Getting slanted stitches only on back side

[allenayres83]

While I am stitching I am getting slanted stitches on the back and straight stitches on the front. I am using 4mm diamond chisels from weaver with .6mm thread. I am stitching with the holes slanted up and away from me. The side that I punched holes from is on the right and that is also what I am calling the front. I start in the first  hole, even up my thread and start stitching towards me. I place the first needled through the back or left side and catch it on the right side, make a cross, pull it through, slight pull back on the threads so I can go back in the hole from the left over the other thread. I then cast the thread over the needle as it comes through and then pull tight. The stitches on the back look good but the front are straight as can be. What am I doing wrong?

[Hardrada]

You need to pull your arms at an angle, not straight like an eagle. Pull the left arm away from you and ~45° upwards, and the right arm downwards at the same angle and towards you. Basically, you're pulling the threads following the direction of the hole's slant.

[allenayres83]

1 hour ago, Hardrada said:

You need to pull your arms at an angle, not straight like an eagle. Pull the left arm away from you and ~45° upwards, and the right arm downwards at the same angle and towards you. Basically, you're pulling the threads following the direction of the hole's slant.

I have done this also. I have tried coming straight out and at an angle. Maybe I need to try again at a sharper angle.

[tieguy77]

Having the exact same issue, just as described.  Have you found any solutions?  

[Hardrada]

Yes, I'm having the same issue myself now. Beats me why, as I'm doing things by the book. Here's a demonstration of proper methodology:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQK8R0oYT8o

Hopefully, you guys will have better luck than me.

 

I've noticed that if I cast on the right side (the front side), the stitches look nice where they must. A pain to reverse my procedure, though.

[Outfitr]

There's literally 100's of different ways to perform the saddle stitch....stitch towards, away, front first, back first, needle under, over, cast over, under.....etc. So I was having same issue, nice on back and kind of straight on front. Got tired of watching videos that for some reason didn't give the same results for me. So I went out to the shop and started stitching lines with different technique. Finally I got one that looks nice on both sides. It also has a lot to do with spacing, thread size, needle size, and holes. For this example I use a high quality angled pricking iron 3.38mm spacing and punched all the way through, .6mm tiger thread, no awl. Stitch towards me, angles are of course sloping down towards me, right hand side is front, front needle first, grab needle with back side needle and place it under front needle forming cross, push back needle through bottom of hole while holding the thread front and back to the up side of the hole, pull needle through (not all the way) and cast thread by grabbing the side of the loop closest to you and pulling it down under the needle and towards you and pull the needle the rest of the way through the loop. Hope you can follow, works for me. I can post a pic of stitching if needed.

[Tugadude]

1 hour ago, Outfitr said:

There's literally 100's of different ways to perform the saddle stitch....stitch towards, away, front first, back first, needle under, over, cast over, under.....etc. So I was having same issue, nice on back and kind of straight on front. Got tired of watching videos that for some reason didn't give the same results for me. So I went out to the shop and started stitching lines with different technique. Finally I got one that looks nice on both sides. It also has a lot to do with spacing, thread size, needle size, and holes. For this example I use a high quality angled pricking iron 3.38mm spacing and punched all the way through, .6mm tiger thread, no awl. Stitch towards me, angles are of course sloping down towards me, right hand side is front, front needle first, grab needle with back side needle and place it under front needle forming cross, push back needle through bottom of hole while holding the thread front and back to the up side of the hole, pull needle through (not all the way) and cast thread by grabbing the side of the loop closest to you and pulling it down under the needle and towards you and pull the needle the rest of the way through the loop. Hope you can follow, works for me. I can post a pic of stitching if needed.

It probably would be helpful for you to post pictures.  Many don't follow the written description as well as a visual example.  Just the way it is these days.  

[Bant]

27 minutes ago, Tugadude said:

It probably would be helpful for you to post pictures.  Many don't follow the written description as well as a visual example.  Just the way it is these days.  

I would welcome pictures as well.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Bant
still can't spell!

[Outfitr]

Here's some examples of stitching I just completed on some coasters. Two different coasters front and back. The two were stitched exactly the same except for thread size. The first is .8mm tiger thread and the second .6mm. Although I'm ok with the way the first one looks I thought it looked a little chunky and decided to try a smaller thread which I think looks much better.  Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Danne]

There are a lot of things that will affect your stitching. Hole size/hole shape, thread size, leather thickness, leather temper. 

And you will sometimes have to make decisions. let's say you have a black exterior and red interior and stitch with black thread, the back side is more important, and if the edge is relatively thin so you can't get a nice slant on both sides, at least I will focus on get a nice slant on the back side and a little straighter on the front side (where the thread color is the same as the leather. 

Let's instead say you stitch the top of a wallet with a bill compartment. And the top is around 1.5mm (3-4oz) and you use a constrasting thread color for the exterior, it might be a good idea to not cast the thread to get a nice slant on the exterior. Is it possible to stitch 1.5mm leather with a nice slant on both sides? yes for me I can do it on some leather types. And if I use very thin thread like (like in the range of 0.35mm) I can do it on all the leather i've tried.

Another solution can be to punch from both sides before assemble (with the same iron) sometimes referred as X-punching. So you punch before assemble and line up the holes, and stitch without cast and you get a nice slant on both sides. Two crafters who always (almost always) do this is Shiang and Chestermox. If the back side is hidden in a pocket for example, then there is no reason for this, and stitching without casting the thread is a better solution.

My recommendation to you is to experiment with different angles, and tension (different tension on either side) and write down your results, because different leather behave different.