The right closures can be the perfect finishing detail for a handmade garment, and we love a chance to create ones that are just as unique as the project itself! Come along and transform leather scraps and offcuts into durable toggles, ready for your next cloak, cape, or coat project (or, anywhere else you can imagine!).
What is a toggle?
A toggle is a unique type of closure or fastener that is generally comprised of a cylindrical shaft, attached to a project by fairly long cords. It acts like a large button, closing a garment or accessory by inserting into a large buttonhole, thread chain, or loop. They're just one type of closure that works well for projects like capes and cloaks, but can lend a very adventurous, classic feel to a garment. While often made from materials like wood and plastic, we love any opportunity for a "trash to treasure" transformation - and so, being able to turn small leather bits from upcycles and leftovers into useful closures feels a bit like magic.
What kinds of leather can I use to create toggles?
Before we start creating our toggles, let's chat a bit about materials. The ideal leather for this project will have a bit of body to it, without being so thick that rolling and punching it becomes too difficult. For example, lots of garment leather will be too thin without altering the technique some, but vegetable-tanned leathers ("veg-tan") will probably end up too thick. We suggest mid-weight leathers in the 3-6 oz range as a good balance.
What are some good sources for upcycled leathers?
The best options for upcycled leather for this project will include purses and wallets made from mid-weight leathers. You may find lighter belts and shoes that will be suitable, though many of these will be too stiff.
How to make leather toggles step-by-step
To start, you'll need to gather some simple materials and tools.
- Leather scraps
- Paper + writing utensils, for making and transferring your toggle pattern
- Good-quality scissors or a craft knife (not pictured)
- Leather punch (I'm using handheld pliers, but you could use hammer or press punches instead)
- Optional "helpers" - scrap felt or cardstock, yarn needle, pliers, clips or clamps, strong glue
Step 1: Create your pattern
Our basic pattern for the toggles will look something like this - an inverted triangle, with two narrow, long rectangles coming from the base. You can draw this out on paper beforehand, to be able to replicate multiple toggles in the same shape and size, or if you're feeling a bit more bold, just "wing" it with your leather.
Your ideal pattern will vary based on the specific leather you are using, your desired size, and more - here are some general guidelines to helping you sketch it out.
The width at the top of the triangle will determine your toggle's finished width. Depending on your use case, this could really be any size, but we recommend sticking between 1"-3" (2.5-7.5cm) for most situations. This will depend some on the sturdiness of your materials as well - wider toggles will be more prone to buckling with use.
The height of the triangle portion of your pattern will determine how thick your toggle is - a longer triangle will make a thicker toggle. If your leather is especially thick, you'll likely want to err on the shorter side, so there are fewer layers to punch through and your toggle doesn't become prohibitively thick. For thinner leather, more layers add more sturdiness, so you may want to opt for a longer length.
Finally, the "tails" will be used to thread through the toggle, and sew the toggle to your project. These can be trimmed, and therefore it's better to keep them a little longer to start. We recommend keeping them at least 3" (7.5cm) at this stage.
Optionally, you can choose to refine your pattern a bit now, or just trim your leather piece after cutting it out - whichever you prefer. Most toggles will benefit from trimming your triangle corners in a bit of a rounded shape, and the tails will need to be tapered for threading through the punched holes.
If you'd like to test out your shape a bit, cardstock or felt can be a helpful way to do so, keeping in mind the difference in thickness compared to your leather.
Step 2: Cutting your leather
Once you have your pattern created, it's time to transfer it to your leather and cut it out. You'll want a good pairs of shears to use for this, as many craft scissors won't be sharp enough for leather. If your scissors aren't up to the task, a craft knife can be a good alternative.
Simply lay your pattern on your leather scraps, and trace around it. I find pencils and ballpoint pens work quite well, even if they just indent the leather. Many washable markers won't be suitable, as they won't mark well on the water-resistant leather. You can easily trim just inside your line to cut away your markings, so there's no need to be too precious.
