I’m really excited about today’s project! If you know me at all, you know I love using leather in so many different ways, and I really love to mix and match materials that might not always be cohesive in everyone’s mind.
Leather and rhinestones? A perfect pair! I love the durability of the leather for these napkin cuffs — they fit the fall weather and transition into the winter holidays perfectly as well! The rhinestones are like idyllic snow: not muddy and melting and not -30 degrees…but sparkling white with the sun out and 32 degree temps. Can we agree on that? :)
For this project, you’ll need the Brother Rhinestone Kit to design and cut your rhinestone template for placement. Here are a few other things you will need.
SUPPLIES
- Brother ScanNCut Machine
- Leather (Great use of leather scraps!)
- Rhinestone Starter Kit
- Small metal rivets or durable thread
- Iron
1| Begin by prepping your leather for the cuffs. I like to use my standard mat with the glossier side of the leather facedown. If you are using a really glossy leather, the fabric support sheet does a great job holding it in place.
2| Background scan your leather and arrange the cuff rectangles into place. I made mine 4.5″ x 1.5″.
3| Using your deep cut blade, cut out the leather. The settings will really depend on the leather you are using, but I ended up using speed of 1, pressure of 8, and blade depth of 7-8.
4| After you’ve prepped your leather, we need to design our rhinestone template. If you haven’t activated your Rhinestone tools in ScanNCutCanvas, you will need to do so.
a. log in to your ScanNCutCanvas account. Click on your username link on the top right of the page.
b. enter the 16 digit Rhinestone activation code in the Expanded Functions settings and click activate.
The rhinestone tools will now be available for you!
5| Now we will create the rhinestone templates. You can see how I began with a simple image and ended with two different rhinestone layouts in this video here.
You can also download the star and tree templates for free here.
6| After you’ve determined the rhinestone layout, you can place rhinestones individually using the Insert a Rhinestone tool.
I always recommend zooming in to ensure correct spacing and placement of each rhinestone.
Save your template onto a USB stick.
7| Take out a Template sheet and place it yellow side down onto your standard mat.
Begin by doing a small test cut in one corner to determine the correct settings. You want to cut through the black flocking material, but not through the yellow backing. I recommend starting at the following settings — see how it cuts through your test shape and continue modifying until your desired cut is achieved.
Pressure: 0 // Speed: 1 // Blade Depth: 5-6
8| Retrive your saved template and cut it out. It will take a bit of time — as your ScanNCut will cut out an individual hole for each rhinestone.
9| Cut around the template, remove the black flocking from the backing.
10| Place the template inside your Rhinestone Starter Kit box on the piece of Backing board included — be sure to stick it to the glossier side of the Backing board.
11| Using your Positioning Brush, slowly move the rhinestones into each hole.
Some of the rhinestones may fall into place upside down. Use your Pick-Up Tool to flip individual rhinestones into correct position.
12| Cut out a piece of the Transfer Sheet that is large enough to cover your design. Carefully apply it sticky-side-down, onto the top of the rhinestones.
Slowly remove the Transfer Sheet, ensuring each rhinestone is in place.
13| Place rhinestone design onto your final material — in this case, our leather Napkin Cuffs.
14| Carefully press the rhinestones into place using an iron. Be sure not to iron back and forth, but instead apply direct pressure to each area of the design.
Peel back the Transfer Sheet — and continue these steps for each of the cuffs!
Here is a video of the process as well!
Pssssst! Next week I’ll be showing you how I created these place settings — I’ll also have the alphabet available for you to download! :)
xo
