First baseball stitch

[Riem]

I'm pottering along with a few small projects - nothing major. One of my learning aims is to learn different stitch techniques and skills. Yesterday I decided my hiking staff - a length of sturdy bamboo - needed a leather grip. This is the result - a throwaway piece of "handbag" leather wrapped around my hiking staff and secured with my first ever attempt at baseball stitching. Feedback welcome.

[kiwican]

Certainly better than my first attempt!  I find that keeping the same tension when pulling the threads closed can really help the look of things. 

[DJole]

Nice work! I did a similar thing on a sword scabbard I made a while back, using flat lace instead of thread like you did:
 

[Riem]

On 7/21/2019 at 5:20 PM, kiwican said:

Certainly better than my first attempt!  I find that keeping the same tension when pulling the threads closed can really help the look of things. 

Thanks for the comment and the note about tension - great advice, that! I noticed that mine wasn't as consistent so the stitching is a bit wavy in the middle.

[Riem]

22 hours ago, DJole said:

Nice work! I did a similar thing on a sword scabbard I made a while back, using flat lace instead of thread like you did:
  

Your scabbard looks nice! How did you protect the leather from being cut when withdrawing the sword?

[DJole]

5 hours ago, Riem said:

Your scabbard looks nice! How did you protect the leather from being cut when withdrawing the sword?

Ah-- I need to specify: the sword has a scabbard already, leather over wood. However, there was no suspension fittings or belt attached to it.
So what I made is kind of a hanger, which was made to fit tightly over the scabbard. (See here for the full piece.)
(Also, the sword isn't sharp -- it's a metal simulator, or waster.)
Looking at your staff handle, I wonder what the color is? Is that a dye you applied or something else? The baseball stitch works really well for tightening leather around things, like baseballs, staffs, steering wheels, sword scabbards...

Edited July 22, 2019 by DJole

[Riem]

20 hours ago, DJole said:

Looking at your staff handle, I wonder what the color is? Is that a dye you applied or something else? The baseball stitch works really well for tightening leather around things, like baseballs, staffs, steering wheels, sword scabbards...

It's a grey colour - kind of a motley, pre-dyed chrome tan "handbag leather" hide I bought from one of my South African suppliers (Leatherite.co.za). It was clearly marked as "reject", mainly (I think) because of the prolific tick bites, scratches, etc. Subsequent to the original photo I posted, I've covered a second section of the hiking staff - good practice with cheap leather. Here's a picture of the top of the staff with the whipping on the top section and the two sections now wrapped with the same leather. Apologies for the camera flash top left.

[DJole]

12 minutes ago, Riem said:

It's a grey colour - kind of a motley, pre-dyed chrome tan "handbag leather" hide I bought from one of my South African suppliers (Leatherite.co.za). It was clearly marked as "reject", mainly (I think) because of the prolific tick bites, scratches, etc. Subsequent to the original photo I posted, I've covered a second section of the hiking staff - good practice with cheap leather. Here's a picture of the top of the staff with the whipping on the top section and the two sections now wrapped with the same leather.

That's nice stitching -- the spacing and tension are all equally balanced. I like that you re-purposed lower grade leather into a useful item. And it will take a beating, and you won't be sad because it's not top dollar leather!