How to Make Leather Buttons

Buttons are the finishing touch to a variety of clothing items and accessories such as handbags. While buttons are widely available at sewing stores, some of them can get a bit expensive, especially ones made of leather. A more economical solution is to simply purchase the leather material and make your own leather buttons using button covers. This allows you to create buttons in any color leather that you like instead of relying on the commercially available ones.

Go to a sewing or craft store and purchase leather in the desired color and pattern that you want for your buttons. You will need approximately 3 square inches of leather for each button that you are making.

Lay the leather out on a table so that the leather side is facing downward. Locate the button template from the button cover package, which looks like a flat, plastic circle. Place the circle onto the leather and trace around it with the fabric pencil. Create a circle for each button you are making.

Cut out each circle using a pair of sharp scissors. You may need to use a pair of upholstery scissors depending on the thickness of the leather.

Place a leather circle face down on the table and set a button face down on top of it. Gather up the sides of the leather fabric around the button as neatly as possible and hold them in place with your fingers. Lift the button up and look at the front to make sure that there are no folds or creases on it.

Set the wrapped button inside the button cover mold, provided in the button cover packaging. The mold is a plastic cylinder that is approximately 1/2 inch tall. Push the leather and button all the way to the bottom of the mold firmly, but gently.

Locate the button cover back, which is a flat, circular piece of metal. Place the button cover back inside the top of the button cover mold and push down firmly until it snaps into place on the button.

Remove the leather button from the mold and sew onto the desired object.