Stitching and punching?

[Invare]

Hey guy's

So I'm newer to leather work and want to start making my own designs instead of just using kits. however when stitching in the past the holes have always been there. Now I have a few ideas in mind where I'll have to punch my own holes but I'm not sure what tools to use or how to go about it.  Thank you

[JMWendt]

Get a stitching wheel and a groover.  Also get a diamond awl.  That's all you need.  Except for callouses and patience.

[Red Bear Haraldsson]

Substitute cuss words for patience until you build up enough patience to go all the way around the project.
Nigel Armitage has some good videos on saddlestitching, on youtube, he's loads of help.

[Invare]

Thank you guys I appreciate the help

[bikermutt07]

I started with a stitching wheel and a hole punch. I had the groover as well but it seemed to create more problems then it solved.

I had watched a lot ofGrierwolfe's videos. He makes sheathes. He has a nice six part series that helped me a bunch.

The hole punch method I thought was pretty easy to start out with, then I moved on to saddle stitching with the diamond awl.

Have fun.

[Acydtrip]

14 hours ago, Red Bear Haraldsson said:

Substitute cuss words for patience until you build up enough patience to go all the way around the project.
Nigel Armitage has some good videos on saddlestitching, on youtube, he's loads of help.

Decades of experience and my stitching improved more than I could imagine (from hack to more than passable) in two practice sessions after watching, listening, and absorbing what Mr Armitage had to say. 

A poor craftsman blames his tools, but I'd say one of the biggest things was to order up the same thread and needles he uses, it was like night and day.  I planned to buy some Seiwa chisels as he mentions in other videos, but bought some $15 ones off Amazon, spent a half hour polishing them up and I'm plenty happy, but I still do much of the work with an overstitch wheel and an awl.

Trip

[MADMAX22]

I use a pricking wheel and awl when hand stitching, one of these days I may try the pricking irons just havnt had a use for them yet. Guess they help with the awl stabbing. 

My word of advice is get a awl and look up some of the sharpening videos on them. Having a sharp awl is key. Armitage has a decent video of sharpening them. Once you get an awl that will punch thru a couple layers of 8oz vegtan with relative ease it will make sewing things much easier. It also allows you to concentrate on your stitching instead of fighting your awl and getting frustrated with the results. 

Using a awl for stitching and lacing will significantly improve how your stitching/lacing looks on your projects over punching holes IMHO.

[gdonovan]

I buy sheets of flimsy cardboard, draw out half my pattern using a center line (if the pattern is symmetrical) and dividers to mark out my holes. Start on your center line using half the distance (for your first hole only) you want your stitch spacing to be then lightly work your way up to your finishing point. Once you have worked out the correct spacing press the dividers through the cardboard. Careful that the dividers don't move by going back from time to time to make sure the spacing hasn't changed, this will screw up your pattern. Once you have established the stitch spacing, use an awl to punch through the cardboard.

When I have half the project cut with holes marked I very lightly score the cardboard center line and fold it over to trace out the other half, mark the holes and cut it. The gusset length can be determined by counting the amount of holes and using the dividers again (with the same stitch length). Again I use a center line (length ways and if you like width ways as well) to assure symmetry on the gusset. Triple check your hole count. The length of your stitching may take some head scratching but try it on a scrap piece first to see how the stitch looks.

I always mark my patterns front and back so I am reminded to flip the pattern over when tracing it onto the hide.

I can understand why most people would not do things this way because there is a lot of hole punching and it takes time but it's the small hole on the punch and an easy squeeze. Invest in a good hole punch if you don't already have one where the hole punches can be unscrewed (you may eventually want to unscrew the small hole on the punch to replace it with an even smaller diameter one)....many of my bag patterns have over 600 holes! lol

I hope this helps.

Cheers

[zuludog]

Surf YouTube; there are loads of videos, especially those by Armitage, and Leodis Leather

Armitage does a video called How to make a simple Wallet, or something like that. It is actually a good introduction to any leatherwork

You will need 2 awls; round aka scratch, and diamond cross section known as a harness or saddler's awl. Round is less important to start

Don't be tempted by the 4 - in - 1 awl sold by Tandy and others. It's not very good, and it's expensive. You're better off getting 2 fixed blade awls. Warning! Your harness awl must be as sharp as possible. Don't use it to scratch patterns, round/scratch awls are cheap enough to buy, or you could make your own from just about anything sharp & pointy

I've used Tandy's Craftool Awl # 83020 - 00, and I think it's quite good, as good as anything to start off with. I think it's on offer at the moment

I prefer a stitching chisel to a pricking wheel. (I think this is a common American/European preference). Note that there are 3 similar tools

A pricking chisel or pricking iron has shallow points just to mark the position of the holes. You make the holes by following up with an awl

A stitching chisel has longer prongs which you knock through the leather to make the holes, though sometimes you have to do a bit of extra work with an awl. the prongs are diamond shaped section to give you the saddle stitch pattern. 

A lacing chisel has flat prongs for sewing with thongs or lace; you only use this if you do lacing

Get a book on leathercraft, or 'The Art of Hand Sewing Leather' by Al Stohlman

For cutting leather get a cutting mat, the common green plastic thing, as big as you can manage, they're cheap enough. In Britain you can get a display card of disposeable snap-blade knives very cheaply from discount stores; must be something similar in USA

Don't buy a strop! They're easy & cheap enough to make yourself

Best wishes   Zuludog

[silverwingit]

Forget stitching wheels and awls, especially for a beginner. Not necessary if you use a Japanese-style stitching chisel. Much quicker, easier and more regular on the front and back. It takes a lot of skill to use an awl. That requires lots pf practice. You can start using stitching chisels immediately. Nigel reviews a bunch. I like Seiwas. They are good quality and inexpensive. You can get a full set for half the price of a single European pricking iron and they punch all the way through the leather instead of just marking hole locations. This is a good company to deal with.

https://www.leathercrafttools.com/tools/punch/diamond-hole-punch/list.jsp

I haven't used an awl in a long time except when the leather I am stitching is thicker than the length of the Seiwa chisel's tines. Then I just use it to penetrate the leather fully by extending the depth of the chisel holes.

A bit of time taken polishing the chisels makes them even easier to use.

I really like my CS Osborne palm awls. Great little chuck and nice feel to the handles. Also inexpensive. I actually like to use them better than my Barry King awl handle which is a full-on work of art. I stitch wet-formed pouches and need to get right next to the side of  the protruding pouch. The CS Osborne palm awl haft's chuck is smaller than Barry's and let's me do that without marking the protruding pouch.

http://www.csosborne.com/no142.htm

The next thing you should get is some Tiger thread. I'll leave that up to you.

Michelle