Craft + Process: DIY Leather Hooks + Pulls
No advanced knife skills necessary
With a pliable piece of leather and brass screws readily available at any local hardware store, these hooks and pulls are simple to create, and you can tailor each piece to fit your own needs—no advanced knife skills necessary.
As with all of our designs, these materials were selected because of their ability to grow more beautiful with age and use. In high traffic areas like the kitchen and bathroom, they will pick up a beautiful patina.
This project can be done in so many different ways and we encourage you to have fun with it. We’ve provided a template for three sizes (which is editable in Photoshop if you have it), but you might need or want to adjust them to fit your own style or space. The most important thing is that the holes fit the placement on your cabinets, so be sure to measure and test with a paper template before cutting the leather. You should choose a leather that’s about 4-5 oz., but otherwise it’s up to you. Here we’ve used an assortment of leathers, including a nude vegetable-tanned leather that will soften and darken over time. Scraps work well for this project and can be found online or at hobby stores. To attach them we’ve chosen brass slotted flat head machine screws, which we polished to a shine with Nevr-Dull, but you may prefer to leave the patina or use another metal or style. Again, make sure that the screws you pick are the right size for the holes in your cabinets.
Materials:
template (download)
4-5 oz. leather
machine screws and corresponding washers and nuts
exacto or sharp pocket knife
leather hole punch
cutting mat and ruler
Steps:
1. Create a template for the pull you’d like to make, using our template ideas or by drawing your own. Cut it out and make sure it works for your space before proceeding.
2. Place the template over the leather. Using the ruler to guide you, score the leather several times along each side of the template with the knife until cut all the way through.
3. With the template placed over the leather, punch a hole large enough for your screws in each end of the strip.
4. Choose the configuration you like and mount your pulls. We’ve provided several examples, but feel free to play around with the leather. When you’ve decided, insert each screw through the leather pull and cabinet door, and secure with a washer and nut.
The dark brown leather corresponds to template 1, the nude vegetable-tanned to template 2, and the light brown to template 3. Any of the templates can be used to make vertical, horizontal, or looped pulls in several different variations.
Template 3 is also large enough to make a loop to hang towels in the kitchen or bathroom. If you want to do that, you’ll need to use a wood screw and a drywall anchor if you have drywall. We hope you’ll be creative and find even more uses for
