Stitching spacing

[LionCrownLeather]

When I stitch my card holder I marked the with a line using a wing divider, then I punched holes using 5mm pricking Iron. I started from the top right to the lower corner and then top left to lower left corner. I did the bottom last and realized that the spacing will be inconsistent... How do you usually do here? I tried to add some spacing between two holes to fix this but I am not happy with the result. Do you mark with your chisel before punching? Corners have one stitch at an angle and it has to be in that place for it to look good. 

[Tugadude]

I see you are using a round chisel.  That's OK, but not preferred.  Most have success with the diamond-shaped or slit-shaped chisels.  There's a "sticky" note on the options in the Sewing Leather part of the forum.  Check it out.

In addition to spacing, make certain to keep the chisel square to the reference line.  I see you have wobbled a bit.  I wonder if that is because of the size of the round punches deforming the leather as they go through?

How many round punches are on  the tool you are using?  That makes a difference in how to proceed.

What I generally do is begin in a corner and work from there.  That might not work as well with your iron.  If there are going to be irregularities in the stitch spacing I always try to make sure it happens in an inconspicuous location on the project.  Sometimes that isn't possible.  You should, however, not have two "bad" spacings in the stitching line along the bottom, only one.

Try lightly pressing the chisel into the leather to gauge where the holes will end up and then you can make adjustments.  Call it a "dry run".  If it isn't working out to your satisfaction, at least you haven't created any holes.

 

 

 

[mike02130]

I find the smaller the spacing, the easier and less noticeable it is to cheat the spacing.  On some work I start in the middle, that way my holes are evenly aligned.   

[Spyros]

4 hours ago, LionCrownLeather said:

When I stitch my card holder I marked the with a line using a wing divider, then I punched holes using 5mm pricking Iron. I started from the top right to the lower corner and then top left to lower left corner. I did the bottom last and realized that the spacing will be inconsistent... How do you usually do here? I tried to add some spacing between two holes to fix this but I am not happy with the result. Do you mark with your chisel before punching? Corners have one stitch at an angle and it has to be in that place for it to look good. 

Don't worry about it, once you thread is through it will take the most anal of anal people to notice it.  

[LionCrownLeather]

On 7/15/2020 at 2:23 PM, Tugadude said:

I see you are using a round chisel.  That's OK, but not preferred.  Most have success with the diamond-shaped or slit-shaped chisels.  There's a "sticky" note on the options in the Sewing Leather part of the forum.  Check it out.

In addition to spacing, make certain to keep the chisel square to the reference line.  I see you have wobbled a bit.  I wonder if that is because of the size of the round punches deforming the leather as they go through?

How many round punches are on  the tool you are using?  That makes a difference in how to proceed.

What I generally do is begin in a corner and work from there.  That might not work as well with your iron.  If there are going to be irregularities in the stitch spacing I always try to make sure it happens in an inconspicuous location on the project.  Sometimes that isn't possible.  You should, however, not have two "bad" spacings in the stitching line along the bottom, only one.

Try lightly pressing the chisel into the leather to gauge where the holes will end up and then you can make adjustments.  Call it a "dry run".  If it isn't working out to your satisfaction, at least you haven't created any holes.

 

 

 

I use the round chisel because I always fail with the diamond chisel. The diamond chisel is beautiful on the front but the back even when I go through all the way it always ends up inconsistent. The round head is a safer choice for me but ofcourse the diamond chisel if used correctly gives beautiful stitching lines. I have different sizes for the punch tool I am using, 6 tooth, 4 tooth and 2 tooth. I usually go with the 6 tooth and then with the 2 tooth at the corners. 

[toxo]

1 hour ago, LionCrownLeather said:

I use the round chisel because I always fail with the diamond chisel. The diamond chisel is beautiful on the front but the back even when I go through all the way it always ends up inconsistent. The round head is a safer choice for me but ofcourse the diamond chisel if used correctly gives beautiful stitching lines. I have different sizes for the punch tool I am using, 6 tooth, 4 tooth and 2 tooth. I usually go with the 6 tooth and then with the 2 tooth at the corners. 

