How To Even Out The Distance Between Stitch Marks?

[thekid77]

so, say you're making your stitch marks along a stitch line (with overstitch/pricking wheel/pricking iron, etc), and you get to near the end of your stitch line and realize that there is either slightly too much space or not enough space to end with that last stich on the corner...

does anybody know of a way to precisely even out the distance between all the stitch marks when this problem comes up?

for example, say you get to the end of the stitch line and there's going to be either slightly too much or too little space between that last stitch mark and the corner........if there was a way to distribute that little bit of space off between all the stitches, it would not be noticeable to the naked eye....

but i cant figure out how to do this...please share!!!

Thanks

[Thor]

Honestly I haven't had that issue yet, but if I would, I guess I would do a half stitch or a few smaller stitches in between somewhere so it wouldn't be on that corner.

[TwinOaks]

Of course there's a way to handle this!!! You'll need a set of wing dividers, and here's what you do - measure how much short or long the odd stitch will be. Then divide that number by 3, 4, or 5 (whichever is easier) and subtract/add that from/to your standard stitch size. This new stitch size , either slightly less or slightly more, should cover the odd spacing. Then set the wing dividers to the new size and mark the holes. You spread the variance over 3, 4, or 5 stitches and it is less noticeable than one or two stitches that are different.

[DavidL]

I make the last stitch in the corner slightly longer. If your iron is spaced 3mm and theres 7mm of leather away from the edge the last stitch is an extra 1mm. If there is 8mm of leather you could lengthen two stitches to 4mm each to even it out. The longest stitch that a 3mm stitch will be is 5mm.

The best way is to create a pattern that is made for that SPI so that you know the stitching will fit. You could go as far as making a mock up on a scrap replica and see how many mm's to tweak.

[Jim]

The absolute best way is to mark out your stitch placements on your template. That way you can fudge a little to get them evened out. Then use a scratch awl to premark them on the leather.

Done it this way for many years. Hasn't failed me yet.

Jim

[snubbyfan]

My method's covered in my video.

[pg043]

I agree with the previous posters that it's best to plan for the particular SPI you will be using when you make your pattern. That being said, if I'm just putting something together quickly I usually don't . To improvise on the fly, Twin Oaks's method is correct. Another thing that will help is that I never go all the one from one corner to another if I'm not sure my stitching will fit perfectly. So start on one side, work almost to the middle, then move over to the other side and work towards the middle. That way, you know your corners are going to be perfect and you can figure out where to split the difference in the middle where it doesn't matter as much.

[thekid77]

Honestly I haven't had that issue yet, but if I would, I guess I would do a half stitch or a few smaller stitches in between somewhere so it wouldn't be on that corner.

that's what I was thinking, especially since the eyes tend to flow toward the corners...thank you

Of course there's a way to handle this!!! You'll need a set of wing dividers, and here's what you do - measure how much short or long the odd stitch will be. Then divide that number by 3, 4, or 5 (whichever is easier) and subtract/add that from/to your standard stitch size. This new stitch size , either slightly less or slightly more, should cover the odd spacing. Then set the wing dividers to the new size and mark the holes. You spread the variance over 3, 4, or 5 stitches and it is less noticeable than one or two stitches that are different.

great idea! thank you, i use the dividers all the time but I haven't used them like that just yet...I'll have to try it!!

I make the last stitch in the corner slightly longer. If your iron is spaced 3mm and theres 7mm of leather away from the edge the last stitch is an extra 1mm. If there is 8mm of leather you could lengthen two stitches to 4mm each to even it out. The longest stitch that a 3mm stitch will be is 5mm.

The best way is to create a pattern that is made for that SPI so that you know the stitching will fit. You could go as far as making a mock up on a scrap replica and see how many mm's to tweak.

yeah that's what I was thinking as well, just make the pattern custom to fit the SPI....thank you for the imput!!

The absolute best way is to mark out your stitch placements on your template. That way you can fudge a little to get them evened out. Then use a scratch awl to premark them on the leather.

Done it this way for many years. Hasn't failed me yet.

Jim

Thank you for sharing Jim!!!

My method's covered in my video.

Thanks for posting this!!!

I agree with the previous posters that it's best to plan for the particular SPI you will be using when you make your pattern. That being said, if I'm just putting something together quickly I usually don't . To improvise on the fly, Twin Oaks's method is correct. Another thing that will help is that I never go all the one from one corner to another if I'm not sure my stitching will fit perfectly. So start on one side, work almost to the middle, then move over to the other side and work towards the middle. That way, you know your corners are going to be perfect and you can figure out where to split the difference in the middle where it doesn't matter as much.

great idea...I'm going to give it a go the next time I have the awl in my hand!!! thank you!!