Step 3: Roll your toggle
Once your leather is cut, it's time to start forming our toggles. To do so, begin rolling the triangle top portion from its wide end, down towards the tails. Do this as tightly as you can, as this is what will give your toggle its structure (and a croissant-like appearance...yum!)
Step 4: Punch holes + thread tails
To keep our toggle in shape, we will be punching holes through all the layers of the rolled leather, and threading the tails through them. Ideally, your hole should be big enough to allow for the tapered end of the tail to thread into, but small enough to hug the wide end of the tail tightly. This is what will keep our toggle together. I used the biggest punch on my handheld pliers, which is just shy of 1/4" (6mm).
Keeping your leather rolled tightly, (very carefully!) use your leather punch to create a hole through the thickness of the roll, right at the base of one of your tails. (It may be helpful to keep your roll together with a strong clip or clamp, especially if you are using a hammer punch.) If some pieces are being a little stubborn about coming out, a yarn needle can help.
Then, take one of your tails and thread it through the hole, pulling it snugly right up to the base. Again, a yarn needle can be helpful here, to keep your holes aligned and help the tail start through the holes. The base end of the tail should be snug inside the hole.
Repeat the hole-punch and threading process for the other side, et voila - your toggle is essentially complete!
Step 5: Refine your toggle shape
While you can absolutely leave off here for a functional toggle, you'll likely want to refine the shape of your toggle a bit further, especially if you didn't round off the corner of your patterns before. This should be fairly easy to do with your scissors or craft knife, shaping as desired.
This method does create a somewhat rustic looking toggle, but due to the triangle shape, you shouldn't have any odd corners sticking out. If you do, or if you'd just like your toggle secured a bit further, you could choose to use strong glue, like contact cement, in places you feel the need to.
Now, time to get creative making your own toggles!
This basic method leaves you all sorts of room to play with creating toggles all your own - try different lengths, shapes, and leather weights for some different variety. Here, you can see the effect of shortening the triangle, and leaving the corners sharp (left) or rounding them off more (right).
Criss-cross your tails when threading them for a slightly different look.
You can even play with more squared-off toggles, without tapered ends, by making the top rectangular.
If your leather scraps are too small to make the originally-shaped pattern, you can simply roll up a rectangle, or squared-off triangle; punch holes; and thread them with a skinny leather scrap instead of attached tails.
How do I attach the finished toggles to my project?
Once you've finished your toggles, they are ready to add a one-of-a-kind finish to your garments. They can be attached three ways.
Either include the tails within the seam, much like you would a button loop, or topstitch them on, covering the loose ends with a shaped leather patch, trim, or even an embroidered patch or appliqué, like those in the Cascades Cloak. Add a leather loop, thread chain, or fabric loop on the opposite side to be closed, or a large buttonhole.
Finally, for applications where they won't be seen, you can simply sew the bases of the tails onto your garment, sewing them as securely and neatly as possible. Or, for a really unique option, use them to make a reversible, interchangeable, double-sided closure, like I did for this Overland Cloak!
Are there any other materials that can be used to make toggles with this method?
While our main trials with this technique have been with leather so far, we think there is lots of room for experimenting with other materials, especially for those looking for a vegan option or looking to use materials they have on hand. For a functional, weight bearing toggle, you'll need something with sufficient stiffness not to buckle when rolled; for more decorative toggles, such as pocket closures or Satchel flaps, there is a little more room to play. We've considered trying out options like...
- heavily felted wool
- thick polyester coatings
- stiffened canvas
- pliable tree bark (using a drill to create holes instead of a punch, if needed)
- thinner materials with a resin coating as an outer "shell" (this opens up the widest possibilities!)
If you end up doing any experimenting with these techniques and materials, or others, we'd love to see what you make! We'll certainly continue sharing any of our experiments in the Twig + Tale Treehouse community, and would love for you to do the same.
For more closure inspiration for your next cloak, cape, or coat project, come check out this round-up of some of the unique DIY and purchased buttons, clasps, frogs and more we've seen here at Twig + Tale!
