DIY leather watch strap
To make a regular leather watch strap you will need: a small piece of leather, waxed cord, scissors, an awl, a ruler, a round knife and a leather hole punch.
An old, battered watch strap will also come in handy. Don't forget to determine how long the strap should be. If you have a sample, take it and place it on a piece of leather. Trace the outline of the old strap and cut out a neat strip. Then mark the shape of the future strap and use a round knife to trim the leather. Using an awl, mark holes for the fastener. Then make neat holes with a special hole punch.
To give the accessory a brutal look, insert small metal circles. After this, insert the strap into the watch and install the clasp. In order to secure it, you will need a waxed cord. Insert the belt holder and stitch it with cord. The same should be done with the second holder. That's actually the whole process.
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It’s not difficult to make a good quality leather watch strap with your own hands. You just need to know the basic techniques of leather processing. The techniques and subtleties of working with leather will be discussed further.
Materials
To make a strap you will need:
pieces of leather of different thicknesses; textile; glue; awl; chisel; sharp stationery knife; leather dye or wax; leather polishing tool or fine-grit sandpaper.
Step 1. Cut two strips from pieces of leather. Their width should correspond to the mount on the watch itself. The length of the straps should match your wrist. Multiply the length by two, since the strips of leather will fold in half.
Fold one of the strips so that one side overlaps the other by 2 - 3 cm. Lightly rub the folds with sandpaper, this will be useful in further work.
Step 2. The fold of the leather strip on the reverse side needs to be slightly reduced. To do this, carefully cut off part of the leather from the wrong side with a stationery knife.
Step 3: Shape the ends of the straps. In order not to immediately cut into the leather and thus not spoil it, you can draw the shape of the workpiece on paper in advance and then transfer it to a strip of leather.
Step 4. To make an even groove along the edge of the strap, a small device was made in the form of a chisel, fastened with a rubber band to a part of the pen case.
The handle rests against the edge and with light pressure a groove is made along the entire length of the strap.
Using a chisel or a special roller tool, it is necessary to mark the seam holes along the groove. The chisel needs to be gently tapped with something hard, but the roller tool leaves markings for the holes simply by pressing hard.
Step 5. Cut out the inside of the strap from a thick piece of leather. Place it against the strap itself; there should be a small gap between the edge of the thick piece of leather and the marks on the strap.
Glue a piece of thick leather to the strap from the inside. Don't apply too much glue as it can make the leather too tough. Glue the strap completely together, trying not to stretch the leather.
Step 6. Do the same with the second part of the strap. On a piece of leather left in advance, cut a hole for attaching the fastener.
Step 7. Sew both straps by inserting an awl into the pre-marked holes.
Step 8: Finish the edges of the straps. To do this, rub them in with sandpaper or a sharpening stone specially sharpened for the strap.
Step 9. Rub the edges of the leather straps with leather dye. You can also use wax instead.
Step 10. Use a hole punch to make holes in the strap.
Attach the straps to your watch and wear it with pleasure.
How to weave a strap from woven ropes?
To work, you should prepare about 15 meters of braided rope, a lighter, a tape measure, a latch, and scissors. The amount of material will depend on the size of your wrist.
Measure approximately 20 centimeters from the end of the braided rope. But this tail should not be cut off. Then make a loop on the first latch. Put the watch on the rope and determine the length of the bracelet. Don't forget to keep a small supply just in case. After the length is measured, you should put on the second latch and make a similar loop.
Now you can start weaving. Make a loop from the ends of the rope to the front side. Cross the ends on the wrong side and make another loop. It turns out that you have grabbed the outermost rope with the opposite end. As a result, the second end should remain at the top of the future strap. Now pass the thread under the bottom and grab it from the other side. Through the two middle ropes, release a small loop. Continue this weaving process until you reach the dial. You need to try to weave so that the bracelet is tight enough. Otherwise, the strap will lose its beautiful shape.
Having reached the location of the dial, pull the finished part tightly. Then pass the rope under the clock and bring it out to the other side. Continue weaving using the same method. After completing the work, you need to cut the rope and leave a small tail with a margin. Bring the rope to the wrong side between the loops of the strap.
To prevent the ends of the rope from fraying, carefully burn them with a lighter and tuck them under the middle loops from the inside out. As a result, you will get an original bracelet for your watch.
Examples of watch bracelets. Master Class.
When making watch bracelets with their own hands, craftsmen use a base in the form of a dial with a clock mechanism and various elements of accessories for jewelry: beads, beads, cords, connectors, etc. To work, it is enough to have basic skills in assembling jewelry with your own hands and show a little imagination. If you have experience in making jewelry using any specific technique, then using it in your work will only give the jewelry the most interesting look. We will show how varied the decorations are in the end in our examples. The easiest way to make a watch bracelet is to use stretchable fishing line or elastic and collect the desired beads on it.
Another example of a simple watch bracelet assembly is the use of a jewelry cable, which is also used to assemble the desired fittings.
In this case, the bracelet can be made not in one row, but in several or even consist of some kind of woven pattern.
Another idea for assembling watch bracelets is to connect parts or links of blanks to the desired length for the bracelet/strap. To work, use wire, pins or a chain.
Watch bracelets decorated with homemade beads. The example uses polymer clay.
A non-standard idea for assembling a bracelet for a watch, where the work involves elements that are completely different in size, but harmonious in color. The clock in this example acts as a pendant.
An example of a voluminous watch bracelet, where the base in the form of a chain is filled with ready-made beads and pendants.
A ready-made watch can also be highlighted with an additional bracelet or hand-made bracelets.
The watch bracelet can be made of leather. The work will create the appearance of a real strap, but made with your own hands.
A watch bracelet can consist of several rows or straps, made according to your taste.
Watch bracelets made of cords and decorated with beads or pendants.
A braided version of a watch bracelet made of cords and beads.
A watch bracelet consisting of decorated and interconnected connectors, jump rings or decorative chains.
Wire watch bracelet.
Watch bracelets made using macrame technique using beads or seed beads.
Bauble watch straps made from floss.
Bracelet or watch strap made of laces.
Watch bracelets decorated with soutache cords and beaded embroidery.
Master Class.
Accessories:
Shambhala cord
Iranian turquoise beads
Clock face
Tools:
matches, scissors.
We measure from the total length of the cord, a segment equal to 25 cm. Place our dial on top of it in the center.
We fill the cord with beads on each side. 5 beads on each side for weaving and one outer bead for decorating the edges. We make knots along the edges and seal them with fire. We take another segment equal to approximately 50 centimeters and draw it through the side hole of the dial. We will weave shamballa knots in one direction. To do this, we will make a knot on one of the edges of the cord; it will be the leading cord and will help not to get tangled in the weave. You can use any direction and number of knots you wish.
We place a piece of cord without a knot on top of the central cord with beads and direct it in the opposite direction, as in the photo.
Now we put a cord with a knot along the top of its edge, and then we draw the end with a knot under the central cord with beads and draw it into a loop, from the first segment.
We tighten it. We advance the first bead.
We make the next knot, similar to the previous one. We always start with a segment, without a knot. We put it on the central segment. We draw the edge with the knot under the central cord and pull it into a loop. We tighten it.
We repeat again. We tighten it.
We advance the next bead and continue to weave knots. Between each bead you should end up with two knots.
We weave 5 beads, cut off the excess edges of the cord with scissors and solder them with fire.
We repeat the pattern with knots and beads on the other side of the watch.
Next, fold the edges of the cords parallel to each other. We take another small piece of cord, pass it under the cords of the bracelet, tie a simple knot, and then make knots as in a bracelet until the number of them suits you.
The Shambhala bracelet for the watch is ready.
