DaveP Report post Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) For super newb to leather crafting...think they came out fairly well. For knives I've made. One is saddle tan pro dye and the other is chocolate pro dye. Finished with 50/50 mix Resolene and water. Chocolate is almost black. A little too dark for what I thought it would be. But it's alright. What do you think? Above posted in knife section But, after reading more about saddle stitching seems like I've used the wrong sizes. Thread is tiger 0.8mm used with 002 John James needles. Going through 3 layers of 7-8oz veg tan. I know my back stitches are not good at all. Haven't figured out how to do them! Watched a lot of videos on it. For holes...using Tandy Craft tool pro stitching iron(purchased after watching Nigel's video). They're 8 spi / 3.5 mm. I did polish them up after trying without during practice stitching. I have the 8,4, and 2 prong. Is this the correct way or something else? What's the "standard " spi for this application? What would be a better stitching iron for this kind of work? Thank you! Edited May 13, 2020 by DaveP Added Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tugadude Report post Posted May 13, 2020 Looks pretty good for a newbie. Stitching is part process and part practice. You need both. When I started I had little to base my progress on and I got decent results. Turns out I just got lucky because I was using bad technique. Now I obtain consistent stitching because I follow procedure. There will always be certain leathers that will challenge you but stick to the process. I own a set of those irons too and I like them very much. Go check out the 'Sewing Leather' part of the forum and look for the "sticky" topic on irons. It has some helpful info. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AzShooter Report post Posted May 13, 2020 I like them a lot. Good stitching and I like the case for your punch set. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tugadude Report post Posted May 13, 2020 Another thing to think about is how you punch the holes. Did you glue the leather together and then punch all the way through? If that was difficult, due to the three layers, Nigel Armitage has a video showing how to punch individual layers and have them line up. I rarely have to do this because I don't tend to stitch very thick leather, but it can be a real help when going through multiple layers of 8/9 oz. for example. The backside is always a bit of a challenge. Some people find that the backside of their work actually looks better, which is not the usual case. Nigel also talks about how to improve the look of the backside of your stitching in some of his videos. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaveP Report post Posted May 13, 2020 I did glue the welt to the back side. Then used the stitching irons on the front, going through to the welt. Not going all the way through 3 layers. Open up and punch the welt through to the back side with the marks. Going through 2 layers each time. Looked at Nigel's videos...didn't see anything on helping the back side for stitches. Back stitching is an issue that I am struggling with. Always look bad. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
