Cutting Two Matching Pieces Of Leather

[Chavez]

Hi!

Could somebody please give me a few tips on the best way to cut two matching pieces of leather and then stitch them together (flesh to flesh)?

Whenever I try to cut leather, I get +-2-3mm errors on the sides (from transferring the paper pattern to leather, then cutting leather, sanding sides, tooling etc.). Therefore I cannot groove the sides before tooling as the grooves won't match when it comes to stitching. I can groove after I've glued the pieces together and sanded the edges, but I don't think this is right. In addition, if I want to stitch two squares (e.g. for a coaster), the sides of the squares are not likely to be parallel after all the sanding.

Are there any tricks for getting the cuts right first time or is it just a matter of experience?

Thank you!

[Denster]

I don't believe there is anyway to cut two perfectly matched pieces even with a cllicker and dies you will have a small varience. Grooving and stitching after edge dressing is the proper way.

[Luke Hatley]

What i do is to Cut one piece to the exact shape.....then glue that piece to a piece of leather then cut that piece to the shape of the first piece that you cut out.

[Billsotx]

I do the same as Luke, then sand and true up the edges however you're accustomed to doing that, then set your compasses to scribe a line working of the edges you've trued up. If you're stitching and tooling you may want to layout 2 lines, 1 on the outside that will be your stitch line, then 2 just inside that will become you crease, border, whatever you're planning to do.

[Chavez]

Thanks! For some reason i thought that I had to groove before tooling.

I'll try my first coaster this week.

Any advice on keeping the parallel lines parallel? Especially on items like dog collars or watch bands?

[Kcinnick]

I don't know if this is the right way, but its what I have had best results with.

1. Cut

2. Glue

3. Sand edges even

4. Groove

5. Edge

6. Sew

I have been dying before I cut my groove, but I think I am going to start dying after I cut the groove.

[Tinneal]

I have to agree with Luke and Billsotx. It took me a while to get it, but I picked that up on my own. It works very well, just be sure to keep your knife at 90 degrees, or the new piece being cut can end up smaller than the first one... It's something I still have to work on.

[katsass]

Hi!

Could somebody please give me a few tips on the best way to cut two matching pieces of leather and then stitch them together (flesh to flesh)?

Whenever I try to cut leather, I get +-2-3mm errors on the sides (from transferring the paper pattern to leather, then cutting leather, sanding sides, tooling etc.). Therefore I cannot groove the sides before tooling as the grooves won't match when it comes to stitching. I can groove after I've glued the pieces together and sanded the edges, but I don't think this is right. In addition, if I want to stitch two squares (e.g. for a coaster), the sides of the squares are not likely to be parallel after all the sanding.

Are there any tricks for getting the cuts right first time or is it just a matter of experience?

Thank you!

FWIW from the grump; Just as Luke does --- been making almost all of my holsters from two layers of leather, cut that way, then glued up for many years. Mike.