Black watch strap with red stitching

[Danne]

Tapered from 20-18, and with round padding.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions, and I do my best to help.

 

[Retswerb]

Wow. That’s a great looking watchband.

[LatigoAmigo]

6 hours ago, Danne said:

if you have any questions

No questions, just compliments. Beautiful watchband, fantastic photos. Good work.

[Tugadude]

Great in all aspects.  Yes, I would like to know details about the stitching.  Method and materials would be interesting to know.

 

Thanks!

[bamboor]

Great

[Danne]

6 hours ago, Tugadude said:

Great in all aspects.  Yes, I would like to know details about the stitching.  Method and materials would be interesting to know.

 

Thanks!

 

The tools and materials used for stitching. Irons: Ksblade 3.0/9SPI, Awl: Kyoshin Elle diamond Small, heavily modified from a diamond to flat (2mm). I almost always use an awl to open the holes from 1.6mm to 2mm width, the only time I don't is when I stitch a really thin watch strap without cast, then I prefer a smaller hole because the backside looks better. Thread: Meisi 40 lin thread (0.45mm) I often choose Meisi instead of Fil Au Chinois even if I have the same color of both brands. Meisi is more even and no lumps in the thread. And they have smaller spools.)

And the stitching. I cast the thread with moderate angles here. There are a lot of information and tutorials for saddle stitching, but very little information around stitching really thin leather. (This watch strap have 2mm thick edges)  From analyzing others work and tests I've done this is my conclusion. There are four ways to saddle stitch this thin leather with thread size around 0.4-0.5mm, and one of them give perfect results (But close to impossible on a strap with padding.

1. Punch from both sides with the same iron: You punch the top //// and the lining //// before assembly which results in a hole looking like an X and you stitch without cast, this result in an even nice slant on both sides. 

2. Stitch without cast: Front side looks really good with a nice slanted stitch line. But the back side gets straight.

3. Stitch with cast and moderate angels. Both front and back side looks good, but front straightens a bit (I prefer a little gap between stitches) 

4. Stitch with cast and heavier angels. The front side looks good, but the back side often looks uneven (Might be because I'm inexperienced.) 

And of course it also depends on the type of leather. A stiffer leather is a lot easier to stitch with an even result.

 

Tools/materials.

Ksblade irons: http://ksbladepunch.com/product/pricking-irons

Kyoshin Elle awl: https://www.goodsjapan.com/kyoshin-elle-leathercraft-stitching-awl-for-sewing-leather-diamond-point-small-438-p.asp

Meisi thread: https://www.meisithreads.com/waxed-linen-threads

 

If you don't feel comfortable reshaping awls then I would go for an awl from Palosanto Factory. And even though I really like Ksblade. They cost a lot. People seem very happy with pricking irons from Kevin Lee.

 

[Tugadude]

Thanks for the detailed information.  I think the thing about soft, thin leather is that casting is made less effective due to the overall thickness of the piece.  I have no problem getting a nice slant on two layers of 4/5 oz. leather but when doing a leather strap or bracelet, casting just doesn't work as well for me.  I find it easy to tug too hard in order to get the knot to sit down.  

Anyway, thanks for sharing your process!

[Danne]

17 minutes ago, Tugadude said:

Thanks for the detailed information.  I think the thing about soft, thin leather is that casting is made less effective due to the overall thickness of the piece.  I have no problem getting a nice slant on two layers of 4/5 oz. leather but when doing a leather strap or bracelet, casting just doesn't work as well for me.  I find it easy to tug too hard in order to get the knot to sit down.  

Anyway, thanks for sharing your process!

Yes exactly. With thin soft leather both tension and tension angles are very sensitive. Thicker leather is more forgiving. And a straight stitch (no cast) on the back side of a strap or a bracelet doesn't have to look bad. 

[GeneH]

Beautiful stitching - it's a fine piece to use as an example of how stitching can look.  I'm really digging the red-on-black.

Thanks for the details you posted yesterday, in particular the 4 concise bullets, hardware and reference to Meisi thread. I'll probably order some, particularly because it comes in smaller spools.  Back to the bullet points: I have pictures of stitching where I did something similar - now I can use those 4 bullet points to go back and evaluate again what I did.

When  you mention,"... moderate angels...," and "...heavier angles...," are you referring to how you pull the thread, such as up-forward, down-back (or whichever direction it's supposed to go) to help set the thread slant?

