DIY Faux Leather Mickey Mouse Earrings
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Learn how to cut faux leather with your Silhouette machine and make these Faux Leather Mickey Mouse Earrings!
One thing I’ve always wanted to try was cutting faux leather for earrings.
I thought it was pretty straight forward: grab some faux leather from the store, use the recommended cut settings in the Silhouette software, and show off new earrings.
But yea….that’s actually not how it happened. These Mickey Mouse faux leather earrings were a tad more complicated than that.
Whatever you do, DO NOT USE THE SILHOUETTE STUDIO’S RECOMMENDED CUT SETTINGS FOR FAUX LEATHER.
The first time I tried to make these earrings I had to hit cut 7 different times.
SEVEN.
Even then it wasn’t a clean cut and there were little faux leather “hairs” all over the place.
So I had to figure out a better way to cut faux leather with my machine. Because I was definitely not happy with the first attempt.
Tips for Cutting Faux Leather with a Silhouette Machine
So, the recommended blade settings are terrible. Honestly awful. So what’s a crafter to do?
Recommended materials for cutting faux leather:
- Strong Grip Cutting Mat
- Deep Cut Blade
- Faux Leather Material (I love the Cricut brand!)
Recommended cut settings for faux leather:
- BLADE: 10
- FORCE: 22
- SPEED: 1
- PASSES: 2
How do you load faux leather on your cutting mat?
You will need to have a Strong Grip mat for this project! Otherwise the faux leather will slide on the mat and you’ll ruin your entire piece.
If your faux leather still feels like it’s not totally secure then you can use painters tape to secure it to the mat before you load it into your machine.
Can you save the cut settings for later projects in the Silhouette software?
YES! Go to SEND > MATERIAL > ADD NEW MATERIAL TYPE and then put in the above cut settings.
Make sure to rename the NEW MATERIAL TYPE to FAUX LEATHER before you hit save and you’ll be able to quickly pull up the settings for your next faux leather project!
What can you do if the cut doesn’t come out clean (ie: little “hairs” everywhere)?
Cricut faux leather typically is fuzzy on the back and you may have a few random “hairs” that happen once you cut your material.
I typically just take scissors and cut them off. But know that the hairs are pretty typical with this type of faux leather.
The right cut setting is what is going to give you the cleanest look. So play around with the cut settings until your earrings looks perfect to you.
The recommended cut settings in this post are a starting point, but don’t be afraid to tweak them if need be!
Do the size of the earrings matter?
I’ve found that earrings around 2 inches tall are the best size. Anything smaller is a pain in the butt to weed and you can’t see the details in the design if they’re too small.
But it really depends on the person who is wearing them. Try a few different sizes to see what works best for you!
Which is easier to cut, leather remnants or faux leather?
DO NOT use leather remnants from Hobby Lobby. They’re too thick to cut with the Cameo 3.
If you need something ASAP you can use faux leather ribbon from Hobby Lobby. I still think Cricut‘s Leather is the best though.
These Mickey Mouse faux leather earrings are so fun and easy to make! And they would pair so well with this fun retro Mickey t-shirt idea and these 3D printed Disney ears too!
These faux leather earrings are:
- simple,
- lightweight, and
- quick to make.
Faux Leather Mickey Mouse Earrings
Learn how to cut faux leather with your Silhouette machine!
Materials
- Faux Leather Material
- Earring Fishhooks
Tools
- Silhouette Cameo
- Earring Pliers
Instructions
- Cut out the designs with your cutting machine.
- Weed the design and then use a small sewing needle (or a weeding tool) to make a small hole at the top of the triangle.
- Using your pliers, attach the fishhooks to your Mickey Mouse earrings.
Notes
RECOMMENDED CUT SETTING FOR FAUX LEATHER:
- BLADE: 10
- SPEED: 1
- FORCE: 22
- PASSES: 2
THE SIZE OF THE EARRINGS MATTER
I've found that earrings around 2 inches tall are the best size. Anything smaller is a pain in the butt to weed and you can't see the details in the design if they're too small.
LEATHER REMNANTS VS FAUX LEATHER SHEETS
DO NOT use leather remnants from Hobby Lobby. They're too thick to cut with the Cameo 3. If you need something ASAP you can use faux leather ribbon from Hobby Lobby. I still think Cricut's Leather is the best though.
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I absolutely LOVE these Mickey Earrings!!! Is there a cut file for these. I have a Silhouette
Thank you Lisa! Unfortunately I can’t offer a cut file because the Mickey ears are someone else’s work. I’m a part of the Disney SVG group on Facebook and you can find it there if you’d like to use it!
Love this so much. What is the exact name of the Facebook group? Would love to join.
The group is “Be our guest” Disney Silhouette cameo FILES AND ALBUMS ONLY”. But I believe they made the group secret recently and I don’t think they’re taking new members. But check back periodically because it really is a great group and hopefully they’ll open it up to people again!