How to Make Leather Hoop Earrings

How to Make Leather Hoop Earrings

Leather hoop earrings are perhaps the easiest leather earrings to make, as you’ll only need a small piece of leather, two hollow leather punches and a rubber mallet. Crafting these earrings only takes a couple of minutes and can be easily decorated if required. Below is a list of tools and materials that you’ll need.  

Tools Required:

  • Hollow Leather Punches (2:1 size ratio)
  • Rubber Mallet
  • Pliers (optional)

Materials Required:

  • Small piece of leather

1. Create a Round Leather Piece Using a Large Puncher

The first thing you’ll need to do is create a round leather shape from any piece of leather. This is best achieved by using a larger hollow leather puncher. For this, we recommend a size of at least 1 inch. Too small, and you’ll have a harder time creating the smaller hole in the next step.

Simply place the hollow leather puncher on top of the leather piece and use a rubber mallet (or any other mallet) to punch out the round shape. Remember to hold the puncher between your index finger and thumb, making enough room for the rubber head of the mallet to make contact with the top side of the puncher. 

You’ll need a stable surface for this, so it’s best to do this on a durable workbench or at the ledge of a table, just above the table leg. Use hard knocks and avoid whacking multiple times.

2. Punch a Smaller Hole Into the Round Leather Piece

Next, use another hollow leather punch that is about half the size of the round piece of leather. You’re able to use any size, but keeping a 2:1 ratio yields the best results. 

Offset the position of the smaller leather puncher towards the bottom, leaving a narrow gap. The earring hook will be attached to the narrower top part later on, so keep the size in mind for the later step. 

Similar to the first step, use your rubber mallet to punch the smaller hole into the round piece of leather. This will create the hoop shape.

3. Create a Ring Out of a Spare Fitting

Next, create a small ring that goes around the narrow part of the hoop earring and the earring fitting. Using a ring in between the earring and the fitting is important, as it allows the hoop earring to dangle when wearing it. 

There are several materials and ways to create the leather ring. In this example, we use a spare earring fitting. You can simply use pliers to remove parts of the fitting and bend it into a ring. You may also use pieces of a spring for this or any type of long metal that you can bend. 

4. Attach the Earring fitting to the Hoop Earring

Before you start attaching the leather hoop earring to the ring and fitting, make sure that the leather grain is front-facing. The flesh of the leather should be backward-facing.

Use pliers to bend the metal ring around the top part of the leather hoop. Then, attach the metal ring around the earring fitting. Remember to ensure that the grain of the leather is front-facing. Now repeat all steps again to create the second hoop earring. 

That’s it! You’ve just created a pair of leather hoop earrings in just 4 simple steps. Don’t be afraid to customize them or play around with different sizes, colors and types of leather.


About Gerrit

Co-Founder, Researcher & Writer At Leatherskill

I’m a leather enthusiast who spends most of his free time crafting, researching, and writing about the many facets of this versatile material. Thanks for reading!