Needlework and creativity: do-it-yourself leather appliqués

2025 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2025-01-22 22:09

Leather is a natural and dense material from which durable crafts can be made. They will bring not only benefits to their owner, but also aesthetic pleasure. Thanks to the pliability of the material, you can create a wide variety of leather flowers, appliqués and souvenirs.

Preparation and restoration of old skin

Before you can use the old skin for making crafts, you need to prepare it:

1. Rip out existing zippers, lining, open all seams and tidy up the skin.
2. It is better not to wash this material, it is only washed with warm water. This is because when washing, animal, vegetable fats and mineral oils are washed out, which make the skin soft and pliable. Soak the skin in water for no more than 5 minutes.
3. You can restore or refresh the color by smearing the surface with glycerin.
4. After wet treatment, the skin is straightened. Wet cloth is placed on a piece of plywood or plank inside out and fastened along the edges with studs. If the leather pieces are small, then you can usepress.
5. Skin elasticity can be restored with fat. A wet piece of leather is impregnated with oil (castor oil). For effective absorption, the following solution is used: beat 1 egg white with 50 g of oil.

Do-it-yourself leather appliqués

The advantage of leather applications is that their edges do not crumble, and the material is strong and dense. There is no need to rush to get rid of old leather bags, belts or shoes, because even from small scraps you can make something exclusive and interesting.

With the help of the remnants of the skin, you can decorate and restore various things. Leather circles are sewn on the palms of knitted mittens or gloves, thereby thickening places that wear out quickly. Moreover, leather appliqués are also sewn onto the fingertips.

Original leather appliqués can also be used to decorate the sleeves of sweaters or the knees of jeans. Men's jackets will look stylish, the cuffs of the sleeves of which are also decorated with leather inserts.

Leather crafts

Separately, it is worth mentioning decorative leather items. You can make and decorate anything you want. Leather crafts can be decorated with even the smallest scraps. Most often, patterns are chosen for this in the form of petals, triangles, circles, located symmetrically relative to the center.

Today, handbags with leather applications are fashionable. And if designer accessories are not cheap, then hand-decorated products will costcheaper, and the result will be more original.

Fancy leather keychain can also be made by yourself. According to the template, two parts are cut out, sewn on a typewriter or manually, and the allowances are cut off with sharp scissors. Only in advance you need to think over the possible mounting options, and if necessary, put a loop between the parts.

There are other leather crafts. With a little effort, you can create extraordinary things: stylish clutches, earrings, pendants, covers for notebooks, passports, other documents and much more.

Applique leather on clothes: tips and tricks

Leather appliqués are the perfect decoration for any outfit. Not every fabric is suitable for decorating with leather elements. As a basis, you need to choose a sufficiently strong matter that will not lose its shape under the weight of the skin. A great option would be drape, gabardine or felt. If you need to decorate a lighter fabric, then the leather details should be small.

Decorating clothes in this way, you do not need to achieve perfect similarity in color, because in this case, leather appliqués serve only as a decoration.

Before you start decorating, you need to make paper sketches. They can be corrected by adding or removing unnecessary. Since leather comes in many colors and shades, it can be combined into multi-colored designs that will give clothing an exclusivity.

There are two ways to attach leather parts: pieces of leather can be glued tofabric or sew on. The second method is more time consuming, since holes must first be made around the entire perimeter of the parts with an awl.

It is very important to prepare all the tools before starting work. They must be sharpened so that the skin can be cut without undue effort.

DIY leather flowers

Leather flowers look spectacular and stylish. These leather crafts can easily be used as a brooch or other decoration for clothes and bags. They can also become decorative items for hair decoration.

Craftswomen who want to try their hand at this type of needlework are advised to start with simple leather flowers. To complete them, you only need improvised materials, a little patience and effort.

Leather is one of the oldest materials that man began to use. However, today it also has not lost its relevance. Leather applications, crafts, souvenirs, jewelry, shoes, clothes, furniture and other interior items - and this is not the whole list of applications for this versatile material.