I cannot tell anything from the pic. The first one looks like you might be a bit a hot, but cannot really judge. The second one, i have no clue? Could you take closer shots? Any idea if this is a goat, calf or something else Saffiano?

Hello hello hello, I would personally do not encourage you to use Edge Paint on your waxed edges. For the simple reason that the wax will act as a barrier between the Edge Paint and the leather fiber, which means the edge paint will not bond and will peel in no time at all. A trick I use (which i got from Phil) is coating my edge pain applicator with Beeswax so when i need to clean them, the paint just peels right off. That is just to tell you how badly edge paint and wax go together. From your pictures, I have the impression that you are pushing too hard on the edge when burnishing. This is causing them to dome out (or "Mushroomize"). Keep the pressure light, barely even there when burnishing. The best thing to do is to let the slicker sit on the edge and just apply sideways movement, no downward movement. This will give you a better looking edge.

From the picture, for me, the left side is acceptable. The right side is where you have a problem. This leads me to think that something changed once you reached midpoint and moved your piece around to continue stitching. you obviously know how to saddle stitch with angles as the left side is like it should, the thread sit in the edges of the pricks with proper angles (maybe a bit more consistency in your pull tension in the future, but that is for later). The right side on the other, the thread is going from middle prick to middle prick. The only time i see this result in my work is on the backside of the stitch when I do not cast. Im sorry, i know the above do not help you, i am just thinking out loud hoping it might give you a hint to what you did that is causing this, Could you film yourself stitching?

Yeah, i Guess 3.0mm and 3.85 would be the best for starting. I started with a 3.85 and quickly moved down to 3.0 and even 2.7mm. I have not used my 3.85 in at least 4 years but it is good to know they are here if i intend to do a big bag or something a bit more traditional. Now, apart from the spacing, the shape of your irons matters. Stay away from bulky shapes that do not let you see the teeth when you are looking at them from the top.

Hello I assume this is the one you were looking for? 1 EASY & SIMPLE Tip. Improve Your Leather Hand Stitching Technique FAST- Includes Project!,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OO-M_M6FLs

In my opinion, you are doing nothing wrong. You have acceptable angles on the back. The back angles will always look less angled than the front ones. That is normal. I also think you need to practice a bit more your consistency of hand movement and pull. In stitching N1, there are two stitches (no 8 and 9 starting from the right) that indicate that the needles did not pass each other in the same position as the rest, which gives you 2 slightly elevated and flattened stitches. On the other hand, 3.85mm paired with 0.4mm thread is not optimal. I would try to stitch with at least 0.6mm and i think you will find better results.

Hello hello, you are doing nothing wrong. Like you said, thickness of leather and spi play a huge part in angles. The thinner the leather, the smaller the spi should be and the smaller the thread, and the less angle you will get. In some instances, it would be better to forgo the cast completly to end up with nice angles only on one side (the front) instead of an inconsistant mess on both sides. I personally never cast when stitching below 1.3mm thickness. I also never cast if the other side is not really visible. Also, the stifness of the leather plays a part. The softer the leather, the harder to get angles. On your project, 1.2mm + 0.65mm (on average) should get you around 1.8 to 1.9mm, you should have acceptable angles on the back. What spi are you using paired with what thread size? As an example, the top edge of the below pouch is a folded edge, so roughly 1.5mm thickness. I did not cast because I would never have been able to obtain such crisp angles if I had casted. And the backstitch is only visible if you open the pouch and bring it to eye level and like look at the stitches. So, here I decided to sacrifice the interior to obtain a better exterior.

Exactly right.

Hello Steve, To hide your stitch mark, there a couple of things you could try: 1. You crease your leather before pricking, then use the crease line as a guide to prick. Once you stitch and hammer down, you can recrease the edges for a crisper crease. 2. You can mark the line with a wing divider like you have been doing, but place the line dead center in the middle of your pricking iron teeth, that way the thread will be lying on the line you made and render it almost invisible. 3. You can put a strip of masking tape on the edge, mark your line, prick and then remove the masking tape. The line might still show on the leather depending on the leather and how heavy you press. But with practice, no line will be visible 95% percent of the time 4. As a bonus, you can go with a lighter press when using the wind divider, like barely mark the line. It will be a bit harder to prick in a consistant straight line, but it is doable. Regarding the stitch starting in the corner, i agree, most of the time, it will look a bit off and draw the eye to it. But, sometimes, like on a square or rectangular piece that is too big to be stitched with a single lengh of thread, it might be a good idea to do it. What i do is usually start the stitch 1 prick before the corner, back stitch 2 times, and then start stitching in the "normal" direction. That way the backstitches for a prominent V shape on the corners. I dont know if i make sense.

Hello Gavin, In order to help you, you need to show us some samples of your work first :) Not to judge the quality, but to judge the clientelle :)

Hello again, your stitching has improved a lot since the last post! A thing you should keep practicing: pull consistency. You are pulling in places more than others and it shows (for us, for a client, no worries at all, he will notice a single thing) What stitch marks are you trying to hide? Do you mean the stitch guide line you made before pricking the leather? And why are you saying that you should never start a stitch run in the corner? what trouble or issue did it create for you?

Hello Rira, I just checked instagram and your work is truly good! And the pictures/visuals are superb! (Most of them anyway :))

You are welcome. Glad I could help! :)

Hello again, Phil adressed the issue I wanted to tell you about. Go for thick leather for practice, thin leather is a hassle.

Hello Before giving you my thoughts would you mind answering one question for me: what thickness leather did you use? :)

Hello, Here you go: https://coastalleathersupply.com.au/collections/tools/products/edge-paint-roller And as an added bonus, this supplier is in Australia :) It comes with 2 different heads that you can use and I can certify as to the smoothness of the mechanism. As a personal opinion (which no one asked me for), I used to use all different kinds of rollers and I have moved away from them a long time ago. They are effective if the edge paint is thick (Think Giardini or the more industrial ones), but for the more liquid ones like Uniters or Vernis, they tend to mess the job. I have been using wooden sticks, I find that they give me way way more control, specially on thin edges.

Aside from my humour, that you are sure as hell allowed to not enjoy at all, I was trying to find a gentle and kind way of noting that you were being a little bit rude. We all know youtube exists (and we are all aware that not all youtube knowledge is good/right/makes sense) but here we are on the Leathercraft Mastercall forum; and what you did is akeen to going into a Mercedez Benz showroom, finding a random client there and telling them "Go buy a BMW, they are better" in front of the owner. I apologize if it sounded like i personally attacking you, it was far from my intention. Now, let us put all of this behind us and have a great day!

Man, this is really really weird. I've worked with Togo once, it was a bit challenging seeing all the holes, sure, but they did not just disappear. I am really curious now! Did you try running a needle along the line where you usually prick and see if it catches on any of the pricks and then find the rest by lighty repricking from there?

Hey I apologize for asking, but how sure are you that you pricked this particular one? Would it be possible that you forgot to prick this one? Because if with all you have tried, you still cannot find a single prick mark, something is missing somewhere somehow. Also, for the future, for heavy textured leather or any leather that is hard to see on really, I personally put down a strip of masking tape and prick through it, stitch and then remove the tape.

Youtube!? Heresy!!! 😋😋 Alternatively, you can watch phil's couse on how to make one to your exact measurements :) But yeah, a shop apron, or a set of clothes used only for the workshop is usually a must.