Sjohnsone Report post Posted March 4, 2015 Hey guys - I don't know how I did this, but i feel like a freaking buffoon. I've never done anything like this - must have been a mismeasurement - my problem is: I'm making a leather backpack out of veg tan 4 oz and I i'm stitching the front panel to a 48 inch gusset and got 3/4 of the way through it only to realize IT'S 1/2 INCH SHORT ON THE END!! So what do I do to fix this? I thought about cutting the rest of the backpack to match the short side, but if I cut through the beginning of my saddle stitch on the right, won't it slowly just sort of fall apart? I thought about cutting all of the stitching and re-adjusting but all the darn holes are already pushed through and it'd look like a train wreck (i pride myself on super clean stitching). If I were to cut across the top and lop off 1/2 inch of the right side (beginning of the stitch, what would you guys recommend doing? I feel like an absolute bonehead. -Seth Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
THein Report post Posted March 4, 2015 Seth, Can you back off the stitching behind the bottom center, cut another piece of gusset then skive, cement grain sides together to hide the splice somewhat, sew them together and go on. Sometimes when I'm doing a long gusset I've done this just because of the length I need. Bonehead stuff happens around here more than I'd like to admit. Hope this helps, Terry www.singletreeleather.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sjohnsone Report post Posted March 4, 2015 Seth, Can you back off the stitching behind the bottom center, cut another piece of gusset then skive, cement grain sides together to hide the splice somewhat, sew them together and go on. Sometimes when I'm doing a long gusset I've done this just because of the length I need. Bonehead stuff happens around here more than I'd like to admit. Hope this helps, Terry www.singletreeleather.com Not a bad tactic and I may go that route, but It's soooo close to being one continuous piece. Pah! I'm so frustrated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grmnsplx Report post Posted March 4, 2015 (edited) What about just cutting the front panel to fit the gusset? I mean, cut the top off at an angle or swoop. Make it part of the design. You may want to be more aggressive than just half an inch, though. Snip the gusset and front panel off at 3 inches on the right side. I'd keep the back panel and back side of the gusset the original intended length though. Edited March 4, 2015 by grmnsplx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MonicaJacobson Report post Posted March 5, 2015 Or.... just cut the threads, cut yourself a new gusset, and go from there. The stitching wouldn't look quite as nice, but it probably wouldn't be noticeably worse, while a design change might ruin the whole project. You can use the old gusset on something else later. I always leave an inch on each side of the gusset because of that exact problem. Then I have to figure out what to do with the extra later, which is its own headache. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sjohnsone Report post Posted March 5, 2015 Well I figured it out - thought I'd thank you guys. I completely forgot I (luckily) looped off my saddle stitch to make dinner while doing the first side, so I ended up piping the threads back from that tie-off and fit the whole thing down to be even. Looks right as rain! Life tip learned. From now on I'll sew each panel in its own segment to be safe! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites