Handsewing Vegtan Compared To Garment Leather Whats The Difference?

[DavidL]

I know that most projects are vegtan and all tips are for projects specifically on this type of leather, but what about garment leather? When I stitch garment leather with a 10spi pricking iron and .5mm thread (very thin) it is very hard to get even looking stitches. My awl that I use is also close to 3mm in width at the largest point. I suspect that the problem is that with garment leather the leather stretches more and it causes the stitches to look different every time.

[TwinOaks]

The issue is that garment leather is softer. When you pull the stitches tight, the leather is compressing between the stitches. We have many members that routinely use garment grade leather with no problems...it's all just a manner of practice to get your stitches consistent.

[RogerF]

DaveL,

Try doing a lock stitch like a machine and don’t make your SPI so far apart. You'll need a hand snitcher like the one sold by Tandy catalog # 1216-00. That one is not the best, but shop around and look for one like it. Depending on the weight of your garment leather, you should be able to poke the needle/awl though with out a hole. If you’re using BT-69 weight or lighter thread, try 14 spi and see how that works for you.

Roger

Edited March 12, 2013 by RogerF

[TwinOaks]

I can't believe I just read a recommendation for the hand stitcher.....

[Matt S]

Remember that 1/10 of an inch is 2.54mm. I've never used garment leather but most leathers would have trouble if you are opening the stitch holes wider than the distance to the next one... if you add a slice of cork or a small scrap of leather to your awl blade you won't stab quite so deep or wide.

[DavidL]

DaveL,

Try doing a lock stitch like a machine and don’t make your SPI so far apart. You'll need a hand snitcher like the one sold by Tandy catalog # 1216-00. That one is not the best, but shop around and look for one like it. Depending on the weight of your garment leather, you should be able to poke the needle/awl though with out a hole. If you’re using BT-69 weight or lighter thread, try 14 spi and see how that works for you.

Roger

I fell for the tandy starter kit for $99 when I was new to leatherworking, so I refuse to buy from them again because the sales person convinced me they were the quality tools and were worth the price and I recently got a pricking iron awl and thread for half the price.

Remember that 1/10 of an inch is 2.54mm. I've never used garment leather but most leathers would have trouble if you are opening the stitch holes wider than the distance to the next one... if you add a slice of cork or a small scrap of leather to your awl blade you won't stab quite so deep or wide.

Thats a good idea il try that.

[Jax]

I agree with what Matt said, try not to push your awl in so far, putting a small piece of leather, rubber or cork onto the blade will help with that, also be careful how tight you pull your stitches up or they will gather the leather up. Good luck with your project

Jax

[DavidL]

thank you for your reply. I watched a video of a hermes worker stitching with an identical awl as mine and he pushed it all the way through, as a rule of thumb is there an ideal size that it should be or would the smallest sized whole that would fit the needle be best.

[TwinOaks]

The hole should be big enough for both threads...but just barely. On vegtan, its good if you need pliers to get the threaded needle through the hole. With garment leather being softer, you won't likely see that much difficulty.

And just because the awl LOOKS the same, theres no way to know if the user reprofiled the edge....which is what I tend to do most of mine. Where yours may be 3mm, his/hers may be 1mm.

[DavidL]

for people looking at this thread I came up with my own method of stitching, where I using a pricking iron to mark the holes and I pierce with my awl the next 4 holes. Why I do this is because garment leather stretches a lot when you pierce a hole and often when you stitch too fast the hole would be a different size when you pull it tight. I've done this with a project im working on and so far it works great.