Gusset Virginity

[Carnivore]

After a year or so of making key fobs, wallets, bookmarks, coin purses etc. I decided to take the plunge and loose my " gusset virginity" as a first step towards making a hand bag. So my first gusseted project was a belt pouch. It turned out no too bad ( in my opinion) and sewing in the gusset was not as hard as I thought it would be. The leather I used was Tandy 5 oz. veg tan and the color is Tandy Eco-Flo Water stain Tan.

[SickMick]

Looks great to me too....

 

[bermudahwin]

Great first bag, but gusset virginity conjures up an entirely different subject

Thanks for the late night smile.

H

[Brownie1]

That looks excellent did you use a machine for the stitching or is it hand stitched?

[Carnivore]

It is hand stitched.

[aaljarbou]

Beautiful pouch. Did you stitch with an awl?

There is something I don't quite understand about these type of U shaped gussets. If you are making something larger or with thicker leather or even with a rounder shaped U, how do you make sure the inside U doesn't wrinkle?

I mean, imagine lying the two pieces flat and chiseling them all the way through. When laid flat, the holes line up when stitching and there is no problem, but when you curve the two pieces into a U shape and start stitching, the inside U piece will start to wrinkle. This is because the space between two stitching holes on the inside piece are now slightly shorter than the space between two stitching holes on the outside piece. Does that make sense? Does anyone have any thoughts on this problem?

[bikermutt07]

Way to bust your cherry. That looks good.

[Rockoboy]

48 minutes ago, aaljarbou said:

how do you make sure the inside U doesn't wrinkle?

I think the answer to your question is ... skiving. Reduce the thickness of the edge of the gusset so that it does not wrinkle when it conforms to the shape required.

Alternatively, use a series of small V shaped cut-outs around the curve so the 2 pieces of leather are closer to the same shape after stitching.

[Sheilajeanne]

I've done a messenger bag from a Tandy pattern, and that was exactly how they dealt with the lower end of the gusset - there was a V-shaped notch in it to keep it from wrinkling. Never had a problem with the stitching!