Stitching Question

[fredk]

Whatever way you attach the thread to the needle - wax it, and wax it every so often whilst you sew. Leather is very abrasive, especially to the weaker thread

I have a few of these;

I just pull the thread though it every so often. But you don't need one of them, just a block of bee's wax will do.

[dikman]

I suppose you could use the pricking irons to punch your holes and then use an awl in conjunction with your needles?

[bruce johnson]

6 hours ago, Beehive said:

Yes Sir, John James needles. I can remember back when I started leather craft. Pre internet days and getting leather and supplies. Was a two hour round trip to Tandy in Austin. 

Boy O' Boy, their large eye needles are junk. You had to buy in bulk because they'd snap at the eye. Clean break off. Making you wonder if it's you doing something wrong. When it's the junk needles being junky. 

The large eyes were always weak at the eye just by design.the thinner legs around that wider hole just made them the weak link. Once I got instructed on making a decent tapered end then the normal harness needles were fine and easier to get pulled through the awl stab too. The old joke was that you lost more needles than you broke. That’s one reason I sell John James needles and also carry needle cases. LOL.

[SUP]

I often punch my stitching holes on a slab of old wax. I just melt candles, odorless ones, in an old pan and and let it cool. This makes a good base and the chisel ends go into the wax and slip out smoothly. Whenever the wax gets too rough on the surface, just melt and cool again. This is usually on thicker leathers or multi layered ones.

[Beehive]

I wonder if the OP has discovered what it takes to saddle stitch? Forget the tools, needles and thread. It's the labor involved. 

When I stitched the main strap on my belt. 90" total stitch length. Broken up into two sessions of 45" each. 

When I started, I sat on the couch. Stitching pony in my lap and found a decent movie for background noise. Left to right, right to left, loop. 45" took three movies worth of time. I estimate I have ~12 hours labor in the main strap alone. And that's just the stitching. It doesn't include cutting, trimming, gluing, or poking the holes. 

In total, I bet I'll have ~20 hours total labor in my Ranger belt. Something they don't show in YouTube videos. 

As for good news. My order of thread shows up today. I'm gonna venture out in wild colored threads. Blue, green, and yellow. Of course, Ritza brand in .08mm. I used white 1mm on the belt. The colored thread is going on a wallet made from plum colored Horween cavalier. 

So if you can come to terms with how much labor a hand made leather item takes. You can build anything. Think of stitching as meditation. I do. 

 

Edited January 28 by Beehive

[Gridix]

Beehive,

 

Yes I am realizing all the things you just mentioned, but it doesn't discourage me at all! I have always loved the process of creating. My main hobby has always been cooking and I love putting in the extra effort of making everything from scratch and enjoying the process. It is simply that I have not had much experience with leather yet to fully appreciate the labor involved. As I watch videos online to see how things are made and to learn proper techniques, I do realize that they are not showing the entire process and they are making it seem "perfect" and easy. What they don't show are the things I am asking about and how to overcome them. So I am so glad that this forum exists for me to have a platform to soak in the knownledge from others who have already gone through some of these learning hurdles. 

As far as the tools, I just wanted to make sure I was not shooting myself in the foot so to speak by buying the cheapest tools to try out leatherworking. So many times in other projects when I would try cheaper tools it would make the job miserable.

 

Thank you so much for the great information and tips.

 

[fredk]

2 hours ago, SUP said:

I often punch my stitching holes on a slab of old wax. I just melt candles, odorless ones, in an old pan and and let it cool. This makes a good base and the chisel ends go into the wax and slip out smoothly. Whenever the wax gets too rough on the surface, just melt and cool again. This is usually on thicker leathers or multi layered ones.

Moi aussi

I recently made me a bigger and deeper slab

[Beehive]

17 minutes ago, Gridix said:

Beehive,

 

Yes I am realizing all the things you just mentioned, but it doesn't discourage me at all! I have always loved the process of creating. My main hobby has always been cooking and I love putting in the extra effort of making everything from scratch and enjoying the process. It is simply that I have not had much experience with leather yet to fully appreciate the labor involved. As I watch videos online to see how things are made and to learn proper techniques, I do realize that they are not showing the entire process and they are making it seem "perfect" and easy. What they don't show are the things I am asking about and how to overcome them. So I am so glad that this forum exists for me to have a platform to soak in the knownledge from others who have already gone through some of these learning hurdles. 

As far as the tools, I just wanted to make sure I was not shooting myself in the foot so to speak by buying the cheapest tools to try out leatherworking. So many times in other projects when I would try cheaper tools it would make the job miserable.

 

Thank you so much for the great information and tips.

 

 

Not too many people can say they're wearing their accomplishment. There's no better feeling after you're done. Belts and bags are on top of the pyramid. Saddle on the tippy top. But once you're done with the marathon stuff. Stitching holsters, wallets, and book covers seem a breeze. 

Never give up. Work through it. Move forward. Even if takes you months doing a few inches of stitching a day. 

You're in a club where nobody is wearing Chinese leather off of Amazon. None of that $65 for a mass produced belt nonsense. Your days are now going to be full of quality. Real deal, handmade quality. 

[Northmount]

Moved to sewing leather. 

If you haven't checked out this thread, take a look at it.

 

[DJole]

On 1/27/2025 at 6:05 AM, Gridix said:

Whenever I stitch, my needle gets stuck when it gets to the thread. Is this due to the chisels im using or could it be due to the size of the needle thread?
It seems when I watch others sew on youtube that their needle/thread goes right through no problem.

It really makes a difference to match the thread and needle and hole size. 
I found this diagram somewhere, copied it down, and let me put it here, too

John James Needle
size		Length	Outside diameter	Ritza “Tiger” thread	LIN Cable
4	004	48 mm	.9mm	0.6	532/632/832
2	002	54	1	0.8	432/332
0	1/0	57	1.1	1
00	2/0	57	1.3	1.2
000	3/0	62	1.6

What is the table telling me?

If I am using 3mm stitching irons on my thinner leather project, the best results are using a 004 needle, with the corresponding thread. 
If I am using a thicker thread (like those Maine threads), then try a 1/0 or 2/0 needle, with a larger stitching iron (5mm works well, 4 maybe)

I used to have that similar problem until I figured it out. 
So you should get a few packages of needles (they're not expensive, after all) to match your thread sizes, and using a stitching iron to match. 
I have a set of 3mm and 5 mm diamond (Japanese style) stitching chisels, which are my go-to sizes. 
I have a set of 4mm stitching irons (French or slit style), too. 
I have a few remaining Tandy "Big Eye" needles, which I keep around for nostalgia. ;-)