The construction of a clutch isn’t very complicated (especially the way I make them). Simple shapes need fabulous small details to make them special. For this brown leather clutch, I added a leather horse bridle tab that is attached with an antique mother of pearl shirt stud. By adding 2 simple gold stripes down the center, the whole bag becomes a unique, one of a kind handbag.
What’s a vacation without bringing along a crafty project? I’m away from my studio for 2 weeks which is a tad bit long for my hands to go unused. I had some foresight to pack a small package of leather, dyes, cutting tools & a bit of hardware to play with while I’m away. These braided, hand dyed & oiled leather bracelets are the result. I have all the pieces waiting to be put together when I get home because I realized that I first wanted to brand them with my logo before sewing on the closure. I love the feeling of the washed out colors & also of just the natural leather. Can’t wait to share them!
Now……Back to the beach!
xo
This was so much fun because the “canvas” is so small & you’re done before you can ever think of getting board. The antique mother of pearl shirt stud closure finishes off this very simple bracelet. It looks especially nice stacked next to some real silver bracelets.
I love the broken in quality of this leather. The bracelet is so light you hardly feel it when your wearing it. It’s the quiet, organic shape that makes it different from what I normally make. The simple closure is an antique shirt stud.
After painting the tips if so many leather handles & clutch tabs I thought it was time to apply the same concept to the leather bracelet. To make it more interesting, I also added a small contrast embroidered cross stitch. I’ve been wearing a silver tipped one with a red “X” amongst other contrasting wraps on my wrist. Snazzy! The closures are the antique shirt studs of course.
Yes folks, the Muff is back! I had one growing up in the north east. It was the white rabbit fur type & we got to use them when we’d head into New York City at Christmas time. My friend came over last week with a challenge. She has been holding onto 2 sleeves from an old fur coat & was convinced that we could create a muff out of them. After ripping out the lining & cutting the cuff seam a tad wider we were able to literally fold it inside itself & the muff was born! I cut a thin piece of leather cording to loop through it & secured it with an antique shirt stud so she could wear it around her neck. She is singlehandedly committed to bringing the trend back & so far she’s told me that we have 3 more customers. Now we just need some old fur coats……
I’m not so sure the trend is actually back in the true fashion sense, but it should be!
Here is a wool clutch bag that I converted into a bike bag. The straps are held on by my favorite antique shirt studs & can be left on the handlebars for easy attachment. I added 2 leather straps with d-rings to the bag. When removed, you can carry the bag folded in half & you don’t even see the hardware, just a cute accessory to ride into town with.
I have completely fallen in love with the antique shirt studs. It has become an obsession of sorts. I am all over the internet looking for secret stashes as I keep thinking of so many things I can make with them! After researching them, I’m finding that many of the ones I have could be way over 100 years old. A lot of them are gold plated & were manufactured between the 1880′s & 1930′s by an American jewelry company called Krementz. I’m making headway with bracelets but can’t wait to apply it to bags in some way.
(There is always the prerequisite out of focus shot that I attempt to take with my left hand while standing in front of a mirror in low light…. I will eventually learn an easier way- but at least you get the idea)
