Leather Pendant with Grommets (Tutorial)
by Rena Klingenberg. © 2003-Present Rena Klingenberg. All Rights Reserved
Leather pendants are worn by both guys and gals, and they’re fun to make with a variety of design elements.
In this project, I used tooled leather and a metal charm, but you may want to use different types of components.
The grommets really make a professional finishing touch on the pendant.
Supplies:
- A pendant size piece of leather.
I used leather from a bracelet blank – but you might use leather from a craft/hobby store, or from a belt, wristwatch strap, purse, etc.
My leather pendant is 35mm x 57mm (1.38″ x 2.24″). - 2 grommets.
I used #0 size, which is also 1/4″; or outer diameter 11.5mm, inside diameter 6mm.
However, you can use whatever grommet size you like.
You can find them in craft/hobby stores, sewing-supplies stores, and online with a search for “1/4″ grommets” or “#0 grommets”. - A charm, pendant, or other element to dangle from the bottom of the leather pendant.
I used a round metal charm from my stash, 26mm (1″) in diameter.
You can find similar metal charms on Etsy.com. - A cord or chain to hang your finished pendant onto.
I’m using an antiqued brass ball chain, 559mm (22″) length. - 2 Large jump rings.
I’m using 12mm heavy gauge, antiqued brass jump rings. - Ruler – for measuring your leather pendant and marking where you’ll punch holes in the leather.
- Scissors – for cutting your leather pendant shape.
- Leather hole-punch tool, with multiple hole sizes.
You can find one at hobby/craft stores, most bead/jewelry supply shops, and online with a search for “rotary leather punch tool”. - Grommet setting tool that you use with a hammer (often comes with a package of grommets).
Or you can use grommet pliers (which is easier and creates the best results – and is what I’m using – which also often comes with a package of grommets). You can find them in craft/hobby stores, sewing-supplies stores, and online with a search for “1/4 grommet pliers” or “#0 grommet pliers”. - Flat nose and chain nose pliers – for opening and closing your jump rings.
How to Make a
Leather Pendant with Grommets
In this project, I’m using this leather hole-punch tool:
. . . and this grommet pliers tool to crimp the grommets:
Choose a piece of leather you’d like to use for this pendant.
I’m going to cut my pendant from this leather bracelet blank (which I’ve previously cut into for other leather jewelry projects):
Turn your leather over, so the back side is facing up.
Use a pencil and ruler to measure and mark where you’ll cut out your pendant.
TIP: If the back of your leather is dark, use white chalk instead of a pencil, to mark where you’ll cut out your pendant:
Now use your scissors to cut out your leather pendant shape:
My cut out leather pendant shape looks like this:
The next step involves punching the two holes in your leather, and attaching the grommets into those holes.
On the back side of your leather pendant, use your pencil (or white chalk) and ruler to mark where you’ll punch the top and bottom of the pendant.
I made each of my marks 5mm from the edge of the leather pendant, and centered across the width:
Now before we go any farther . . .
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT:
Attaching grommets to leather has a slight learning curve to get the results you want.
FIRST: On a scrap piece of your leather, experiment with your leather hole-punching tool to find which hole size works best with your grommet size. You want the stem of the grommet to fit tightly through the punched hole.
SECOND: Practice with your grommet-setting tool on a scrap piece of the leather.
Keep practicing until you’re able to set and crimp the grommets into the holes with good results.
Now you’re ready to move on and attach the grommets to your actual leather pendant. 🙂
Here’s my practice piece of punching various hole sizes, and attaching grommets:
When you’ve finished practicing, and you know which size to use on your leather hole-punch tool, go ahead and punch the two marks on the back of your pendant:
After punching both holes, the front of my pendant looks like this:
Now get your two grommets ready:
We’ll attach one grommet to the leather at a time:
From the front side of your leather pendant, use your fingers to push the stem of the grommet into the hole, so that it looks like this from the top side:
From the back of the pendant, you should see the grommet stem sticking out like this:
Now it’s time to crimp the stem of the grommet with whatever tool you used for that when you practiced.
I’m using my grommet pliers, inserting the spike of the pliers jaw into the grommet stem:
. . . and then squeezing the plier handles until the grommet stem is crimped:
This is what the crimped grommet looks like from the back side of the pendant:
After both grommets have been crimped, the bottom of the leather pendant looks like this:
. . . and the front of the pendant looks like this:
Now it’s time to attach the metal charm and the chain to the pendant.
If you’re new to using jump rings, see my quick tip, How to Open and Close a Jump Ring.
Get your jump rings ready:
Use your flat nose and chain nose pliers to twist open both of your jump rings:
We’ll attach a jump ring to each end of the pendant:
Insert the jump rings:
Now at the top of your leather pendant, use your flat nose and chain nose pliers to twist the jump ring shut again.
At the bottom of the pendant, get ready to thread your metal charm onto the opened jump ring:
String the metal charm onto its jump ring.
Then use your flat nose and chain nose pliers to twist the jump ring shut again.
Your pendant is finished:
Now it’s time to add a chain or cord to your pendant.
I’m using this ball chain:
. . . and threading it through the jump ring at the top of the pendant.
Now your finished Leather Pendant with Grommets may look something like this:
