How To Make Your Own Leather Earrings
There’s no denying it, leather earrings are a big deal right now!
If you’re here, you are looking for a way to jump in on this trend.
Whether it is for a craft project with friends or to start your own small business, we have all the info you need to start making your own genuine leather earrings in just a few simple steps.
Let’s start right in on the process!
To make Leather Earrings, you will need the following:
-Pre-Cut Sheets Of Leather or Pre-Cut Earrings
-Jewelry Pliers
-Jump Rings
-Ear Hooks
Optional:
-Scissors (for hand cutting shapes from leather sheets or adding details)
-Cricut/Silhouette (for cutting more elaborate shapes from leather sheets)
-Gum Tragacanth (for smoothing the suede side and edges, check out our other blog on this simple process)
First things first, you need to decide what you want your earrings to look like!
What shape do you want them to be?
How big do you want them to be?
Are you going to layer them or paint them?
What color palette are you working with?
Do you want stiff leather that will hold it’s shape or soft leather that will fold easily?
Still not sure how you want to go forward? Check out our Pinterest page for some inspiration.
If you’re just starting out, I’m sure you’re wondering what leather is best to use. There are so many to choose from, it can make it a little daunting.
For most earring makers, they like to use a semi-soft temper cowhide leather, typically between 2-3 oz (if you are unsure what this means, check out our Leather 101 Blog on temper and thickness). This will ensure the earrings are lightweight without being so soft that they may flop around.
There are others who like to use really stiff earrings, with a thickness of 4-5 oz. They prefer the more substantial look and feel of the leather. These leathers can sometimes be stamped or dyed to the maker's desired colors.
This is where your preference really comes into play. As you work with leather projects more and more, you’ll discover what leather you prefer and which you don’t! Which ones allow for more customization and which are just lovely on their own.
Now that you’ve made the hardest decisions, we can start making the earrings!
Take your earring blank, and decide how you want it to hang from the ear.
In our video, we are using a classic teardrop. We’ve shown both the traditional way as well as a folded over style that has become quite popular as of late.
Once that choice is made, you can punch your hole for your jump ring, using your leather punch or awl.
Make sure not to place the hole too close to the edge. This ensures that there isn’t a chance for the ring to tear through the leather.
You also want to be sure it isn’t so far from the edge that the ring won’t clear the leather and hang freely.
Once the hole is punched, open your jump ring with your pliers and thread it through the hole.
When the jump ring is through the leather, add your ear hook (make sure it is facing the right direction for how you want the earring to hang), and then close the ring again with your pliers.
Do this whole process again on the second earring and that’s it! You have created a handmade pair of earrings!
It truly is that easy to make a pair of earrings out of leather. These are a great DIY project for gifts, parties, or rainy days.
Cutting your own earrings from scratch gives you a world of customizable options as far as shape and size.
If you are already working with leather, you can even use your leather scraps since earrings are normally small pieces. Incorporate your leather tools in interesting ways!
Using our pre-cut earrings takes a large part of the manual work away, and allows you to focus on your styling. Paint them, bead them, dye them, stamp them, layer them, cut them...the choices are all yours.
Experiment and try something totally different! Use pieces you wouldn’t expect to see on a simple earring. There really is no right or wrong.