Slippery Needles Makes Hard Hand Stitching

[zuludog]

Pliers, rubber grips, and similar tricks will help solve the difficulty of pulling tight needles through leather, but they won't overcome the basic cause, which is that the needles are too tight. You should be able to push & pull needles through the leather easily & smoothly just with bare fingers.

Since a standard awl makes an adequate hole, and you would have to search quite a lot to find a very small/narrow awl, it is more likely that your needles are too big

I very much suggest that you find some smaller needles. Even if you can manage with those you have, the correct, smaller, size will be less tiring in the long run

Also, have a look at this video by Nigel Armitage on YouTube; 'Saddle Stitch In Detail'. Between about 3min 30sec and 4min 30sec he discusses needle size

[silverwingit]

All true, zuludog.

But there are always times when bare fingers just don't do it. Backstitching is one example.

Michelle

[zuludog]

Even if you get the needle & hole combination right you might occasionally need to use pliers, eg when backstitching, but this should be an exception

Sometimes, if the needles are just slightly too tight for bare fingers, but not so tight to need pliers, I use a thimble.

I also use a thimble if my fingertips get a bit tender. As I do this as a hobby, and not full-time, my fingers don't become hard enough

You can use a round/scratch awl as a small fid to stretch a hole slightly for backstitching without damaging the stitching or permanently enlarging the hole

Edited March 16, 2015 by zuludog

[wmartin636]

A medical needle holder or clamp is good to have on hand for those times when you need to yank a needle through. They are basically a hemostat with no teeth to scratch. I keep one dangling on my little finger and swing it up to grasp when I need it. Find them on Ebay, or use a hemostat, but only grab the needle with the smooth part of the jaws near the hinge, not the serrated portion closer to the end. Have used these in surgery for years, natural for me to carry it over to leatherwork.

[silverwingit]

You can put short lengths of plastic or rubber (better) tube over the jaws of hemostats. Very good positive grip without any damage to the needle.

Oh, and I like the idea of keeping on your finger while you stitch.

Michelle

[gmace99]

Instead of picking up pliers, Pick up a piece of beeswax and grab the needle with that and pull it throw. After doing that once or twice your fingers will grip the needle easy and give you better finger grip.

[Paramedic04]

I've got a pair of hemostats with heatshrink tubing on the jaws all the way to the hinge. No marks on the needles, and easier to keep up with than pliers.

[Horny G Leather]

I have realized that it is hanging up on the eye of the needle. I was using Tandy needles. It looks like the eye is larger than the John James needles. Has anyone else had problems with Tandy needles?

[AllanD]

I use to use Tandy's large eye needle for stitching to make it easier to thread. I had a couple break at the eye because they were so difficult to get through the leather. I think the pressure of the leather around the awl hole was too much for the steel of the needle. I changed to normal needles. They go through the hole easier, or seem to anyway. Threading them wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.

[Horny G Leather]

I just got some John James needles yesterday in the mail, there seems to be a big difference between them and Tandy's. The eye is much smaller. I should be test driving them by Wednesday.