[Danne]

25 minutes ago, GeneH said:

Beautiful stitching - it's a fine piece to use as an example of how stitching can look.  I'm really digging the red-on-black.

Thanks for the details you posted yesterday, in particular the 4 concise bullets, hardware and reference to Meisi thread. I'll probably order some, particularly because it comes in smaller spools.  Back to the bullet points: I have pictures of stitching where I did something similar - now I can use those 4 bullet points to go back and evaluate again what I did.

When  you mention,"... moderate angels...," and "...heavier angles...," are you referring to how you pull the thread, such as up-forward, down-back (or whichever direction it's supposed to go) to help set the thread slant?

Thank you. I find stitching to be one of the biggest challenges when it comes to leathercraft. Glue two stiff 2mm/5oz pieces together, and practice and soon you get a decent result. Stitch a wallet where you have mixed stiff and soft leather, a different thickness in "every corner" in some places you cast, in other places you don't. You can't do a practice stitch on scrap pieces, because you have skived edges and a lot of layers of leather.

 

Regarding the angles. When you have /// on your right side, and stitch towards yourself. The most common way is to pull the thread left upwards and away from yourself. Right thread downwards and towards yourself. I don't get good results this way on thinner softer leather. (around 2-2.5mm in total thickness.) 

Moderate angles: Left hand straight out, right hand follows the hole (down and towards myself.)

Heavier angles: Left hand slightly upwards, right hand follows the hole (down and towards myself.)

 

This is what works for me, it might be different for you, but give it a try. The most important thing isn't to get the perfect "slant". consistency is. 

[Smartee]

Awesome!

[arashikage]

Fantastic! Love the color combo!

The one thing i'm not familiar with is, what do you mean by with and without "cast"?

[Danne]

17 minutes ago, arashikage said:

Fantastic! Love the color combo!

The one thing i'm not familiar with is, what do you mean by with and without "cast"?

Thank you,

When you go through with your needle (before you tension the thread) you either go over the loop (not casting) or through the loop (cast)

You find some good tutorials on Youtube. For example Armitage Leather and Ian Atkinsson. And here are good pictures on casting the thread.

http://andersenleather.blogspot.com/2015/10/sewing-leather-using-saddle-stitch.html

 

[GregS]

Nice looking watch band

[GeneH]

Wow - having some places to cast, some not - I hadn't realized you had that much variation when stitching your wallets. That makes it even more impressive. Thanks for the details!

 

[noobleather]

Great work and great details on methods used. Thankyou

[Tugadude]

22 hours ago, GeneH said:

Wow - having some places to cast, some not - I hadn't realized you had that much variation when stitching your wallets. That makes it even more impressive. Thanks for the details!

 

Gene, that is why stitching is as much art as craft in my opinion.  There are constant challenges whether it is the change in materials, i.e. thickness of leather, temper of leather, tannage, etc. or changes in thread size, etc.  

I am in the construction industry and in my experience a journeyman can take any circumstance and make it work.  That ability takes years to develop.  Teachers like Nigel Armitage can shorten the time it takes to get up to a reasonable level of aptitude, but I think he would agree that there are nuances that you simply have to learn over time.  There is no microwave for experience.  Having said that, the right approach and the proper understanding of the medium and the tools required will give a person a big headstart.  When I started, my stitching was poor to be charitable.  I watched Nigel's video and the first project after that brought a big grin to my face.  I can't thank him enough.

[arashikage]

On 2/20/2019 at 11:43 AM, Danne said:

Thank you,

When you go through with your needle (before you tension the thread) you either go over the loop (not casting) or through the loop (cast)

You find some good tutorials on Youtube. For example Armitage Leather and Ian Atkinsson. And here are good pictures on casting the thread.

http://andersenleather.blogspot.com/2015/10/sewing-leather-using-saddle-stitch.html

 

Thanks! That makes a lot of sense now. I never knew there was a term for that.

[TheAlbinoYeti]

These are beautiful! Getting ready to start my first attempt at a watchband. Was wondering about the leather you used- what type and weight do you use? The person I’m making this for wants a rugged” looking band, do you how any suggestion as to the best leather to use?

[Danne]

7 minutes ago, TheAlbinoYeti said:

These are beautiful! Getting ready to start my first attempt at a watchband. Was wondering about the leather you used- what type and weight do you use? The person I’m making this for wants a rugged” looking band, do you how any suggestion as to the best leather to use?

Thank you. The top layer is Tärnsjö and lining Haas Zermatt, both are 1mm thick.