
Claire, this keychain is so cute, and it doesn't look too hard to make. I was thinking a leather tassel would also look good on a canvas tote bag zipper pull. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteThanks Granny P! I love the versatility of projects like this one :)
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