Sewing strips of leather back to back.

[Ben00]

Hello I am currently attempting to create a bracelet, that has no rivets or buttons keeping the leather bracelet around my wrist. I want to glue two strips of leather back to back with raw sides glued inward so they can not be seen and the finished side exposed. The bracelet is being made for a friend so I'm hoping to make the edges where the ends of each strip meet look like they were finished professionally. Any tips on making sure there is no fraying or shifting of the pieces once I am finished gluing the two strips together?

 

thanks for the help.  

[fredk]

I would sew the ends of the inner piece together and have the ends of the outer piece at 180* from the joint of the inner piece

[Ben00]

Thank you Fredk,

 

do you suggest i Bevell edges of end of each strip or leave them be as is? 

[fredk]

As the inner piece won't really be seen, it can be a butt joint or skive each end, overlap the ends and sew. I'd certainly skive the ends of the outer piece and overlap them

[Ben00]

On 5/23/2022 at 2:28 PM, fredk said:

As the inner piece won't really be seen, it can be a butt joint or skive each end, overlap the ends and sew. I'd certainly skive the ends of the outer piece and overlap them

Thank you Fredk!

 

im wondering if you burnish the tips of each skived piece on the outer layer? or just glue the ends together and only skive the edges of the leather to form one singular band?

I have also been having troubles assembling the leather together since the leather is looped so small im finding it hard to hold both strips in place without the leather not lining up evenly, do you suggest i glue the portions of each leather that overlap together before i continue to curve it around and attach both ends together? thanks again for your help. 

 

Regards Ben N

 

[fredk]

On 6/1/2022 at 8:03 PM, Ben00 said:

im wondering if you burnish the tips of each skived piece on the outer layer? or just glue the ends together and only skive the edges of the leather to form one singular band?

I think, no need to burnish the tips. If they are left slightly rough-ish it will help them merge into each other

On 6/1/2022 at 8:03 PM, Ben00 said:

I have also been having troubles assembling the leather together since the leather is looped so small im finding it hard to hold both strips in place without the leather not lining up evenly, do you suggest i glue the portions of each leather that overlap together before i continue to curve it around and attach both ends together? 

I'm not quite getting your problem

Can you glue the ends of the inner piece together, put in just a couple of stitches and when this is set slip it over a jar, a glass or a can to hold it. Make it fit tight over the jar/glass/can. You can make your jar/glass/can larger by wrapping some duct tape around it. Then with the inner piece held tight you can apply the outer piece. Just glue one end and about 1'' first, get that aligned and let the glue set. Its easier to get that 1'' just right than try to getting it all aligned, then the rest will follow

Edited June 3, 2022 by fredk

[Matt S]

I /think/ I understand what you're asking but not entirely sure.

I would skive a long taper to a feather edge on the inner (orange) part, glue them perfectly overlapped (so the thickness is consistent all the way round) and then do the same with the outer layer, offset from the inner overlap. Contact cement will stop the ends of each strip from migrating. That or skive a half-thickness step, sew them grain-to-grain half the width of the taper back from the edges, and fold the unsewn ends of the taper back, with a little glue to keep the ends down.

If you don't want to skive you've got two approaches. The problem you're getting is that you have two 90 degree ends meeting at an angle.

One approach is to calculate that angle (some basic trigonometry) and cut the ends at half that angle so they meet neatly. Your inner leather looks chunky enough that contact cement should stop it from shifting left and right before applying the outer layer but can't be relied on in its own right.

The other approach: my wife and I took a one-day jewellery workshop to make each others' ring from bullion strip. We were taught that the soldered seam has to have the square ends of the strip meet straight for a neat joint, so we bent them to a D shape with the joint in the middle of the straight. Then once the joint was soldered and dressed we made them O shape again on a mandrel. You could try that with your inner layer, there might just be enough surface area at the butt joint for the contact cement to hold and pull the edges to the right angle as you pull it round. Then once your outer layer is glued on you should be golden.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Matt S

[Ben00]

 

On 6/3/2022 at 8:46 AM, Matt S said:

I /think/ I understand what you're asking but not entirely sure.

I would skive a long taper to a feather edge on the inner (orange) part, glue them perfectly overlapped (so the thickness is consistent all the way round) and then do the same with the outer layer, offset from the inner overlap. Contact cement will stop the ends of each strip from migrating. That or skive a half-thickness step, sew them grain-to-grain half the width of the taper back from the edges, and fold the unsewn ends of the taper back, with a little glue to keep the ends down.

If you don't want to skive you've got two approaches. The problem you're getting is that you have two 90 degree ends meeting at an angle.

One approach is to calculate that angle (some basic trigonometry) and cut the ends at half that angle so they meet neatly. Your inner leather looks chunky enough that contact cement should stop it from shifting left and right before applying the outer layer but can't be relied on in its own right.

The other approach: my wife and I took a one-day jewellery workshop to make each others' ring from bullion strip. We were taught that the soldered seam has to have the square ends of the strip meet straight for a neat joint, so we bent them to a D shape with the joint in the middle of the straight. Then once the joint was soldered and dressed we made them O shape again on a mandrel. You could try that with your inner layer, there might just be enough surface area at the butt joint for the contact cement to hold and pull the edges to the right angle as you pull it round. Then once your outer layer is glued on you should be golden.

Matt this really helped I just skived both ends really long then hole punched through both layers and stitched the whole thing together worked like a charm appreciate the help. 

On 6/3/2022 at 6:58 AM, fredk said:

I think, no need to burnish the tips. If they are left slightly rough-ish it will help them merge into each other

I'm not quite getting your problem

Can you glue the ends of the inner piece together, put in just a couple of stitches and when this is set slip it over a jar, a glass or a can to hold it. Make it fit tight over the jar/glass/can. You can make your jar/glass/can larger by wrapping some duct tape around it. Then with the inner piece held tight you can apply the outer piece. Just glue one end and about 1'' first, get that aligned and let the glue set. Its easier to get that 1'' just right than try to getting it all aligned, then the rest will follow

Yes fredk I did just that burnished the ends like you said, thank you for the idea of putting it around a glass jar to stabilize as well that helped a ton appreciate the assistance. 

[Matt S]

On 6/26/2022 at 8:29 AM, Ben00 said:

Matt this really helped I just skived both ends really long then hole punched through both layers and stitched the whole thing together worked like a charm appreciate the help. 

Happy to help Ben! I would love to see the updated version if possible.