Several months ago I found myself without crimp tubes to finish a leather cord but also too impatient to wait for more to arrive. So I played with wire to make my own, then forgot about the whole idea.
Fast forward to the last couple of nights in bed post surgery, and I found myself needing to wrap leather once again- but this time the crimp tubes aren't available in the size of leather I want to finish off. So I'm back to finishing my leather ends the way I once did several months ago. I also like that you can make your wrapped ends even and neat, or a bit messy for a rustic look.
Materials:
5mm Bolo Leather Cord
20g copper wire
GS Fabric Cement
Small piece of sandpaper
Wire cutters
Round Nose Pliers
Flat or Chain Nose Pliers
Cut your leather cord to length, add your pendants, beads and/or embellishments you plan to use. Your necklace/bracelet design should be finished, except for the ends and clasp, as adding anything afterwards is a bit difficult if it needs to be threaded from the end. The wraps are usually too large for anything to fit over them.
Cut your wire into two 8" pieces. Of course,you may need more or less but this is what I used. It's better to have too much, then to try adding wire later- it just doesn't work :) Use the small piece of sandpaper to give your wire a scrub. This helps to clean any oils and dirt from it, and it also helps the glue "grab".
About 1.5"-2" from the end of the wire, make a 90* bend in the wire and start a wrapped loop with the LONG TAIL end of the wire. See picture below.
Make a wrapped loop to resemble the pictures below. Wrap in a circle to make a cap, instead of down the length of wire. (similar to making a spiral)
Braided leather typically has a hole that runs through the center and is just the right size to fit the end of the short wire. Even if the cording you are using doesn't have a hole through the center, you can still use this method by holding the wire and cording parallel to each other.
Add some fabric cement to the short end of your wire and on the underside of the wrapped "cap". Then insert your wire into the hole.
 |
I added my clasp earlier on since I want it directly on my loop. You can add it whenever you like.
|
Add a drop of glue to the outer perimeter of the cord- I covered the first 1/4" of the end with glue.
Finally, begin wrapping your long tail wire starting at the top of the leather cord and work your way down as far as you'd like but at least 1/4". Wrap your wire snug around your cord- this aids in holding your inner wire as well. Follow your first wraps back up and add a few more wraps around your loop, snip your wire and tuck the tail.
I'm sure this can be adjusted for most types of cording you are working with, and I suggest playing around with different wire gauges, leather sizes and finishing styles to find what works best for you.
I have used GS Fabric Cement with metal and leather several times without fail.
This to That recommends Household Goop for leather and metal.
Hope this helps someone finish the ends of leather! If you have any questions- just shoot me an email and I'll do my best to answer it. I know the pictures aren't the best but I was resting post surgery and had to use my phone! :)
