One studio day at Makeful, we wanted to make earrings and had some leftover pleather lying around (as you do). We didn't have a plan and the materials weren't totally ideal but we made it work. This pleather project is a story of trial, error and the color teal. We love the color teal. Sometimes it's just as much about enjoying the making as it is the final product.
Sometimes projects don’t work out and you find yourself with leftover materials. Sometimes the materials are rad TEAL PLEATHER. When this is the case, you don’t waste said teal pleather you put on your DIY brain and get to thinking about how this pleather can be a cute…something. EARRINGS! That’s what we’ll make. And so we did.
Step 1: Use a salt shaker, the bottom of a glass, a square pen cup, vase, or some other geometric shaped household item to trace onto the back of your pleather fabric. We used a round sprinkles container to make ours! You’ll need two cutouts per earring. Note: We first tried to use a rotary cutter but the pleather is a bit slippery so that was a no go.
Step 2: Carefully cut out your shapes. Try to follow the line as much as you can because this makes it SO much easier to sandwich them together and have them match. Note: This wasn’t easy. If they made sharp cookie cutter shapes to cut through pleather and leather that would have been ideal. Wait, do they? BRB, I’m going to google that.
Step 3: Use krazy glue or some other high strength adhesive to glue two of the pleather cut-out shapes back to back. Don’t go too “krazy” with the glue though or it will seep out from the edges and be a gooey mess. Note: We know this from experience.
Step 4: Once the pleather shapes are dry- which shouldn’t take too long if you use krazy glue- trim any extra fabric off the edges, then punch a hole in the pleather shape pretty darn close to the edge (it needs to small enough to connect a jump ring). Note: Not too close to the edge, or you’ll risk early wear and tear (literally, tearing). Also this trimming part is hard, we’re not gonna lie.
Step 5: Decorating time! You can embellish your earrings by using a paint pen, or if you don’t have a paint pen, you can even use nail polish! We used a silver paint pen around the edges of the earring, then used lined notebook paper to line up and draw on a sleek silver line through the middle of the earring. So chic and gives the earrings a little EXTRA, but you know, not too extra.
Step 6: Use pliers to open a jump ring and loop it onto the pleather shape.
Step 7: Loop an earring hook around the jump ring, then use your pliers to close the jump ring. Repeat on the other earring and you’re ready to rock…or roll. You do you!
Amy Grill
Amy is a Midwest born Californian who fills her days bridging art, commerce, and technology with a smile and a wink. She loves weekend trips to Joshua Tree and is obsessed with quick layovers in far-flung places. She’s happiest when taking photographs, swimming in the ocean or adventuring in nature or cityscapes. She also digs spending quality time with her smart TV binge watching digital content.
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