Machines Vs Hand-Stitching

[daleoffshore]

Being a "newbie",well away from leather work for 40 yrs,I would be hand stitching everything except My Father bought a Luberto's no9; [ new ones are classics ] and I have it now.They're not commonly sold and Tony is gearing up for production again. They're a needle machine,can sew leather and fabric, and heavy.Dad set this one up w/motor and clutch,and I love using it when I want to Get-er-done on a project.Nothing but straight lock stitch but I'm not complaining.

[St8LineGunsmith]

I had a machine back 25 years ago but sold it when I sold off all my other leather tools now 25 years later I am kicking myself in the head for selling everything.

A sewing machine would be nice because the speed in which you can sew however unfortunately they are way out of my budget.

but being that i am at the hobby level i see no need for a machine.

a stitch groover, divider, overstitch wheel, an assortment of punches chisels, needles, small drill bits, a dremel and a good stitching pony suffice well

for a saddle stitch once i glue together my parts to be sewn I will make a stitch line or groove then use the overstitch wheel then i will drill the holes with a dremel.

I use sewing palms on both hands to help push the needles through and have small pairs of pliers handy if i need to pull the needle through and the stitching pony is a big help to keep the piece in position to speed up the stitching process, I have a stitching awl but i don't see where it would be any faster to stitch with an awl and i think a saddle stitch is stronger than a lock stitch so i rarely use the stitching awl.

I do a lot of loop and double loop lacing and buck stitching on a lot of my projects too which require different types of chisels to make holes and a sewing machine can't do lacing.

I probably have close to $150.00 in just hand stitching & lacing tools alone.

it would be nice to get to a point to where I need a sewing machine but there a lot other leather working tools I need more than a sewing machine at this point .

Edited October 7, 2012 by St8LineGunsmith

[St8LineGunsmith]

Wow!

Thank you for such FAST and INFORMATIVE responses!!!

I am looking at the Stohlman books now! And also doing research on the Awls...for hand stitching. I can make most anything out of fabric, and hand-sew and machine-sew fabric, I just want to start working with leather....mainly because there isn't anyone around where I live that does it and because I have encountered much frustration with finding someone who will make custom items.

I do GREATLY appreciate everything!! TwinOaks and Rickybobby, THANK YOU!!

if you are wanting to know how to make a saddle stitch ,Buck stitch, lacing and double loop lacing here https://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/infoandservices/Leathercraft-Videos/Leathercraft-Videos.aspx and scroll down. there are a lot of tutorials for basic leather crafting

and you can find a lot of tutorials on youtube

the books will go more indepth about how far the stitch line needs to be from the edge, spacing of the stitch and the tools you will want to get to make a professional looking stitch line.