pertaining to your second observation: gluing might not be the best, especially since your punching holes with an awl.the glue can gum up your holes and make stitching even harder. try clamping the pieces together, i use binder clips like you find in any office supply store, i find they provide enough pressure without marking your leather. you can clamp your leather together and then clamp both pieces to your surface, i use a cutting board. that should keep them in place well enough so your holes line up nicely.
nice first piece. good luck on the full sized one.