Black watch strap with red stitching

[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.