crinkling of edge when handstitching

[Monticore]

i recently got some leather and i find not matter how light i do my saddle stich i get crinkling/crimping of the edges. which then gives my a undulating edge. i manage to sand it down a bit but i can still feel it when i run my fingers on the edge.

i am using a stitching pony. with thonging chisels to punch my holes . would i guess less crinkling with overstitch wheel/awl combo?

any tips much appreciated.

cory

Edited January 20, 2009 by Monticore

[tashabear]

Are you cutting a stitching groove before you punch your holes?

[tonyc1]

Try using an Awl.

[UKRay]

Monticore, I'm assuming you could be talking about the 'face' of the leather - in other words not the cut edge -

The crinkling you talk about is a pretty normal occurrence and easily rectified. When you have finished your stitching just wet the leather slightly (do not dunk!) and lightly tap the stitches (and the edge) edge down flat with a flat faced steel hammer (a nicely polished, very slightly convex shoemakers/harness maker's hammer is ideal). This will bed your stitches into the leather and if you have used a groover to cut a channel for your stitching it will sink the thread into the channel nicely. I was taught to hammer stitching flat as a general thing when making working harness as it cuts down the chafe and wear and makes the kit last longer. Getting rid of the wrinklies was a welcome by-product!

If you are getting a crinkle on the cut edge - like a cookie cutter effect - then you may be slightly too close to the edge when you punch your stitch holes or you may need to explore other ways of making your holes as Tasha and Tony have suggested.

One last thing - if you haul up your thread really tight, you can create ruckles in the leather too. Your stitching needs to be firm and tight enough to make a good job but not excessively tight so the work is spoiled.

Ray

Edited January 20, 2009 by UKRay

[Monticore]

Are you cutting a stitching groove before you punch your holes?

i did use a groover before stitching but i did not cut very deep. i will try a little deeper next time see if it helps .

i am going to try a awl next strap but my tandy awl tends to make too big a hole for my stitch .

cory

[Luke Hatley]

what thickness of leather are you hand sewing ?

and how far apart are you punching your stiching holes?

Edited January 20, 2009 by Luke Hatley

[Dale]

I wonder if you've got a piece of leather with a loose grain, or you're using the belly area. If that's the case, try a different area of the hide (or a different hide altogether). If the leather isn't firm enough, I'm not sure there's any technique that will compensate for it.

[Monticore]

what thickness of leather are you hand sewing ?

and how far apart are you punching your stiching holes?

it is 5-5.5 oz oil tanned , folded over to make a 5mm strap, it might be from the belly area , i will try another area for my next work.

cory

[Monticore]

here are some pics of my test strap , might be hard to tell but there is a bit of a wavyness to the edge.

after the pics i also noticed i probably need to dye my groove before stitching

cory

[tonyc1]

What size thread is that you have used? It seems very coarse ! How wide is the strap?

Tony.

[Monticore]

What size thread is that you have used? It seems very coarse ! How wide is the strap?

Tony.

i am using 0.35 3 ply waxed cord from mainethread and the strap is 22mm not sure how much in inches. i was also using the 1/16th thonging chisels.

would using the 3/32 sized reduce or increase the problem?

i should try using an awl but i would need to get a better one and not sure i want to pay close to 100$ for one once i factor exchange/shipping/duties/taxes to get one to canada.

cory

Edited January 21, 2009 by Monticore

[Monticore]

i tried my ozbourne awl once again and wtih a few peices of of leather as stoppers to control my depth the holes actually were not bad. so i may try that for my next strap, i hope it fixes the wrinkle problem.

cory

[Dale]

Looks like you might be stitching a bit close to the edge. Try stitching farther from the edge and see how that works.

[Monticore]

i tried another strap with overstich awl same distance from the edge but a different sections of hide and i think it might be the area of leather i was using , no crinkling in this piece , it als felt less stretchy than my other strap.

learn new stuff everyday .

cory

[tonyc1]

What is an Overstitch Awl?

Tony.

[Monticore]

sorry i meant overstitch wheel for spacing and awl for making holes. vs the thonging chisels

cory