Weathered Leather pendant

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Sharlene Garrison
5 years ago
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Polymer can mimic the look of many things in this project it will pretend to be leather, thread and fabric. Sound like fun? You betcha!

1 Weathered Leather pendant Want to try your hand at faking it? Make this fake leather & fabric pendant from polymer clay... seriously, polymer clay! by Christi Friesen Sometimes you just have to fake it. Polymer clay will make it easy for you to do just that. Polymer can mimic the look of many things in this project it will pretend to be leather, thread and fabric. Sound like fun? You betcha! Start by mixing two different colors of clay for leather one dark leather for the main pendant piece, and a lighter color clay for the leather straps. I like to use scraps of clay to mix the assortment of colors add a rich depth to the blend. For the dark leather, you can use bits of brown, bronze, black and gold clays. Use mostly brown and/or bronze with just a small amount of gold and black. for this project you will need:. polymer clay: I recommend Premo polymer clay, I used a mix of browns, golds, ecru, black and bronze for the leathers, and Red Glitter for the handkerchief.. tools: cutting blade, needle tool, sculpting tools (I recommend CFʼs Canʼt Live Without It tool), clay conditioning machine (or roller), needle nose tweezers (optional), wire cutters. mica powder: black, and paintbrush to apply. decorative finding: (optional) for pressing a pattern into the clay anything small with fine details. headpins: 5 or more flat-head pins in an antique finish, 2 round-tipped headpins. clear tape (optional) Gather up your clay bits and smoosh ʻem together. Flatten this wad with your hands or with a roller. Now roll that through a clay-conditioning machine (at the widest setting) or flatten with a roller. Fold and flatten again. Keep folding and flattening until your colors are well blended, but make sure you leave some subtle streaks of color visible so it will look more natural.

When you like the blend, roll it into a thick flat sheet (widest setting still about as thick as a quarter coin).

If you want your leather to look really weathered old and a bit cracked then set your clay sheet down to cool off from the warmth of your hot lilʼ hands.

If you need to, you can trim your clay back into a square/rectangle again if it got kindaʼ wiggley.

2 When you like the blend, roll it into a thick flat sheet (widest setting still about as thick as a quarter coin). Now use a cutting blade to cut that sheet into a square/rectangle (about 2 inches or so). Ok, ready for a trick? If you want your leather to look really weathered old and a bit cracked then set your clay sheet down to cool off from the warmth of your hot lilʼ hands. Once itʼs cool, pick it up and bend it to make a crease and immediately open the bend instant crack! Make several of these. Let them criss cross each other. Sweet. If you need to, you can trim your clay back into a square/rectangle again if it got kindaʼ wiggley. Since the cracks leave holes, you can roll out more of the clay into a thinner sheet (the 4 th widest setting on your clayconditioning machine, about as thin as a dime or less), and lay the cracked ʻleatherʼ clay on top. Use a blade to trim them sheets evenly. To give the clay a more leathery surface, use overlapping fingerprints (your own, presumably) to make a texture, or use a piece of fabric (like the inside of a t-shirt) to press a slight pattern all over.

Set that aside for a moment and mix up your other leather color, to use for the straps.

Mix the colors together to blend them in the same way as you did for the dark leather bit. Roll the mix into a thick-ish sheet (the same thickness or slightly thinner than the dark leather base).

Bend the ends over the sides and press them onto the backside to make the leather strap ʻwrapʼ around.

3 Set that aside for a moment and mix up your other leather color, to use for the straps. This one should be mostly ecru, gold and light browns, so there will be a nice contrast between it and the dark leather color. Mix the colors together to blend them in the same way as you did for the dark leather bit. Roll the mix into a thick-ish sheet (the same thickness or slightly thinner than the dark leather base). Use a cutting blade to cut a strip of clay for a leather strap. Make it however thick you like! Press it onto the surface of the square/rectangle. Bend the ends over the sides and press them onto the backside to make the leather strap ʻwrapʼ around. Add the look of stitching by using the tip of a needle tool to press a row of little lines along both sides of the strap. Nifty, huh? To make the look of an x of crossed leather cord, first press two indentations, a little apart, on one side of the leather strap, and a second set to match on the other side. Now cut the same clay into thin strips (about as wide as they are thick). From this, cut two short segments. Press one end of one strip into an indentation, cross it over the thick strap, and press the other end into the indentation on the other side (not the one opposite, the other one). Repeat with the other segment, to make the x. Pretty convincing, right? If you have a decorative finding, you can press it into the leather to make a fancy

pattern... you know, like leather things sometimes have! Sometimes leather objects are held together with rivets or special leather nails.

