Sewing Question

[ABC3]

On a leather belt (lets say light brown with white thread - something noticeable) how can you salvage or correct a "dropped stitch" once you've sewed by it ?

Thanks for any suggestion..

[Art]

It depends on the quality of the belt.

1. Fix the Machine, no reason to have this happening again.

2. Extreme high quality, say some choice words that may make small children, the women folk, and the dog hide in the closet (cat won't care), then redo job. (nobody likes to hear that, but that's why it is called custom leatherwork not a product of Malaysia)

3. Take out stitches and restitch if you can get them in the same holes.

4. Hand stitch a repair, winding the saddle stitching around the stitch on top or remove several stitches and saddle stitch the repair, sometimes this might pass inspection. Use a lot of beeswax so stitches don't unravel.

5. Just keep the foot down and go over the thing a second time (will make the thread really stand out).

Good Luck with it.

Art

On a leather belt (lets say light brown with white thread - something noticeable) how can you salvage or correct a "dropped stitch" once you've sewed by it ?

Thanks for any suggestion..

[ABC3]

Art,

Thanks for the reply.

$90 belt (high end, not really) Hand stitching is not an option. Removing the stitching on a 42 inch belt is not really an option, either.

Fixing the maching - I totally agree but it's after the fact. You never know when you are going to drop that stitch. There is just so many varibles that could cause the problem.

I just thought someone would know of a "wonder" fix for a problem that has happened several times.

Anyway thanks for your input.

And stay safe.

[Ferg]

Art,

Thanks for the reply.

$90 belt (high end, not really) Hand stitching is not an option. Removing the stitching on a 42 inch belt is not really an option, either.

Fixing the maching - I totally agree but it's after the fact. You never know when you are going to drop that stitch. There is just so many varibles that could cause the problem.

I just thought someone would know of a "wonder" fix for a problem that has happened several times.

Anyway thanks for your input.

And stay safe.

Bite the bullet and take the stitches out and start over. Have done it and the results are phenomenal, IF you begin in a previous stitched hole.

Not what you wanted to hear but believe me it is worth the effort.

ferg

[Dwight]

On a leather belt (lets say light brown with white thread - something noticeable) how can you salvage or correct a "dropped stitch" once you've sewed by it ?

Thanks for any suggestion..

I use a Tippmann Boss for all my stitching.

Losing a stitch on the above belt would probably cause me to be really unhappy for a few minutes, . . . then I would get a cup of coffee, . . . cut the thread, . . . and begin unthreading the belt.

Yep, . . . the whole thing.

It will take me 10 minutes to unthread the belt, . . . and another 15 to 20 to re-sew it completely, . . . and my customer will have a finished product he/she will hopefully wear for many happy years.

My customers are my business, . . .

If I did not do it that way, . . . I'd throw it in the scrap can and start over.

But that is my process, . . . others probably do things in other ways.

May God bless,

Dwight

[ABC3]

Dwight,

Thanks so much for the help. But it would take me the better part of an hour to take the thread out of a complete belt. (What's your secret ??)

But I can sew a belt in about 4 minutes.

I had better take that back. There are some pretty big boys, out there, lately.

[dirtclod]

Simplest thing to do is stop when you see the dropped stitch and pull the stitches out and start over. Yes it is a PITA to do but your customer is paying for something that is as good as you can make it.

[Dwight]

Dwight,

Thanks so much for the help. But it would take me the better part of an hour to take the thread out of a complete belt. (What's your secret ??)

But I can sew a belt in about 4 minutes.

I had better take that back. There are some pretty big boys, out there, lately.

No real secret, . . . if I drop a stitch, . . . it is usually when I am daydreaming as I work, . . . plus my machine is run by hand, . . . and you kinda "feel" what you're doing, . . .

Usually it is early in the belt, . . . but either way, . . . I have an old Tandy modeling tool, . . . small spoon on one end, . . . rat tail on the other, . . . I use the rat tail end, . . . pul up the top thread, . . . rat tail the bottom out of the loop, . . . do it again, . . . and again, . . . and again, . . . and again, . . . and again, . . . and again, . . .

Course, . . . I just may have more experience on you in dropped stitches, . . . one of those things that you really wish you were not experienced in, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited March 26, 2011 by Dwight