Hand Sewing Leather - Part Five

Okay, now that the holidays are over and I have left you hanging for over a month on how to finish hand sewing your project, I think that it is time to help you get finished with it. I apologize for the delay in getting it to this point. With that, I hope all of you had a great holiday season and that all is well with everyone’s family.

In looking back at the last post concerning the actual process of hand sewing a project instead of building your own lacing pony, I see that I left you without telling you how to form stitches. I hope that you were not left with your thread pulled halfway through the project and ready to begin the first stitch. I will do my best to wrap it up with this post.

Once you have pulled the thread through the first hole and have it as even as possible, it is time to put one of the needles through the next hole. Here lies the challenge for anyone who is stitching a leather project by hand – “How do you deal with all of that extra thread on each side?” The best answer is, “Very carefully.” Make sure that when pulling the needle through the hole that the trailing thread does not become tangled or knotted as you pull. Let me tell you, nothing is more fun than wasting time trying to untangle thread that has accidentally formed a bird’s nest.

The photos below show the first half of the first stitch after the needle has been pulled through the hole. The first photo shows how the stitch would look from the front side of the project and the second shows what you would see on the opposite side of the leather. The second view is neither exciting nor particularly interesting but it does show the two sections of thread on the same side of the project. Here again, try to keep the thread centered by having equal lengths of thread on each section of leather. I have caught myself pulling more thread through when finishing the first stitch more than one time. Within the first two stitches, it is very easy to get them uneven. This can be a real pain when you get to the end of your project and find that you do not have enough thread on one side to finish.

First half-stitch formed - front view

Flesh side of leather with thread pulled through from front

The photo shown below demonstrates, at least in part, my preference for completing the second half of the stitch. I pull back on the first thread, (notice the arrow), to keep my second needle from getting tangled or poked through that thread. Keep in mind that you want to do everything possible to prevent any potential problems later on. It is really important with each stitch that you do not poke the second needle through the thread on the first half of the stitch. This is just in case you need to pull the sides even with each other down the line after a few stitches.

Beginning second half of stitch with first thread pulled back

Continuing with the stitching process, you will begin to develop a bit of a rhythm. You might want to hang the needle just pulled through the hole on your knee to keep it from tangling with the next part of the stitch to be completed. If you prefer to have a pincushion on your lap to hold your needles, go ahead and do that if it will help to keep track of what is next. There are no hard, fast rules with hand sewing leather, other than getting it done and making it look good. Just because someone else hand stitches leather differently does not mean that you are doing it wrong. Experimentation is the best way to begin and to learn.

As you are sewing your project, continue to make the stitches in the manner described above. Complete each stitch front and back before beginning another. I have tried to make a bunch of stitches with one thread and then coming back and forming the other half of the stitches with the other. It got ugly every time I tried to cut corners in the process. I remember poking my needle through the other half of the stitch and causing it to fray. I found it much more difficult to push the second needle through the holes because the tightness of first thread served to be more of a barrier to my needle.

The photo below shows the first four stitches completed in the process. Looking at the leftmost stitch it is easy to see that the thread may not have been pulled as tightly as it could have been. This is not necessarily something to be overly concerned about unless the stitch is very loose. In this case, the stitch is tight enough but because the stitching began here, it may only appear to be too loose. If you can move the thread to ascertain that it is indeed loose, you have a couple of options to correct the problem. First, you could remove the thread from the needles and start all over again. Second, you may be able to pull out any slack with some kind of picking tool similar to a dentist’s pick.

First four stitches completed

Remember, as you are making the stitches, do not pull the thread too tight because it can be pulled through the leather, tearing one big hole instead of the original two for that stitch. As you continue to make the stitches and snug them up you will notice that most of the slack in the previous stitches is generally taken up. If you look back at the photo above you will notice that there are only holes enough for the first four stitches. I like to do this, especially if I am sewing multiple layers of leather together. It helps to prevent the layers from slipping. I have had some problems with pre-punched stitching holes getting out of line. I would not make any more holes than necessary just to prevent any potential problems.

