Leather Lace Braiding Techniques

Make a leather belt, key chain or bracelet by following specific braiding techniques that create different designs. Use leather laces, which come in different widths and colors to make multicolored leather accessories with a five-lace "herringbone" design, a round rope-like leather bracelet or a leather bracelet that has no loose ends.

Create a wider braided leather bracelet or key chain by using more than just three laces. Connect the ends of four, six or eight laces with a crimp end, or by tying them together with an overhand knot. Arrange the laces in front of you in two equal groups. Take the outermost lace on one side and bring it over to the middle, next to the innermost lace of the other group. Keep going back and forth between groups, bringing the outermost lace over to the middle to complete the braid.

Make a rope-like braid using a simple homemade loom. Cut a 3-inch-wide circle out of cardboard and poke a hole through the middle. Cut eight, evenly spaced, 1/2-inch-long slits into the edge of the circle. Tie the ends of seven leather laces together with an overhand knot and stick the knot through the hole to hold it in place. Put each lace through a slit, with one slit left empty. Create the braid by taking the leather lace three slits away from the empty slit and putting it into the empty slit. Bring the lace three slits away from the new empty slit over and insert it into the empty slit. Keep repeating this process to finish the braid.

Create a braided leather bracelet without tying the laces at the ends. Measure and cut a strip of leather 10 inches long and 1 inch wide. Cut slits down the length of the strip, evenly spaced, but begin and end the slits about 1 1/2 inches away from the ends of the strip. Braid the three laces by crossing each one once. The laces on either end of the strip will have a braid formation while the middle of the strip is loose. Bring the bottom of the strip through the middle of the strip, between the first and second lace, so the bottom of the strip is now facing down. Continue with three more crosses of the laces to form a braid and bring the bottom of the strip through the second and third laces on the right of the strip. Repeat until the whole strip has been braided.

Group five laces together and hold them together at the ends with a long, flat crimp end. Bring the third lace from the left under both the first and second laces, so it ends up on the far left and the first and second laces cross over to the middle. Bring the fourth lace from the left through the first and second laces and cross the first lace with the fifth lace from the left. Bring the lace in the middle, which is now on the far left, over laces four and five and under laces one and two. Continue with this process until your braid is finished.