My technique for hand stitching thick welts

[DeWayne Hayes]

I described this in other threads, but as I was doing one today, I thought I'd snap a few pics to better explain my process for hand-stitching very thick welts. The first time I did a thick welt, I swore I'd never try it again. Deep holes, alignment issues, glue in the holes, trying to get needles through - it was a nightmare. But ultimately, this is what prompted me to devise a better process. That, and Dwight's suggestion to use my drill press to drive a sewing needle through the welt. I have developed a modified version of this technique to instead use a chisel style hole punch in my drill press. This gives me rectangular holes which allow more leeway when aligning everything - and that leeway is really helpful when trying to align the holes in the outer holster shell with the holes in the welt itself. 

First, I mark where I need my stitch line and then punch the holes in both sides of the outer shell of the holster. I pinch the holster shell together to make sure these two sets of holes likes up. Then I take my welt blank and hold it firmly against one side of the sheath and mark where the holes need to be in the welt. I then use my drill press to punch through the welt, which is surprisingly easy, and makes much straighter holes than I could ever achieve by driving the chisel with a hand held hammer. 

Now, I stretch all the holes in the welt with an awl, just to increase their shape for guiding my needles through. I then glue up one side of the holster and one side of the welt, making sure not to get glue in the actual holes, like shown below. 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by DeWayne Hayes

[DeWayne Hayes]

Now, I use sewing needles as guide pins to make sure the welt attaches to the shell with all holes lines up. I do it like this. 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by DeWayne Hayes

[DeWayne Hayes]

Once the welt is attached, I use a needle to make sure every single hole is lined up and I can see through it. 

 

[DeWayne Hayes]

And finally, I use the needle/pin method to glue up and attach the other side of the holster to the welt. 

 

 

[DeWayne Hayes]

The final product looks like this, once stitched. 

 

I hope these pictures help explain the process a little better. It's surely not as fast or easy as using a machine to punch and sew through a thick welt, but it is the best I've come up with for aligning holes and then sewing through them pretty easily with no glue interference.

The primary benefit is the backside stitching looks as good as the front side, since you're connecting two sets of nicely pre-laid out holes - not punching through hoping the punch doesn't wander and come through the back side of the holster misaligned. Looks much neater this way, I think. 

Regards, 

DeWayne

Edited December 28, 2023 by DeWayne Hayes

[DieselTech]

Thanks I appreciate the info & your knowledge. 

I do my knife sheaths & 6 shooter holsters about the same. But I never have that thick of welt. 

How do you remove all your extra welt on the outside? 

Thanks. 

[Handstitched]

Thats often the issue I have sewing thick leather , mis-alignment . Glad I'm not the only one that uses needles to align holes. I often do that when re-stitching,  repairing etc.   Great read . 

Love to see the end result  

HS

[DeWayne Hayes]

52 minutes ago, DieselTech said:

Thanks I appreciate the info & your knowledge. 

I do my knife sheaths & 6 shooter holsters about the same. But I never have that thick of welt. 

How do you remove all your extra welt on the outside? 

Thanks. 

I'm still a novice, but love problem solving ... or attempting to solve problems. 

As for the excess welt, I cut about 90% off with a razor box cutter, and then grind it down flush with a table-top belt sander. 

[chiefjason]

Thick welts are the one thing were I will drill stitch holes.  The drill bit wanders around less than an awl, at least for me.  And if you go back over the holes and crease or groove them they don't stand out any more than normal.