Christophe of Grey
Leathersmith/Archer
Stitching
In this article I am going to discuss hand sewing leather. There are machines specifically designed for sewing leather but they can be very expensive. Leather sewing is different than fabric sewing. The thread is thicker and the needles are NOT sharp. Yes there are glover’s needles available at the fabric stores. However they are used for very soft leathers typically used for clothing and such. If you are stitching a pouch or shoes, you need a much more substantial thread requiring a much larger needle and hole. Plus trying to push a glover’s needle through 4 ounce leather will put holes in your fingers. So let’s start with the needle. It is thick and large. It also is not sharp. If you probe the pointy end with your finger you will not get stuck like a regular sewing needle. The eye of this needle will also be quite large to accommodate the thicker thread.
Next is the thread. You may be familiar with upholstery thread available at the fabric stores. Leather sewing thread is about 10 times thicker. There are two types on the market, a braided thread that reminds me of old time fishing line and a non-braided type. Usually both are waxed but not always. Start by cutting off a piece of the thread long enough for your project. Then, waxed or not, run it over a block of bees wax several times. The wax helps the thread glide through the holes in the leather while you are sewing. Now comes the tricky part. If you thread your needle as you would regular sewing thread it will pull out of the needle on each stitch. Slim down the end of the thread so it passes through the eye of the needle. The books say to scrape the end of the thread with a razor blade to remove some of the thread. I just smooth the thread out to a nice flat knife edge that passes through the eye of the needle. Now pull up about one inch of thread. Lay the needle along the thread about three inches from the eye. Smash a flat spot on the thread just beyond the end of the needle. Now punch the needle through the thread at this point and slip the thread off the eye end of the needle. This forms a loop in the thread that is snug up against the eye of the needle. Thus the thread comes from the source, passes through the eye of the needle, then back through itself and on to the free end. It sounds complex but it isn’t. This locks the thread onto the eye of the needle.
Now begin sewing. There are several ways to sew. Begin by punching the holes in your project with a 00 size stitching punch. If you are going to make one pass along the edge, tie a figure eight knot in the end of the thread. Then simply go in one hole, out the next, and continue on to the end. To finish off just back stitch a few holes.
An alternative method that forms a very strong stitch is called saddle stitching. Regardless of how long the stitching is going to be, cut a piece of thread as long as two of your arm spans. That is, hold one end of the thread in each hand and stretch your arms apart. Cut the thread to fit this span. Now put a needle on each end of the thread. When you stitch, you go in the first hole and draw the thread up to its middle. Thus you have one needle coming out to the left and the other coming out to the right. Now take the needle that is now on the left, pass it back over the edge, enter the same hole it just went through exiting again on the left. Do the same with the needle on the right. You now have two layers of thread gong over the edge of the seam. Now take the needle on the left and go through the next hole left to right, back over the edge of the seam and back through the hole left to right again. Take the needle on the right and enter the hole you just stitched left to right but go right to left, back over the top, then back through the hole right to left again. Continue. Each stitch hole has two threads going through it and two loops over the edge of the project. This stitch is a lot of work but is very, very strong and has the advantage that if one stitch breaks the entire seam will not undo.
An alternative to the above stitch is to do a single loop over. You start with a piece of thread and a single needle one end. Stitch the entire seam in first hole, out second hole, in third hole, resulting in thread on alternate sides of the project. When you get to the end of the seam go over and back through the same hole you just finished on. Then in the next previous hole, exit, then back over the top and back through the same hole again. This stitch will look just like the saddle stitch above but have a single pass over the edge instead of two.
Alternative two is to do as the first double needle explanation. However, instead of going left to right, over the top, left to then right to left, over the top and right to left, you simply go left to right, over the top, then left to right again. The right needle goes right to left, then through the NEXT hole in the project. Thus you end up with a single loop over the top. I’ve never had this stitch fail so I can’t speak to it’s strength compared to the double loop over saddle stitch. But again, I’ve never had it fail!
I mentioned before that you punch the holes using a 00 stitching punch. That’s one way to do it. You can also use an awl punch. These punches have a diamond shape to them that is slightly elongated in one direction. NOTE - It is NOT a simple round punch! Think of a diamond that is slightly stretched. The trick using these punches is how you line up the holes they make. What you don’t want is for the long edge of the diamonds to line up along the seam. i.e. -------- This will cause your project to rip right along that edge at some point. Think of perforated paper and you get the idea. Also you do not want the long edge of the diamond perpendicular to the edge of the seam, i.e. | | | | | |. The ideal way to sew it is to have the punch holes look much like this / / / / / / / /, at a diagonal to the edge of the seam. Done this way your seam will be as strong as the uncut leather.
For stitching there are stitching ponies. Small ones resemble an upside down T. The upper portion pinches your work to hold it steady and allow your hands to be free. You sit with the up right part between your legs so you legs rest on the bottom of the T stabilizing the entire arrangement. If you can afford it and sew large pieces, there are stitching ponies that look like saw horses you sit on that really grip your work well. These are usually used for things like saddles and big heavy projects. For many smaller projects, no stitching pony is needed.