Discover our 5 tutorials for dressing your leather goods creations with handbag chains. Bag chain and leather: the perfect mix for a shoulder strap, bag edge, handbag handles...
SHORTEN A HANDBAG CHAIN
All the links of our bag chains and chain by the metre are unsolded, so you can very easily shorten your chains, and this also allows you to make various creations embellished with chains. On this page, you will find 5 tutorial ideas for mixing chain and leather.
1. LEATHER AND CHAIN BAG STRAP - LEATHER & CHAIN BAG HANDLE
Using wire cutters, cut a few centimetres off the bag chain (all our bag chains are 120 cm long; adjust it to your size, taking into account the remaining 23 cm of the leather strap). Be careful to cut it in the middle so that one end is not longer than the other.
Fold each end of the short leather strap by 3.5 cm and secure the D-ring.
With a round punch or compound pliers, make a 3 mm hole (through both layers of the strap) 2 cm from the edge.
Install the T3 double cap rivet with the correct setting tool and the method of your choice: pliers, press, or striking handle.
All that remains is to open the links at each end of the bag chain and close them back onto each D-ring.
Deco Cuir Tip: To give a "more finished" look to the leather strap, we recommend treating the edges with a Deco Cuir edge finish (colour of your choice).
Prepare the edges with light sanding (500 to 1000 grit)
Apply the dye to the leather edge (using the tool of your choice: roller pen, cotton swab, awl...).
Thread the 5 mm wide flat lace through each link of the bag chain. Be aware that if the bag chain is too long for you (120 cm), you should shorten it before threading the lace (see our video "Removing links from a bag chain").
At each end of the chain, fold the lace back on itself.
With a round punch or compound pliers, make a 2 mm hole (through both layers of the lace).
Install the T1 double cap rivet with the correct setting tool and the method of your choice: pliers, press, or striking handle.
To learn how to install single or double cap rivets, we invite you to watch our video: "3 methods for installing a rivet" :
On each side of the short strap and 1.5 cm from the edge, draw a 1.5 x 1 cm square with a silver pencil.
Cut out this square with a utility knife.
Thread the bag chain through the short leather strap. To reduce the length of the chain or to thread the chain more easily through the hole (if the snap hooks do not fit), we recommend opening one link with 2 flat-nose pliers.
Deco Cuir Tip: To give a "more finished" look to the leather strap, we recommend treating the edges with a Deco Cuir edge finish (colour of your choice).
Prepare the edges with light sanding (500 to 1000 grit)
Apply the dye to the leather edge (using the tool of your choice: roller pen, cotton swab, awl...).
Using a compass, draw a line 0.5 cm from the edge of your bag flap.
Then, strike the lacing chisel along the line.
All that remains is to lace your bag chain all around the flap. To start your lacing, we advise you to leave 1.5 - 2 cm of lace and then secure and glue it (with neoprene glue) into the lacing (see photo).
