How to Make a Leather & Brass Desk Clock

I wanted to make a very simple/minimalist style clock for my desk and I though this leather and brass would be a great combination. It’s pretty amazing how easily the brass was to bend into shape and I can definitely see incorporating it into more projects in the future. I’m really happy with how the hand stitched leather and brass combination came out. It was a really fun project to design and make and I hope you enjoy!

(Affiliate Links):

· Brass rod - https://amzn.to/3hEI6SL

· Leather Circle Cutter - https://amzn.to/3kDcqNi

· Clock Mechanism - https://amzn.to/2OjWNOu

· Leather Weld Adhesive - https://amzn.to/2RyQXuF

· Variety Shape Punch Set - https://amzn.to/2Ry4pez

· Leather - https://districtleathersupply.com/

· Leather Rotary Cutter - https://amzn.to/2uTr1yd

For this project I started with the brass stand which I made out of a brass rod I found at the local hardware store.

I knew I wanted it to be approximately 5 inches wide and tall, so I made two marks 5 inches apart that will become the top two corners

I then mounted the rod in a vice with one of the marks right above the vice grips so the mark would be the pivot point for the bend

Then with the help of my dad holding the vice down on our makeshift workstation, I used a propane torch to heat the rod at the pivot point and then bent the rod to 90 degrees

After that, I simply flipped the rod around and repeated the same process at the other mark and then I had the top two corners established

To create the feet of the stand, I used the same process but instead bent the rod in the opposite direction so the feet extended back.

I also made these bends slightly over 90 degrees to keep the clock from falling forward.

Then I just used a cutting disc on my angle grinder to trim off the excess brass rod

One drawback to using the vice was it left some scratches on the stand, so I used a few of the buffing accessories with my Dremel to buff them out.

This wasn’t planned, but this also left a really nice brushed brass look that I ended up really liking.

As Bob Ross would say, this was definitely a happy accident

With the stand done, I moved onto the leather clock.

I knew the approximate shape I wanted the leather to be but not the exact measurements, so I started by tracing the stand and then sketching the leather design to work out the measurements

Once I was happy with the design I cut it out the template and made sure it looked good on the actual stand

Since I bent the stand by eye, it wasn’t precisely symmetrical, but since I drew the template referencing the actual stand, that wouldn’t matter as long as I kept the top and side orientations the same so I added an arrow on the top to help keep that straight

Next, I transferred the template onto some card stock to make it a little easier to draw the outline on the leather itself

To cut out the leather I used a combination of my rotary knife and an x-acto knife, but you could easily do the whole thing with just an x-acto

I knew it would be a little tricky to line up all the stitching lines perfectly, so I decided to use some mini spring clamps to position the leather on the stand while I drew each stitch line

Next, I used a set of inexpensive leather pricking irons to punch the stitching holes

To ensure the spacing between each hole stays consistent as I work my way down the line, I always make sure to place the pricking iron point furthest to the left in the last hole of the previous set of holes I punched

To punch the holes through the backside of the leather, I used the spring clamps again to hold it in position and then punched through both the front and back pieces using the holes I already punched as a reference

I wanted to add a stitching line in a circle to help represent a clock, so I found something that had the approximate circumference I needed and used that to draw a stitch line and then used my pricking irons again to punch the stitch holes

To add a little strength where the clock mechanism will be mounted, I cut out another circle that would be mounted to the back

To cut the hole for the clock arm to poke through I found a circle punch just the right size out of a set I have, but you could also do this by hand since the washer will cover any imperfections

To attach the extra circle to the back I used some Eco-Flo leather weld before punching the stitch holes

With all the stitching holes punched, it was time to actually start hand stitching the leather around the brass stand using two needles tied to opposite ends of the same thread

There are a lot of videos out there on how to stitch to get the best results, but what I’ve found is easiest is to just pick a sequence and then stick to that

For example, I always start using the right needle to stich from the back and then stitch the left needle from the front into the same hole but in front of the right needles thread.

If you continue this sequence, you’ll get a very nice-looking stitch pattern

For the clock to have a symmetrical look, I stitched the bottom flap too. And to weigh it down and give it a consistent look, I even stitched the leather around a small piece of brass rod

And then all that was left was to attach the clock mechanism – which I simply did by following the instructions that came with it.

And with that the clock was done!

Thanks so much for following along with this project! I’d love to know what you think. Leave a comment below and don’t forget to watch the video on my channel!

See you on the next project!