desertwastes Report post Posted June 8, 2017 (edited) Question regarding pricking iron sizes. I like the handmade look of the more spaced out stitching. I'm wondering if someone could tell me the size I have (top) compared to the one used in bottom project? (The latter is a wallet made by a friend of mine.) I would have preferred to use a wider one, which I will have to purchase. Second question: What kind of thread is used in the bottom piece? It looks quite thin compared to what I used. I almost thought it was dental floss.. Side note .. The top, dark brown leather was my first attempt at stitching. It's a small sheath I made for my japanese skive. It looks quite awful, I know. Mistakes/Things I learned: 1) The pricking irons were not sharpened, simply because I did not have the resources and was anxious to try. 2) The stitching was too close to the edge, and so the welt started moving over since I couldn't get the needle through the thickness of the 3 pieces. ( I snapped easily 3 needles.) This also cause everything to be wildly uneven. 3) I should have hammered the pricking irons in each piece before I glued them together for stitching. Edited June 8, 2017 by desertwastes typo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
480volt Report post Posted June 8, 2017 Hi Desertwastes, Just lay a ruler on the work and measure the the stitches per inch. If you are doing multilayer construction and you can glue it first, that makes things much easier. I never sharpen my irons, as all they need to do is leave a mark on the surface to locate where to put the awl. It sounds like you are driving pricking irons all the way through the work. If you want to do it that way, a stitching chisel will serve you better. Otherwise, use the irons just for layout and make the hole with a diamond-shaped awl. There are excellent YouTube tutorials on this, Nigel Armitages' are particularly well done. Good luck, others may be able to elaborate on your thread question. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LumpenDoodle2 Report post Posted June 8, 2017 Try a bit of a polish, rather than sharpening, and a little bit od beeswax helps too (sort of stab the points into the wax, making sure you avoid the pink bits, they're your fingers). The Nigel Armitage videos will help you out no end, worked for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
