Help With Rolled Handles Wrinkling

[Char]

Hey guys, I'm looking to pick up some tips on making rolled handles. I've just watched an awesome video on how to hand sew them, but I'm hoping to do it on my machine since my hand stitching skills aren't very good and I don't have a clamp yet.

The major issue I'm having is that my leather is wrinkling quite a lot when I bend it.

I've been using 4oz veg tan with a vinyl tubing core. I'm using a zipper foot so I can get my stitching as close to the tubing as possible, but it still seems to be a bit loose and I think that may be contributing to the wrinkles. I have tried conditioning it, which helps a little, but I'm still not 100% happy. I was wondering if a welting/cording foot would deal with that by allowing me to sew even closer to the tubing. Has anyone tried a welting foot, and if so, could you get the stitches really close to the cording? Does it seem like that would help me? Or am I better off just biting the bullet and hand stitching?

Also- I've been glueing the leather together, but then when I go to burnish the cut edge I seem to get a lot of glue coming onto my edge, making it sticky and hard to slick down. Is there any way to prevent this? I'm using an eco-friendly water-based glue..

Any tips are appreciated! Thanks!

[5shot]

I would try it with something solid as a core. I bet the tubing is kinking and causing the wrinkles.

[Char]

I would try it with something solid as a core. I bet the tubing is kinking and causing the wrinkles.

Okay, thanks! It is definitely a bit squishy.. I'll try out a leather core instead.