Stitches Not Overlap Or Touch

[mrtreat32]

I finally found a way that I like that gets a good looking stitch. Left needle first from backside. Right needle in front of left needle - not on top but away from your body. Then the right needle goes in the hole above or below the hole but keep it the same the whole time. The left thread is 135 degrees and the right thread is -45 degrees. This is how i get my stitches to look good.

I use 532 fil au chinois on 3 oz veg tan kangaroo - 7spi and 3mm awl.

my tiger thread is going to be used a lot less. Im really liking the results. 632 is also going to be in my cart for 9 SPI.

Stitches looks nice!

I spoke too soon. Mine don't overlap anymore. I was sewing on a single piece of leather up until yesterday to practice my stitching but last night I tried working on a actual project and my stitching looks much different now that I have 2 pieces of veg tan that Im going through. Im guess the thickness of the project influences the way they form somewhat.

Tried out the white tiger thread (.006) for the first time and I got better results than the Fil au chinois. Maybe it looked better partially because I was sewing a light piece of veg tan and the black had a lot more contrast to show off any mistakes. Still need to get the back of my stitches looking decent...all over the place at the moment.

Tiger thread I was able to thread the needle on the first attempt each time and the Fil au chinois I can't for the life of me get it down. It takes me 3-4 attempts to get it through the eye.. I have tried the slanted knife trick and I wax the ends etc. not really sure what Im doing wrong.

[YinTx]

DavidL,

I was just looking at the backside of your stitching, and noted that it appears the slant of your thread is opposite the slant of the holes. IE, where the thread would be in the bottom of the hole as in the front side stitch, it is in the top instead. Can anyone indicate whether this is correct or not? I too am still in the process of learning stitching by hand, and I want to have a correct and even result as well, which I am discovering takes much patience, practice, the correct tools for the correct thread, and an understanding for what the correct outcome should be.

YinTx

[DavidL]

Back stitching slants the opposite direction of the front. That was done a year ago and I don't have it on hand. Based on how the thread lays nearly flat I can tell that was done with a regular stitch (leather is too thin to cast thread anyways)

If I casted the thread it would be same direction.

Out of all the stitching I have done I haven't been able to fully replicate the stitching above. Why? I don't know for sure. The change from then is I no longer use leather like that anymore (which was hard and dense kangaroo) and just as important I sanded down my dixon iron teeth width slightly thinner. That specific picture above I hit all the way through with my iron and stabbed to open it up as I go.

When it comes to getting consistent stitching the variables are extremely important. So my post will be in-depth about things that seemingly don't matter but makes tiny changes to the stitching.

All the common things, like keeping you awl straight, 45 degree angle, hitting the pricking iron solidly (solid NEVER hollow backing like a tree stump) is important. Hammering glued edges first to combine the two leathers into one. If you don't do these for sure the stitching will not look the best it could. Stiffer leathers in my opinion create a better looking stitch.

More in-depth things include keeping your forearm stiff. A different thickness of awl for different SPI. It may not seem like a difference but the hole in the back needs to be bigger for thicker SPI, meaning thicker thread - too small on the back side the thread lays uneven because its compacted in, it needs some room to lay properly. Grinding your awl to a rounded tip rather than a pointy tip - the small tip isn't great in my opinion, a youtuber under the name leathertoolz has a video talking about this exact subject.

Even more in-depth is focusing on the arm movements like a rhythm like you are shooting a pool shot, basketball shot or whatever. Placing the needle in the hole quickly and pulling the thread at the same angle and strength. Overtime you shouldn't need to think about anything.

Best things to make sure:

Technique is proper

thread, SPI, and thickness of awl is proper

Leather is stiff and high quality leathers, better quality the stitches look better

Not letting your focus stray

Thing to look out for:

Too soft of a leather (very difficult to keep tension light, hole closes up quick) - sometimes unpredictable stitch

not too thick of leather over 6mm - difficult to stab through all pieces besides pricking all pieces individually

Anyways.. thats just how I look at it. Once you figure out what works with all the practicing you don't have to think about it at all and the information will come to your brain like the way you can recite your birthday, your favourite foods without thinking. Some may say parts of it are wrong so the only way to tell is practice and figure out what is true for you.