Joining leather panels.

[toxo]

My cuz has asked me to make her a largish tote and as I have a few coloured skins I thought I'd experiment with making the front and back panels using patchwork or strips. This brings two questions, what method of joining would be strong enough and which has more bulk on the inside. I'm thinking of glueing some pigskin on the inside to cover. I've forgotten the proper name for them but there's this one which has both seams on the one side and so is bulky but strong with two rows of stitches....

Or there's this one which I think looks better but the two seams are splayed out on both sides and so the side stitches are only decorative and don't add any strength. This means a reinforcing strip has to be used behind to maintain strength. This way uses three rows of stitches versus two for the other one but this one even with the reinforcing tape is less bulky. Have I missed an obvious alternative?

[zuludog]

I haven't done anything like this, but I would have thought that skiving the leather for the seam would make the resulting seam thinner

Search YouTube for videos on making tote bags and similar. The one by Ian Atkinson is good. Or just play around with the Search Box for similar items, as long as you have the stamina for!

[toxo]

Ah yes! The skive. Forgot to mention I don't have one.With the amount of edges I'm talking about I'm not about to do it manually. Plus the leather is soft. This is the main reason I came up with this idea because the skins I have here are only .75 and 1mm thick so doable. The glued on pigskin idea is to cover the seams and to ensure that it's strong enough. Some kind of edge skiver might be on the cards for the future. Any recommendations for something that's not Mickey Mouse and not an arm and a leg?

Edited January 2, 2020 by toxo

[Pintodeluxe]

Single felled seam vs. french seam.  Both can be great depending on the application.  Usually the single felled seam is too bulky on one side for my applications.  

[billybopp]

On youtube cechaflo does some good vids on felled seams.    The second one is usually called a French seam but you might also see it called double felled.

 

- Bill

[toxo]

1 hour ago, billybopp said:

On youtube cechaflo does some good vids on felled seams.    The second one is usually called a French seam but you might also see it called double felled.

 

- Bill

Yes, I love Cesars vids. He's a maestro around a sewing machine and he teaches very well considering he never says anything.

[toxo]

17 hours ago, Pintodeluxe said:

Single felled seam vs. french seam.  Both can be great depending on the application.  Usually the single felled seam is too bulky on one side for my applications.  

So assuming you use the French seam, what do you reinforce with?

[Pintodeluxe]

Upholstery supply shops sell a thin backing for French seams.  It kind of looks like a strip of canvas.  

[toxo]

1 hour ago, Pintodeluxe said:

Upholstery supply shops sell a thin backing for French seams.  It kind of looks like a strip of canvas.  

A lot of shops over here are still on holiday until Monday. Have looked online but haven't found it yet. I'm thinking "Duct tape" for now (don't know what you guys call it). It's sticky backed fabric but my only concern is will the glue stick to the needle/thread? I can't sew at light speed so it's not likely to get too warm. I guess I'll just have to suck it and see.

[zuludog]

45 minutes ago, toxo said:

A lot of shops over here are still on holiday until Monday. Have looked online but haven't found it yet. I'm thinking "Duct tape" for now (don't know what you guys call it). It's sticky backed fabric but my only concern is will the glue stick to the needle/thread? I can't sew at light speed so it's not likely to get too warm. I guess I'll just have to suck it and see.

No, don't use duct tape! It's strong, but it's a temporary measure and eventually the tape will move and adhesive will spread & smear, leaving you with a right mess that needs to be removed with a solvent like white spirit - I know this from experience, though that was with a nylon rucsac, not a leather bag. And yes, it will gum up the needle & thread.

See if you can find the proper stuff, or have a browse round a haberdashers for some suitable ribbon. Or cut some strips of thin leather, like pigskin or deerskin

Have a look at this supplier --- www.buy leatheronline.com   They have lots of different types at reasonable prices. I recently bought some leather for wallets from them; they're reliable, delivery to UK was 6 or 7 days. I've been meaning to do a review of them for this forum, I must get round to it

[toxo]

I will get the proper stuff dog but I'm itching to get on. It's only the glue on the needle I'm concerned with. If you look at the French seam above, the the two stitch lines are 5mm from the center I'll cut the tape around 12mm/15mm and those stitch lines will go through it so it can't move and then over that I'll be contact glueing some 0.7mm pigskin over the whole panel. It might turn out that it'll look ok if I leave the side stitches until after glueing the lining and then stitch through the lot in which case there's no need for extra reinforcing. Even the proper tape has to have some glue along the center to hold it in place for stitching. 

I've never done anything like this before and I'm loving the experimenting and the designing. It's going to be a gift so I'm not worried about the cuz asking for her money back. 

[philippe]

Not sure if this will help you or not, but when I'm joining panels and need strength, I do a method that is is similar to a French seam. It leaves the panels sewn together on top of one another. It can be a little bulky if you don't skive the edges, but depending on the look you're going for its not unacceptable either. Here's a couple pics of an example I just did to show you. This may have already been mentioned. I noticed above in your pictures you did this, but another way to reduce the bulk is putting a groove in where you fold the seam. I know skiving it all manually would not be pleasant but a deep groove shouldn't be that big of a deal. 

Edited January 3, 2020 by philippe
update

[toxo]

Interesting! It reduces the bulk by the bump caused by the second fold. So the first stitch goes through two layers and the top stitch goes through all three?

What leather is the black one? I have a light blue skin like that. It's floppy and heavy, I was told it was goatskin.

[philippe]

11 minutes ago, toxo said:

Interesting! It reduces the bulk by the bump caused by the second fold. So the first stitch goes through two layers and the top stitch goes through all three?

What leather is the black one? I have a light blue skin like that. It's floppy and heavy, I was told it was goatskin.

Yes the first stitch joins the panels, the second goes through all three and subsequently hides the first stitch. The black leather is just a pebble grain cowhide, the red is calf. It was just random scrap. You may have goat, but generally speaking Goat isn't very heavy. Its usually 4oz or or less. That's not a rule, just what i've normally seen.