Leather cord bracelets are awesome (leather jewelry in general is) and there is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to make your own at home, especially if you have access to quality leather cord India or any kind of leather cord that is genuine and withstand daily use.
Leather cord India, in particular, has been getting some pretty good reviews as of late because of its strength and durability. So for today’s blog, we’re going to start off with some important points about leather cords, leather cord bracelets, and how to make the best looking ones at home.
Table of Contents
Natural-looking leather bracelets
What is truly special about leather cord bracelets is they look so naturally pretty that anyone would be happy to wear them daily.
Unlike bracelets made of metal (silver, gold, etc.), you can’t really match these to casual clothes all the time. Leather jewelry, on the other hand, has that luxuriant but natural feel and look that complements any kind of fashion.
So for this blog, we are going to teach you how to make a square knot bracelet. This type of bracelet requires thin cotton cords that wrap around a tougher core that will provide sufficient body and durability.
The materials you are going to need are followings:
1) a 2.5 mm round vintage leather cord measuring 50 centimeters (single piece)
2) 90 ¾ long 1 mm cotton cord
3) pewter fastener with a center hole.
For this bracelet, you will be using the square knot technique and the basic overhand knot to secure the parts of your bracelet.
For the color combination, you can either go with a natural leather cord paired with a grape cotton cord or a dark brown leather cord with a vermillion cotton cord. Either combination is fine, you can also mix them up later on if you feel that you need a more complex-looking leather bracelet.
Steps
Step 1:
Fold the leather cord in such a way that you will have an excess of five centimeters on one side.
Step 2:
proceed to fold the cotton cord/s in half (exactly half) and knot one end to the folded leather cord. The excess on one end of the leather cord will be folded to itself,
Step 3:
Then use the cotton cord to create an overhand knot around the midpoint of the fold of the leather cord.Make sure that there is a 1” allowance on the topside of the folds so that there will be a 1” leather loop on one end.
Step 4:
When the leather core has been secured, proceed with creating the square knots. The target length will be about 17 cm or 6.75”. If the final user has a wider wrist than usual, then simply adjust the final length of the bracelet.
With leather bracelets, it is always wise to cut out the knotting a few knots before the target length because both cotton and leather cords expand and contract depending on the temperature, and they’re stretchable, too.
So if you want a comfortable and snug fit, this is what you have to do. Otherwise, you might end up with a bracelet that is generally looser, and it might be pulled off while you are going about your day. The beauty of leather cord bracelets is you can customize everything from the materials to the final length.
You can even make two or three more bracelets with variations using the same combined techniques. In the end, you will have a collection of leather cord bracelets that aren’t just pretty but fully customized for your wrist’s physiology.
This is something that you can’t get from pre-made ones, though if you don’t have time to create certain variations, you can purchase those special ones to complete your collection.
Finishing the bracelet
As you continue creating the square knots and covering the hard leather core, make sure that the knots are as uniform as possible (no big gaps between), so the bracelet will look really nice when it’s done. When you have attained the target length, simply trim the shorter end of the leather cord flush with the layer of cotton weave, to even out the core.
Use the longer end of the leather core to thread the pewter fastener, and then make a tight overhand knot so the pewter fastener will not slip out.
Leave a few millimeters allowance from the edge of the cotton weave and the pewter fastener to give the bracelet a more symmetrical look. Once that is done, the bracelet is ready and you have a new, nicely done leather bracelet that is ready for use.
Tips on knotting the cords
- Just before you are done with the length of the bracelet (which is three or two knots toward the end of the knotting), place the excess cotton thread on the wrong side of the bracelet so it will be bound there instead of topside or the right side of the bracelet.
- Once the loose, spare length is on the wrong side of the bracelet, use the rest of the thread to make the last two to three knots to secure it. Insert the two ends of the main thread inside the loop of the excess thread that’s been bound by the last three knots. Insert the two ends topside and pull.
- Once the two ends of the threads are securely inside the loop that has been knotted earlier, pull on the loose to secure the pair of threads. This should be able to allow you to thread the excess under the square knots.
- Once you have a tight pull, simply cut off the threads from the top point of the last three square knots that you have made.
- What you should have in the end is a very neat trim on the wrong side of the bracelet, with no visible bulging that will make it harder for you to use the bracelet throughout the day.