If you do not plan to purchase or make a stitching pony then it is important to have a surface on which you can place your project to poke the stitching holes with the awl. I have a large rubber matt that is almost one-half inch thick that will allow me to push my awl through my leather without any worries about damaging the awl or the surface below. Check with your local hobby or craft store to find and appropriate backing piece to use when punching holes in the leather. Be very careful when pushing the awl through the leather into any other surface so that you do not break the tip off from the awl or scratch any other surfaces.

The manner in which you complete stitching your project is entirely up to you. You may want to try more than one technique. What I tell you in this post may be the complete opposite of what will work the best for you. Here is a “for instance” example that might work well for me but not for you. If I were going to hand sew a belt I would probably mark and poke all the holes down one side of a belt. Doing this would eliminate the need of continually switching from stitching to poking the holes in the leather. As long as it is only one layer of leather, I do not have to worry about the spacing of the holes getting off by too much.

A second thing that I would definitely do if hand sewing the edges of a belt, is use two separate threads to do it. I would start at the billet end or pointe tip of the belt and sew all the way down one side with one piece of thread. I would then take the second piece of thread and sew down the other side. Doing it this way would eliminate the need for having one very long piece of thread and starting at the buckle end of the belt, trying to keep it from tangling or knotting and keeping it clean. It is probably a little quicker to do it with two pieces of thread because there is not as much length to pull through the holes when you first start.

When stitching a project such as a wallet it I like to “tie-in” the last stitches that I make. As previously mentioned, I like to begin my stitching in an area that would not be too obvious for the untrained eye to see any variation in the stitching. Once I have completed all of the stitches around the perimeter of my wallet I like to continue stitching for at least four holes before I stop. That way I know that my beginning stitches are completely tied in and the ends will not easily pull out. I actually like doing this better than one of the favored methods for nylon threads, which is tying the thread ends together on the back and burning them with a lighter or match melt them together. I do not favor this method for locking down thread on a project that needs to look “finished” on both sides. Burning the thread can cause the leather to scorch and turn dark brown or even black.

The photos below demonstrate one of the best methods that I know of to tie off the stitching on the edges of a belt, backstitching over at least three stitches. This should lock the thread in place since there will be almost no stress on the thread at this point. (This method will work on almost any hand-sewn project. Also, if stitching a project such as a wallet backstitching is not necessary – simply overstitch the first three or four stitches to lock the loose ends in place.)

First backstitch started

Two backstitches formed on right

If I am concerned that the thread might pull out on a project, I will create a hidden knot that is not visible from the outside of the project. This a trick used by more than one saddle maker that I have worked with over the years. The photo on the left shows how the starting point for the knot. Notice that this stitch is formed on the flesh side of the leather. The thread on the grain side has been pulled through the leather so the first half of the stitch has been formed. The thread is wrapped onto the needle by making circular motions with its pointed end. Do not wrap the thread onto the needle after placing the tip in the hole because it will not form the desired knot.

Beginning of tie-off stitch showing thread wrapped on needle

 

Tie off knot before tightening

The photo on the right shows how the threads appear after the needle has been pulled through the leather. I can promise you that the first few times you attempt the backstitch tie-off you will have a bit of a challenge because of the nature of the beast. It is necessary to pull the thread almost as tight as possible while making sure the knot is centered as closely as possible between the grain and the flesh surfaces. For me, it works best if I alternate pulling the threads one at a time. In other words, I begin taking up the slack by pulling with my right hand, then pull a little back with the left hand, and continue doing this until all of the slack is gone from either of the threads. Then comes the most painful part of the process, with hands that are already tender from all of the stitching it is now necessary to pull the threads very tight and attempt to get the knot centered between the surfaces.

Once the first knot is completed, you might or might not choose to make a second knotted stitch. It all depends upon how pain tolerant you are. At this point, you can clip off the ends of the thread, knowing that you will have succeeded in making almost all of your fingers and both thumbs throb from the pain from hand stitching your project. You can rest assured that this stitching will not pull out the first time that you or the person you made this for sneeze. In the end, it was all worth the time and effort!

If you have any questions or comments please let me know. I will be glad to help if I can. Thank you for visiting.

Have fun!