Faux Leather Crafts: Lightning Bolt Brooch Tutorial

This week I'm sharing four tutorials for making stuff using synthetic (vegan) leather.

First up, sewing a bold lightning bolt brooch:

This brooch would look particularly fab pinned to a black coat or sweater, and would make a fun gift for a Harry Potter fan.

Synthetic leather looks great and is really easy to cut and sew... but if you don't have any faux leather, don't worry! You can use felt for making this lightning bolt brooch instead! The template sheet also includes star templates which you could use to make star brooches (these would look awesome cut from metallic faux leather or glitter felt).

This tutorial originally appeared on the Village Haberdashery's blog and was created using synthetic leather and other craft supplies from their shop.

You will need:

- The lightning bolt template (follow the link to view and download the PDF)
- Some synthetic leather
- Coordinating felt
- Matching sewing threads
- A brooch clasp
- A sewing needle
- Sewing scissors
- An air-erasable fabric marker pen or an ordinary felt tip pen

To make a lightning bolt brooch:

Use the template provided to cut out the bolt shape from yellow or metallic leather. Turn the template over and place it on the back of the leather, draw around it with a pen then cut it out with sewing scissors. Then place the bolt on a backing piece of contrasting leather.

Use whip stitch and matching sewing thread to sew the bolt to the backing leather.

Cut out the bolt, leaving a border framing the shape.

Use the shape you’ve just cut out as a template to cut a matching piece of felt. Turn the felt shape over and add a brooch clasp. Sew the clasp in place securely with a double thickness of matching sewing thread.

 

Place the front and back of the brooch together and sew the edges together with blanket stitch and matching sewing thread.

UPDATE: for more faux leather goodness, why not make a star headband, a geometric necklace, or a mini covered notebook.


This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many brooches as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a couple of photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to this page on my blog, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial / share my templates on your site. Thanks!

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