First attempt at inlay/overlay

[SheltathaLore]

After reading Lisa Sorrell's super awesome book on leather inlay and overlay, which I HIGHLY recommend (https://www.amazon.com/Art-Leather-Inlay-Overlay-Techniques/dp/0764351214/ )  I got inspired to try doing some on my own.  It came out surprisingly well for my first try!

Lil field notes cover for a friend who loves Magic the Gathering:

Practice piece with a character I love from an obscure mobile game:

This one has some bigger issues - I eventually gave up on the bonded nylon I was using, because it wasn't coming off the cone smoothly and caused me to skip stitches, and my other stitching isn't as smooth as it could be.  Still, I think it's pretty good for my first try!

 

[noobleather]

Great work for first attempt. Have never tried any inlay work. got me thinking now

[SheltathaLore]

53 minutes ago, noobleather said:

Great work for first attempt. Have never tried any inlay work. got me thinking now

Give it a try - it's super fun! 

[Aven]

Those turned out nicely, especially for a first attempt. 

What was the machine and thread combo that didn't work out for you?  Just curious because I'm still hand sewing and haven't ordered machine thread yet.

[SheltathaLore]

I was using some bonded nylon of unknown provenance from Ebay.  It didn't come off the spool smoothly (apparently this is a common problem with old bonded nylon), and the erratic tension caused skipped stitches.  Bonded nylon seems to be a bit tricky in general on machines that aren't set up for it (I was using my needle feed garment machine with a roller foot).  Even if it's good quality and comes off the spool evenly, it's springy enough to be tricky sometimes.

That said, if you just want a matching color and aren't using contrast stitching as a design element, regular garment sewing thread works fine.  Lisa Sorrell recommends tex 30 bonded nylon, and where it worked on my sample (I used it around the edges of the blue), it looked really nice as a contrasting color; however, if you just want it to blend in, your standard tex 30 spun polyester will do the job just fine.  It's not as strong, but inlay stitching usually isn't structural anyway.

I'm considering tracking down some Tex 30 Serafil - it's a filament polyester that's less springy than bonded nylon, and seems to be pretty well regarded (and also comes in 200+ colors, unlike lightweight bonded nylon).  I've used the upholstery weight and quite liked it.  Nobody sells it by the cone in the US, but I've contacted some suppliers, and they're happy to special order it for me - although the minimum is a box of 5 cones, all in one color.  If I confirm that it works well, let me know if you'd like to take some of the extra off my hands.

[Aven]

I'm just getting my machines up and running.  Honestly, thread sizes (not as much) needle sizes, thread types and manufactures are all a mystery to me right now, but please do keep me posted.  Send a PM if I've gone quiet.  I've got a might bit on my plate right now, now that the weather has turned nice.