Leather Pandora Bracelet
Pandora-style beads are all the rage and you are certainly not limited to stringing yours on the pandora-style bracelets. Here is a project using simple leather cord to make a rustic, yet stylish bracelet using our beautiful line of Pandora-style large hole beads, and our pewter clasps and findings.
This project is not about perfection, but expression. Use these instructions as a guideline, but express yourself!
You will need:
Pandora-style beads - in this project I used three
-Beige/brown swirls with raised brown dots
-Red similar to this one : Red
-Carved bone beige rippled
1mm leather cord in your choice of colors. I used a medium brown
One of our gold hook clasps (I only use the hook part in this project, not the included ring. You can use that for another project.)
6 goldtone spacer beads- choose from our wide selection
A focal piece of some kind to use as the "circle" to put the hook through for the clasp. I used a vintage stamping/casting from the dollar bin at one of our shows. You could use just about anything here, including the "circle" from one of our many toggle clasps.
A charm. I used the flower/heart charm
One jump ring for the charm
A small amount of soft wire to wrap one end with Gauge doesn't matter.
*Click on each image to enlarge*
2. Fold the leather exactly in half.
3. Slide one goldtone pewtie large hole spacer bead down the length of the folded leather cord starting at the cut end and stopping about a half inch from the loop it creates.
4. Using a goldtone pewtie large hook, place the loop end of the leather through the loop end of the hook, stopping at the spacer bead. Then thread the loose ends of the leather through the leather loop and pull taut, with the spacer bead at the bottom of the knot as pictured:
It may take a little coaxing, a little warmth from your hands, to get the leather to stay in place. Once you have worn it a bit and worked the knot with your fingers, the leather will soften into place.
5. Next, choose a few of the pandora-style beads. I like to use earth toned beads in this project to complement the goldtone pewties and the warmth of this medium-brown leather. You can use as many of these pandora style beads as you would like. I put the goldtone spacers in between. The spacer I have chosen fits very snugly on the leather, so I can space my pandoras out evenly. You might choose to fill this area of the bracelet with pandoras, or other large holed beads. Stop after approximately 6" (a little more if you have very small wrists) of leather is left over.
At this point, you could really do any number of things. Get creative! l like to have a charm dangling on all of my bracelets. I chose the pewtie heart and flower charm and put it on a large jump ring so it can move around but not so large it can get past my knot. I'm not worried about mixing metals.(my jump ring is silver but my charm is gold.)
Last, chose a large focal "circle" for your hook to go through for the clasp. You might choose the circle from a large toggle, or get creative- I picked a puffed heart from our vintage stampings and castings bin at my last show. I highly recommend digging through the stampings and castings bin at the shows. You never know what you will find in there.
Thread the loose ends of the leather through. This is the point where you want to test the length of your bracelet. Hook the gold hook clasp through the focal- if the hook is too tight, as mine was, it can easily be opened using just your fingers.
Keep track of where on the leather you want to attach your focal clasp end. Fold the leather over the clasp end and use some soft wire to wrap the leather tightly.
Check the fit of your bracelet. If all is well, trim any excess leather to about 1mm below your wire wrap. If it is too tight, try having less leather come through the focal, and re-wrap.
Voila! Your new bracelet is ready to wear.
Don't forget, if you are having trouble, feel free to contact me via comments or email (posted on my profile.) I'm here to help. And if you make this project, we'd love to see pictures!