A headpin with an antiqued finish looks best. Use needle nose tweezers to get them into position, then just press them in.

are so small that they stay in just fine. Ok, how about a few more leather straps, just for the look of it!

.. they can be the loops that you would string this pendant through if you want to make it into a necklace.

4 pattern... you know, like leather things sometimes have! Sometimes leather objects are held together with rivets or special leather nails. To mimic those, use wire cutters to snip the head and just a small bit of the pin from a flatheaded headpin. A headpin with an antiqued finish looks best. Use needle nose tweezers to get them into position, then just press them in. If you are worried that they will get loose and fall out after baking, you can use a dab of glue to help them stay put, but usually they are so small that they stay in just fine. Ok, how about a few more leather straps, just for the look of it! and we can make them functional while weʼre at it... they can be the loops that you would string this pendant through if you want to make it into a necklace. Cut two more strips from the lighter leather-colored clay, a little narrower, and a little shorter than the other strap. Press them on the backside of the pendant, one on each side, then lay a tool with a smooth metal handle on top of the straps (a needle tool handle or something similar works great for this!). Loop the straps over

the handle, trim off any excess length, then press them onto the front of the pendant. With a needle tool, add the stitches to the edges.

Leather always seems to look better with some bright red or blue fabric draped nearby... I donʼt know why... maybe itʼs a cowboy thing. Whatever.

Gather the clay in your fingertips, pleating it back and forth to make wrinkles.

5 the handle, trim off any excess length, then press them onto the front of the pendant. With a needle tool, add the stitches to the edges. Once that is done you can carefully pull the tool out (those loops will stay open, donʼt worry). You can twist the tool a little to help it come out more easily. Leather always seems to look better with some bright red or blue fabric draped nearby... I donʼt know why... maybe itʼs a cowboy thing. Whatever. So to make a draped fabric out of clay, first run a small bit through the clay-conditioning machine set to a thin setting a little past the halfway mark should do it. Gather the clay in your fingertips, pleating it back and forth to make wrinkles. Press the top end together and bend it over, so that you can press the bent end against the leather clay, on top of the middle strap, which will make it look like the clay fabric is tucked behind the strap. If you want, you can use your needle tool again to make some stitches along the edge of the fabric. I also added a thin strip of the same red clay on the backside of the pendant. I just thought it looked good back there. If you want those stitches on the fabric to really stand out, add a swipe of mica powder (I used black) over the stitches to fill them. Then use a piece of clear tape to take the excess off the surface of the clay. Just press the tape onto the clay

and then gently peel it off and the powder will come off with it. Nifty trick, huh? So now that everything is done, itʼs time to bake your creation to harden it.

6 and then gently peel it off and the powder will come off with it. Nifty trick, huh? So now that everything is done, itʼs time to bake your creation to harden it. Polymer clay needs heat to fuse and form a durable, flexible finished piece. Set your oven to 275ºF (130ºC) and preheat for about 20 minutes to make sure the oven is at the proper temperature. Any gas or electric oven works great. Convection ovens are wonderful. Donʼt use a microwave oven. You should use an oven thermometer to keep an eye on it accurately. Place your piece on a piece of clean, stiff paper and bake for at least 45 minutes. Use adequate ventilation. If youʼre using a home oven, you may want to bake inside an oven roasting bag to trap any fumes and keep them contained. Once time is up, turn off the oven and let it cool completely. You can string this pendant on a heavy twine cord or a leather strip to make a fun necklace. resources Hey! You can find the tools, findings, mica powder and headpins used in this project at my online store. Check it out:

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