Stitch Line Distance To An Edge

[JamesR]

How close to the edge should the stitch line be?

It seems to me it would depend somewhat on the leather's thickness.

What are your thoughts?

[King's X]

I use 3/16" as norm but Al Stohlman's books shows that using the thickness of the leather does take some consideration.

[JLSleather]

Yeah, thickness is an issue - mostly for cosmetics. A 3/8" thick project with a "skinny" stitch line just doesn't look right. But never less than 1/8"

[soccerdad]

For most of the cross body bags and small accessories I make, I use 1/8". I have gone in a little further -- maybe 3/16" -- for a full-sized bag using thick leather. I don't have Valerie Michael's "Leatherworking Handbook" in front of me, but I think that's more or less what she specifies. That book and Stohlman's works are my go-to references.

[SmokeyPoint]

In general, the thicker the leather, the larger the edger you will use to get a pleasing, rounded edge. That rounded edge will cut in farther in from the edge with a larger edger than it will with a smaller one, so that alone should cause you to move your scribe line some. And the thread will generally be thicker, and generally the stitch length will be longer giving the appearance of crowding the edge. I say "Generally" because all is subjective to personal tastes. So, if you do one project with 8oz leather and switch to 4oz leather on another project and change all of the above without adjusting your spacing from the edge for your stitch line, it will look too far away. Or maybe it won't - it's up to your tastes.

I like to sew up a small scrap piece to see how it will look, starting with a scribe line at double my stitch length. So 5 SPI = .20 in/stitch, I'll scribe a line at .4" and maybe another at .3" or .35", edge and stitch and see where to go from there. I'm looking for the pleasing balance between stitch length, edge bevel, spacing from edge bevel, etc. Maybe I'll use a smaller edger, or change the stitch length until I'm happy. I never go more than double my stitch length as I feel this would weaken the edge.

Here is a holster with about 10oz between the main leather and the lining leather, folded so about 20oz total sewing thickness, sewn at 5 spi. I did this one at .4" from the edge, but used a #2 tandy edger, which gave it a flatter, less rounded look.

[JamesR]

Smokeypoint,

Thank you for another way of looking at this. .4" seems like a lot but it looks good in you photo.

How heavy was the cord you used?

[SmokeyPoint]

James, right you are - .4" is a bit much. I wrote this on the train heading to my day job. I forgot one step. I mark the stitches, fold, glue, stitch and THEN take a drum sander to do the final shape on the edges. Then I round over the edges, sand, burnish, etc. So the final edge probably ends up around .3" to .35" from the actual stitching. Sorry about that.

Like I said, I use a scrap piece to simulate exactly what I am going to do to the final item, so I always have a visual reference to how it's going to end up. I keep the piece with notes on it so I only need to do it once for a pattern, but almost everything I make has one of these.

The thread is 1.2mm tiger thread @ 5 SPI, so keep in mind that using slanted stitches, the actual stitches overlap the scribe line quite a bit.

[SmokeyPoint]

Ok, this was an interesting exercise. I just measured various items that I have stitched the way I described above. It turns out that I'm removing more material in the sanding of the edge than I thought. That holster has a stitch line that ultimately measures .3" from the far edge, so I wound up removing 0.1" of material in the sanding. But with the width of the stitches and the rounding over of the edge, the stitches begin 0.25" from the edge, and 0.20" from the stitch to the beginning of the rounded edge - which is exactly the same as the stitch length.

I also measured a minimalist wallet that I stitched at 7spi, and the rounded edge happens to be ~0.15" from the stitch. Which also is very, very close to the stitch length.

So, I guess my particular tastes have the stitches showing a stitch length of leather between the stitch and the start of the edging. There you have it, I always learn something from this forum...

[Dwight]

Some years ago, I bought my first stitch line gouger, . . . from Tandy.

I messed around with adjusting, . . . moving, . . . trying, . . . etc.

One day I got fed up with it, . . . set it at a +/- 3/16", . . . locked down the screw, . . . ground off the rest of the post, . . . been using it ever since.

I do have an adjustable one for "other jobs", . . . but this is my go to gouger, . . . use it almost all the time.

May God bless,

Dwight

[soccerdad]

Similar to Dwight's approach, I have a larger and a smaller groover set to about 3/16" and 1/8", respectively.

[snubbyfan]

I'll generally go about 3/16" or so. Often I don't measure, I just go with looks about right to me.

This holster was measured and the stitch line was placed at 3/16".

[JamesR]

I know in Stolhman's book on stitching he advises that the stitch line be the same distance as the total thickness of the sewn parts.

I can see how this might not look right on some sheaths or holsters. I guess my question really has to do with the strength of the stitchline. Depending on the cord size,spi and awl size how much leather does one need to the edge for strength.

I imagine the grain of the leather might also be relevant.

Edited January 29, 2016 by JamesR

[zuludog]

The first book I got on leatherwork was 'Leatherwork: A Practical Guide' by Chris Taylor

In it he states that the stitching line should be set back from an edge by the same distance as the thickness of the leather, even if several layers are used

For example; I make knife sheaths from 3,5mm veg tan leather. A sheath has a front, a back, and a welt, so the total thickness is 10,5mm. But the stitching is still set back 3,5mm