Saddle Stich

[Moody]

Good night.

I have a doubt; when you do the saddle stich it stays only in front and not at the back of the piece?

i´ve seen several videos and did the same and the result is the photos that i atached.

Can someone tell me if what i´m doing is the right way?

Thank you

[camano ridge]

your question is not clear, however I think you are reffering to the fact that in one picture your stitch is fairly straight and in the other picture it is some what angled. What are you using to make your stitching holes?

Edited June 27, 2013 by camano ridge

[Moody]

yes; the first picture is the front of the piece and the second photo is the back of the piece. I´m using a pricking iron to make the stiching holes.

[camano ridge]

It is my understanding that a pricking iron is primarily for marking the holes and not actualy making the holes. I use i diamond awl for making the holes.

[Moody]

but using the pricking iron to make the holes till the other side makes any difference on the stiching?

[lightningad]

i think when you use the iron to punch the holes, the hole will be wider on the front because of the bevel on the cutting edge. The rear of the hole will be a slit. Using a diamond awl gives a more even shape to the hole on both sides of the leather.

You should watch

- Nigel gives the best explanation of how to saddle stitch - and shows in detail how to do it correctly. He also has plenty of other videos on his youtube channel. In my opinion you should watch all of them, because he is such a good teacher and craftsman.

adam

[thekid77]

hey Moody, Adam is right--Nigel's videos are so awesome...he has put up two videos that deal with the specifics of the saddle stitch...like Adam said, get on Nigels' youtube channel and watch all of his videos...

if you have questions, ask him--he is always willing to help us beginners...in fact, most of the videos he has posted on his channel are video response answers to questions that people have asked him!!!

By the way, your stitching looks fine...just remember that no matter what you do, do it the same way every time...lots of things affect the way that the thread lays, such as angle of the awl, how tight you pull each stitch, and also the density of the leather to name a few..

[AndersenLeather]

I have the same problem when I sew "thin" leather. Try to sew 2 pieces of +6oz together and see if that changes the result.

I do not know how to get it uniform front and back with thin leather and it seems that nobody can come up with a good solution? In one of the videos from Nigel he mentions that when you sew in thin leather this can be a problem. His solution is to form a knot within the stitch.. I have tried this but it does not seem to work. He shows it using a single piece of leather with huge holes.

[Matt S]

I get a better result on the back when I cast each stitch.

[silverwingit]

+1 with Matt S. In case you don't know what he means by "casting" stitches, Nige explains all the why's, where's and how's in detail quite well here, from 5:55 - 11:30 - http://youtu.be/TGuiha5S2oE Especially effective on thin leather.

[Mechanical Cowgirl]

I haven't sewn thin leather, but my mom does a lot of sewing (machine) and she often uses a smaller diameter thread on the under side than on the top. Maybe this would help in hand stitching as well? Just a thought...

[Northmount]

I haven't sewn thin leather, but my mom does a lot of sewing (machine) and she often uses a smaller diameter thread on the under side than on the top. Maybe this would help in hand stitching as well? Just a thought...

Saddle stitching threads keep alternating sides. Only on machines or sewing awls do you have a thread that's only on top and one that is only on the bottom. (Lock-stitch)

On thin leather, just barely snug up the thread else it will cause wrinkles along the stitch line.

Tom

[Moody]

thank you for all your comments