How to Make Leather Bracelet for Men

After making the Welcome Sign using Wood burning tool, I was thinking of what else I can do with the wood burning tool.Then I came to know ,It can also be used with leather to make designs.I experimented with leather bands and was surprised with the results. So, I ended up making these leather bracelets for men. Do you want to make awesome bracelets for you handsome boy friend or if you are guy reading this, do you want to make one for you or your bro? Keep reading to learn how !!

Leather band - 7 to 8 inches (I got mine at Michael's)

Wood burning tool - Universal nib ,Special nibs(optional)

Waxed cotton cord

E6000

Pen (Optional)

Pliers (Optional)

First trim your band to fit your wrist if it is too lengthy for your hand. The band which I had was around 8 inches and so I trimmed it to 7 inch to suit my husband's wrist. I decided to write a word(Such as "Hope",Believe","Fearless","Brave","Cool",etc.Whichever suits you or the man you are making) in the middle and decorate with some designs on each side. But If you don't want any words and just design you can very well jump to the next step.

Write the word you want in the middle, in my case it is "Hope". I used a pen to write the word in the center of the band and turned on the burning tool to heat up. Use Universal point for writing letters. Also you can use the trimmed piece for trial to know how the leather reacts with the wood burning tool. What I observed is, you need to be quick when using the tool on the leather . It was so smooth and it felt like I was using a marker pen for writing on the leather. It burns so quickly compared to wood and so plan ahead before starting the project. Once the tool heated up, burn the word using the tool.

For the design, I used special nib such as a diamond design with stripes and a tear drop shaped nib. But , if you don't have any particular design nib you can always draw the design using pen and burn it with universal nib.

Using pliers remove the universal nib and change it to diamond shaped nib and allowed it to heat up. Once done, make a trial in the trimmed piece(As shown) to know how long you have press and the angle you have to hold the tool to get the whole design ,etc. Plan the design and burn it on the leather band, I just lined up the diamond design on both side of the word which I burned in the previous step.

For the second design, I used the tip of the tear drop nib to create a triangle shaped design on both the sides of the leather band.

• Take 20" length of waxed cotton cord , make a loop at the end of the leather band in such a way that the loop should be formed at the end of the band and the shorter length of the cord is facing towards you(Or towards the other end).Dab a small amount of glue (E6000) for extra security.

• Wrap around the loop using the longer end for eight times. Pass the longer end of the cord into the loop and pull the shorter end of the cord to tighten the loop.Trim the excess at the shorter end and leave the long end of the thread as such.
• Repeat the same on the other end of the leather band

• Join both the threads from the wrapped ends and lets name it as M (Middle). To make square knot take a thread of length around 15" and make a overhand knot around the M threads. Now you have equal length of threads on the sides of M. Let's name the Left thread as L and the right thread as R.
• Take L and go over the M and under the R.Now take R and go under the M and L in the middle and Over the L as shown in the picture 4 and tighten the knot to form the first half of the square knot. Repeat the same step by starting on the R thread first.
• Take R and go over the M and under the L. Now take L and go under the M and R in the middle and Over the R as shown in the picture and tighten the knot to complete the first square knot. Repeat both steps to create a chain of square knot and complete it with a overhand knot. Secure the end with a dab of glue and trim the thread.
• Now make a simple knot at the end of the M threads to prevent the sliding of the threads into the knot and the closure is complete.

Voila!! Here it is the complete look of the leather bracelet. If you don't want to make the sliding closure by yourself ,get a metal clasp that fits you leather band and glue it at the ends for the closure.

What do you think ? If you like this bracelet instructable, please take a moment to vote for me in the "Bracelet Challenge". Thank You :).