Nothing wrong with using a round punch. Yours look  little large for a card holder. As for spacing, start at each corner and work out the difference in the center where it won't be noticed so much. If using a multi prong make sure you have at least one (two is better) prong in the last hole you punched. can't go wrong that way. Make your pieces oversize an cut to size after stitching. Will give a nice sharp edge for finishing.

[LionCrownLeather]

6 hours ago, toxo said:

Nothing wrong with using a round punch. Yours look  little large for a card holder. As for spacing, start at each corner and work out the difference in the center where it won't be noticed so much. If using a multi prong make sure you have at least one (two is better) prong in the last hole you punched. can't go wrong that way. Make your pieces oversize an cut to size after stitching. Will give a nice sharp edge for finishing.

I bought mine on Internet from China. I didnt know the diameter of the pronges but I can tell you this: the diamond chisels I got from China I always fail with, they dont cut through very well and the handle is not thick so hammering it causes the chisel to go through at an angle. If you are using round head chisels which ones do you use and if you by any chance use diamond chisels which one do you recommend? 

[Spyros]

The reason why all those online bag patters are using gigantic round holes with huge spacing is just practicality.  

Bigger spaces = faster stitching and less punching.  They also make it easier to count holes when you're designing patterns.

Round holes = you avoid the risk of pointy edges facing opposite directions when you pre punch and then put the two layers together.   Which happens a lot.

Big holes = easier to put your needles through, especially in awkard situations like in bag bottoms when one of your hands is inside the bag and you can't see it.   

 

On the other hand (IMO) diamond and diagonal holes with shorter spacing make for a prettier stitching and visually it screams hand-made.   I mean if you're gonna have a straight line round hole stitch I personally can't tell it apart from sewing machine stitch.  Which is absolutely fine don't get me wrong, but when you put in all this effort to stitch by hand, don't you want it to show?

Edited July 17, 2020 by Spyros

[toxo]

3 hours ago, LionCrownLeather said:

I bought mine on Internet from China. I didnt know the diameter of the pronges but I can tell you this: the diamond chisels I got from China I always fail with, they dont cut through very well and the handle is not thick so hammering it causes the chisel to go through at an angle. If you are using round head chisels which ones do you use and if you by any chance use diamond chisels which one do you recommend? 

First of all it doesn't matter what tool you use to cut leather but it must be proper sharp. very rarely will you buy anything from China and not have to sharpen it. That includes the slanted prongs on your stitching chisels (That's what they're called. the ones that make round holes are called punches) or the hole punches. you'll find that you'll be amazed at the difference once you've sharpened and stropped your tools. When using your stitching tool you must hold it upright and concentrate on holding it the same way for EVERY hole. Of course that still won'tget you a good job if the layers of leather are moving around so you either glue them or clip them or use basting tape (double sided tape)to hold the layers together whist making your holes.

Spyros is making a case for his own opinion and there's nothing wrong with that but I had to smile when he listed all the good bits about hole punches and then said "But you don't wanna do that do you". Personally,  I don't care what you use. as long as it's neat and tidy and does the job, well done. For me, give me a hole punch or a sewing machine rather than struggle with trying to get two needle and an awl through a slit that wants to close up on you as soon as your backs turned.

Your holes look to be about 1.5mm which IMO is too big for a card holder. the hole and the thread should fit the size of the project. Look at this stitching that was posted by a new member (Men) on Saturday. That's neat enough for me.

 

[Frodo]

lion crown

First i scribe a line

then i use a 1mm edge beveler to cut my scribed line deeper [see image] 

next,  I lay the holes out using a pen [see image]

at this time, you can see what hole needs to move. 

you can move a hole by punching on either side of the mark you made with the pen 

The reason I use the edge beveler, it makes a nice grove for my thread to sit in..

I use a wide thread to make holsters.  And i like the statement the wide thread makes

Wide thread image