Saddle Stitch Confusion

[DavidL]

I regularly saddle stitch towards me.

Left needle from backside.

right needle underneath and then on top of the hole and pull straight out.

The stitch on the front is angled the stitching on the back is slightly angled.

Now heres the confusing part

I switch to sewing away from my body.

And follow the exact same steps.

Only difference now the back also has that angle the front side has.
Exactly what I'm looking for.

When I try to replicate the same stitch I got stitching away from my body- now towards my self, I can't get the same type of stitch (w/ the back stitches angled). I also take into account the way the needle are positioned because it is flipped.

Il continue to sew away from my body because it does work. Im confused why the stitch looks different sewing towards me.

[LTC]

have you seen Nigel Armitage's video on the saddle stitch in detail? he shows left and right handed saddle stitch...in a lot of detail. and also the option of putting the needle up through the loop on one side in order to put an overhand knot in the stitch to force it to lay at the angle.

i've watched it quite a few times and i seem to pick up something new every time.

anyway, it might help.

I'm trying to visualize what you're describing...it could be the stitches don't lay right the first way due to the angle your holes are vs. the direction you're stitching.

hard for me to explain...maybe someone else can explain it better than i can.

also, try putting two pieces of leather flesh side to flesh side and then stitch a while each direction. i found i was using sort of crappy leather and it made my stitches on the flesh side appear to be straight. once i did that flesh side-to-flesh side test, it was slanted correctly on both sides without me changing how i was stitching.

not sure if that helped or made it more confusing...

Edited May 8, 2014 by LTC

[DavidL]

that makes sense to me. Flesh side to flesh side also works for me at 4 oz a piece.

I have seen nigels videos a few times and don't use an overhand since the front stitches don't separate as much. Il continue to do it away from my body and try the other and see if it works.

[Tex Shooter]

I stitch toward myself and also away from myself. I insert one needle through, while holding the thread tight on that side, I insert the other needle through and poll both threads tight. I have found that the height that I hold the tight thread while inserting the second needle makes a big difference in how the stitch looks, both front and back. Also I like to reverse the insert order of the needles when going the opposite direction. -- Tex

[DavidL]

il play around with the height of the tight thread tomorrow. Il write if I find any changes.

[LTC]

do the flesh-to-flesh test before you change anything. it could just be crappy leather...

[DavidL]

It is done flesh to flesh and it looks the same with horween and every veg tanned leather I tried (slightly slanted- mostly straight backstitches). Briefly while stitching forwards the 10 stitches all came out slanted on the backside.

[LTC]

i would recommend stitching in the forward direction then since they seem to come out right that way.