Scrap Leather Ring Take 2 (Part 2)

Alright, we’re nearly finished with this ring.  Now all we have left to do is lace it up.

Begin by cutting a 10 in piece of hemp.  Now, punch holes into the portion of your leather that we cut extra to give us enough for a seam.  Now, form the ring with the “out” side toward the center of the ring (we’ll fold the “out” around to the front before we finish).  Line up the holes, and lace through the holes one way, then double back to make the seam look finished.  Knot it.

Now comes the difficult part.  You need to cut two 20 in lengths of hemp (this will give you tons extra, but will make it easier to work with).  Thread one of the lengths through a set of holes just to the right of center (from the wrong side of the leather and out toward the right side).  Now do the same on the left side of center.  (See above, the hemp will end up holding the display piece into the ring.)

Place your display object over your seam and under the two pieces of hemp.  As mentioned earlier, this will hold your display piece in place.  At this point I will give you slightly different instructions than I used to make my own ring (above).

Cross both ends of the hemp and lace them through the wrong side of the next holes and out through the right side (like lacing your shoes).  This should form an “X” on the outside of the leather and draw the edges of your ring around the piece.  Continue this process about half-way around to the “bottom” of the ring.  (The ring above was made using a different, deficient lacing pattern.)

Now that you are half done with one side, repeat on the other side.  Be certain to keep your piece centered–it makes life easier.  With this side, you can continue all the way to the “bottom” of the ring.  Lace the side you began on until it meets up with your second lacing.

Now, tie off all four strands to one another.  There may be a better way to do this, but what I used were two standard square knot.  Be creative, but keep in mind that if you intend to use your hand while wearing the ring, the knots have to be relatively flat so as not to impede your finger movements.

WOW!  That was a very long explanation.  Tell me what variations you come up with!!!