Hand Sewing Corners

[CoreyChiev]

Hello Awl! (hehe bad pun)

I'm having a problem saddle stitching around corners for a purse. When I try to attach the gusset to the front of the purse my sewing is fine as I sew down the straight edge. When I start sewing around a corner however, it seems like one side of the sewing lags behind the other and doesnt line up properly. This makes the gusset not come up to the proper height when I get up to the other side of the bag. I'm always short.

Any tips as to what I am doing wrong? Should I be counting the holes that I punched to make sure they are equal? I'm using a 3mm pronged punch for the whole project, and my spacing seems even. I'm at a loss. I'm even using a template, so I know the gusset is the proper length with respect to the front and back panels of the purse.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Corey

[ClaireAshton]

Just stitch until you are half a stitch out, then do one double and you are back on track. See Nigel Armitage on youtube with a demo and description. Sorry, can't recall which video. once you have done it you will find it really easy.

BW

Claire

[JLSleather]

This a firm bag, or soft? Gusset edges turned in, or out?

[CoreyChiev]

Thanks Claire, I will find that video.

JLS, It is a firm bag, I wanted to start with what I thought was simple, so I put flesh to flesh side and stitched. Gusset edges turned out. Do you think it may be a hole count punching problem?

Thanks,

Corey

Edited January 12, 2015 by CoreyChiev

[JLSleather]

More likely a distance from the bend to the edge problem, but tough to tell without pics. I take it the gusset is on the INSIDE, not the other way around. The height of the gusset is the distance LEFT above the fold line. The lower the fold line, the higher the top edge, and the more it will be "off", even tho your parts are correctly cut.

I generally don't punch holes until it's assembled, and I just line up the CENTER of the gusset where it goes. You could mark the outside of the bag while it's flat if it's easier.

[DavidL]

You could make registration marks on the two pieces. left side, right side, bottom. Before you put it together either do one of the two methods (there are several methods).

Only mark with the pricking iron on one piece glue together then sew. Method two - mark up both pieces with a pricking iron except for the corners and free hand the corners (or mark up the face side all the way around, on the gusset piece mark everything but the curved part).

keep in mind flesh side to flesh the pattern should give the gusset enough width so that it isn't tight unless thats the desired outcome. When glueing, glue the two ends two ends together first and you will know from there how much bend/tension will be needed around the corners and you can check if it fits correctly. Casting the stitch is more forgiving (on the back side stitches) than a regular saddle stitch so that should be considered... exception is on thin soft suede like leathers that can't handle the tension.

[Birdman]

I am not quite certain that I fully understand your Q. But....

If it is how I think it is, have you tried using single tack stitches tied off over the top to hold the parts in place while you stitch along the length? Snip through the tack stitch and remove the thread as you get close to each one. The number and spacing of the tack stitches are dependant on the particular corner(s).

This will stop the work 'creeping'.

Tip. Use the awl and make the tack stitch in the same way as you would for the rest of the work or you will end up with a slightly wonky looking stitch where the tack stitch was placed!

I hope this helps.

[billybopp]

I cheat. Gussets seem to have a way of never matching up quite exactly, almost no matter what way you try to do them. Leather can shrink a bit under certain circumstances and stretch under others. So, I cut it just a little bit long and then trim off the excess after at least one side is glued and sewn in place. It works every time.

Bil

[Tramps Leatherworking]

I agree with billybopp, I leave it a little long then trim --- I never considered it cheating, just good planning...

[CoreyChiev]

I'm going to try all of the above on this project and see if I can't get it to come out decent. My one big problem with the " cut the gusset a little longer and trim" is that I also like to tool a design onto the gusset. (I know, I'm a bit of an overachiever) It makes it difficult to get the design centered, and not have it lopsided, or higher up on one side than the other. If it was blank, this would be really simple. But I do everything the hard way. How else do I learn? LOL

I will get a picture of my sewing project posted here hopefully so I can show you where my difficulty lies.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Corey

[JLSleather]

That was my thinking too. I make holsters, and I've been trying to get some of the patterns into the computer (between other stuff- and without putting in 20 hour days). I git foks askin' WHY you need a pattern, just fold the leather... Which is nice if you're going to sew and dip it in dye. But some of these holsters will be TOOLED, so where it stops MATTERS. Enough about that.. those who tool already know what I mean, and those who dont tool don't apparently need to know

The good news is, your parts CAN be pre-cut to the right size.