Saddle Stitching

For the life of me I have no idea what is going on! When I am saddle stitching leather the mains section I stitch is just normal and the back second has decorative angles, it really baffles me I done a quick example of it,

here is the front, is has some straight stitches, a tiny bit of decorative.

Here is the back (stuck veledon on it to stiffen the leather while stitching he example) but you can see angles wway more on this side?

Can anybody give me any hints to why this might be happening? (also happens on every leather i try and use at the minute)

Thanks in advance

2 answers4 replies

6 Comments

Leathercraft Masterclass

Jan 08, 2021

@VII XCIV There really isn't many scenarios where your rear stitches are going to fall directly onto Velodon reinforcement.

Try placing another piece of leather on the rear so that the reinforcement is sandwiched between two layers. Then try again and test the results for us.

VII XCIV

Jan 10, 2021

Replying to

I added the velodon just to keep it stable while I practice I suppose, but discovered I was just pulling too hard and I suppose too fast which didn't give the angles time to set, slowed them right down and they were back to bobby dazzlers.

Thanks for the response

Leathercraft Masterclass

Jan 14, 2021

Replying to

@VII XCIV Glad you got to the bottom of it!

martin

Jan 08, 2021

I feel your frustration. I am a relative beginner and have gone through several periods where my stitching is irregular. I think that Philip covers it quite well in saying that it is all about a consistent repeat process. Easier to say than do but practice is the only answer that I have. Consistency in terms of the angles in which you insert each needle; consistency in the angles in which you being out the needles; take care over the position of the front and back threads so that they do not cross the other thread except in the back cast (if you are doing that). Then try and apply consistent force when pulling the threads tighter. Every session (I am in the middle of one now) I start really slowly to ensure precision and then build up a bit of speed as my muscle memory kicks in.

My gut feel (please don't bet your house on this) is that it is likely to be the same as when I was getting your kind of issue. For me, it was angles, making sure the front threads did not cross over (apart from the "cross" made in the needles), pulling down the thread (that you just inserted from the rear) at the front and then inserting the previous front thread at an upwards angle.

Once you have had all the comments and maybe gone back to basics with Philip'ds video, see if you need anymore help. Perhaps the best way would be to have a brief skype call with someone so that they can see what you are doing and you can see what they are doing. I'm sure you will get more experienced people than me, but I would be happy to spend some time helping. I can assure you that, at some time, I'm going to need some help to stop going insane.

Good luck, Martin (UK)

VII XCIV

Jan 10, 2021

Replying to

Thank you for your detailed response, it was mainly down to muscle memory in the end. After not stitching for quite a while I already thought I was doing it correctly.

My discovery for why I was doing it wrong was due to a couple of factors, the first was wrong side thread for the pricking holes, and the second was I was pulling too fast and too hard which I suppose didn't give it time to set at the angle.

So I began to slow it right down while pulling usual way to get the angles but the only difference was I started pulling not as harsh and the angles began appearing again.

Thanks again for the detailed response.