Watch Strap Making

[AndersenLeather]

1) I made mine 2 mm oversize and trimed it down after it was sewn together. I think you could go down to 1 mm.

2) Hand sew

3) Fil au chinois thread size 632 (0,51mm in diameter) 8.5 spi

4) It does not mean much. Some say that sewing across will weaken the strap but I don't think that straps that have been sewn across has a tendency to break. I don't do it though

[iWERKS]

TomG

1) I make mine about 0.5mm wider which gets taken down by sanding/burnishing the edges

2) Hand sew

3) I used the waxed nylon thread from Tandy as well as 4 ply waxed linen thread. I believe it's around to 0.8mm in diameter. The linen thread comes in more colours but I'm finding that it's starting to become fuzzy. Might just be cheap thread. I heard nothing but good things about Tiger thread. I will try that next.

4) I've never considered any advantage/disadvantage to sewing across the strap at the pin. If I choose to, it's purely for appearance.

[jwallace]

@TomG:

1) I make mine to fit. It's all a preference, but I have found that trimming small amounts of leather off is always nerve-wracking for me if it's already stitched. I'd just hate to go through all that work only to slice it too close.

2) Hand sew.

3) I use 0.6mm Tiger Thread and it really is the best stuff I've used. It's expensive as hell but the difference is that remarkable.

4) I've been told that sewing across the pin isn't really advised because it weakens the leather in that spot, essentially perforating it at a high stress area. While I could see that being problematic on a strap that might see some actual pull and stress, I just don't see strapping it on one's wrist coming close to that level of stress.

Nice bands. I do have a couple of questions. I've only made a couple of 2 ply straps and wasn't real happy with my quality. Mainly the stitching.

1) Do you make it oversize and trim it down after gluing together and then sew?

2) Do you hand sew or are you using a machine?

3) What weight thread did you use?

4) is there any benefit or difference between sewing across the strap at the pin or not?

Thanks in advance.