Leather Tray

I always wanted to mold leather into a tray. I had a piece of embossed leather and used an old 8" x 8" metal cake pan for the mold.

I cut flaps on the corners of the leather and failed to take pictures of that step. Here is a diagram of how I made the cuts.

I filled the sink with warm water enough to cover the leather and let it soak for a minute. I molded the leather onto the pan.

I used thin pieces of wood on the sides to uniformly clamp the leather to the pan. Since a bit of metal color came off on the leather, it is a good idea to spread plastic wrap over the pan before the leather is applied. I let this dry completely.

It worked very well. I put a leather finish on the leather. The plan was to glue the flaps and attach rivets, but I thought it would look better with a smooth leather strip around the outside.

The leather strip is molded just like the tray. This time I put plastic wrap on the cake pan, then placed the leather tray over it. I put plastic wrap over the leather tray and clamped the wet leather strip around that. I let this dry completely and cut the strip to fit the tray.

After gluing the flaps, I glued the strip of leather to the outside of the tray. I didn't have any type of clamps that would work on this strip, so I used clothes pins to clamp the top half of the leather strip. After it dried, I turned it over and glued the bottom half of the strip with the wood pieces and the big clamps. I put a leather finish overall and two coats of clear leather sealer. I used Titebond regular for the glue.

I still wasn't satisfied with this look. My new vision was to put fringe around the outside with turquoise rivets attached. I made a practice piece and cut the fringe with leather scissors.

I cut a 2 1/4" x 34" piece of leather. I want the rough side of the leather to show, so on the opposite side I measured 1" from the edge and drew a line. I cut the fringe to this line.

I wrapped the fringe around the tray, held it with clothes pins and cut it to fit. I marked where the rivets would go and attached them. 

I glued the fringe in 2 steps, first around the outside and clamped it with clothes pines. I let this dry before brushing glue on the inside and top of the tray and folding the leather over the top to the inside. I clamped this and let it dry.

I like this look. I called it the "Moccasin Tray". I might have skipped the smooth leather strip step, except that it probably gives it more stability.

It's certainly different from anything I've ever seen. Creating is about being unique. A little inspiration for your creations!

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