Laser Cut Leather Fitbit Cuff #2- Charge 1&2

This is the second style I have drafted up for you to create a new fitbit band if yours has broken. This is more of a cuff style band...

Have a fit bit Charge?
Did the band break?
Did you just threw the bits and pieces into a catch-all drawer somewhere...alongside of the other lost and forgotten things that will 'definitely get fixed one day'....Not judging you but secretly I am.

Do you have access to a laser? If you said yes then go get that fitbit mess and hop on a laser, we are about to put that expensive gadget back to good use.

You will need A
laser
flexible leather
Lacing
Calipers

Step 1: Step 1: Start Measureing

I took the calipers and started measuring everything. I took measurements of the gadget with the silicone band pieces on and naked with no other pieces on the hard plastic center....I had never made one of these before so I did make a few edits before landing on the design I have. Might be a good idea to get some extra leather for edits. I started to slowly draft a wrap around design in Adobe Illustrator using the measurements I took. The file type I have for you is AI and a SVG. You can use this file and edit as you need.

Step 2: Cut It Out! (o_0)

I am not sure what laser you are using but I
used a ULS. The preset suggested powers worked great. Just make sure that you enter the median thickness for the leather so you don't over cook the leather. You may need to really watch the material is it cuts out. Some processed leathers will curl and char. You may need to adjust power or speed to combat this. I threw some funky gothic art on the band just so there was something more interesting about it.

Step 3: Stitch It In!

I took a leather needle and waxed leather ribbon (flat) and began stitching up my band with the hard plastic fitbit inside. I sucked at the stitching part but lucky for me you couldn't see it. Here is a video on how to hand stitch correctly.

Step 4: You Are Pretty Much Finished

I found some watered down acrylic paint that I splashed around the outside of the band and then cleaned off. It made the leather wet which makes it easy to shape. You can use a blow dry or...harness the power of the sun and just put your piece outside in a safe area to dry out if you want to wet it to shape it. Once the leather is dry it will harden up and keep the shape pretty well.

Attached is my AI file as well as a SVG to get you started...you can draft and edit pretty easily from there. I hope this helps and go get those steps!!