Hand sew

[Bitterwheat]

How many of you do Hand sewing on there holsters and belts?

[Uncle Chan]

That's all I can afford!     I use a stitch groover to make the groove.  Then I use a stitching wheel (#6) to mark the holes.  Then I use a 1/16" drill bit to drill the holes.  Then I use double needles and waxed thread to create the saddle stitch (?) to sew it all together.

Uncle Chan

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I basically do the same as Uncle Chan except I use a #5 stitching wheel and a diamond shaped awl to make the holes. I have used my dremel for thick stuff (3/4" or better). The saddlemaker I worked for would glue the leather and use his Pfaff sewing machine to punch the holes when we made circingles then secure it with a double-needle stitch. He didn't consider the machine to be strong enough a stitch for many applications. He would also use his dremel for stuff he couldn't get into the machine.

[Advertising]

[Slowhand Bob]

These were completely handsewn, including about 18/20oz of mainseam filler.  The mainseam was not glued and all stitch holes were done with the el-cheepo diamond hole punches that can be purchased from Tandy or Hidecrafters.  I file the two outer teeth from their four tooth model and use it most on holsters.  An unaltered four tooth is great for long streight runs (belts) and the single punch model handles some of the special spacing requirements.  These punches do need sharpening and polishing to do a good job and actually get better after the teeth start thinning some from use.  I wish I could figure out the process for doing thumbnails as I do want to do a small essay of my method but fear the heavy picture load might cause problems.

[Bitterwheat]

That is one nice looking set of holsters

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Nice job, Bob. I use the same awls. To shape them, I stone them until they are the way I like then polish them with jeweler's rouge. I made one from scratch once when I didn't want to wait until I could get one shipped.

My favorite is a Vergez Blanchard VB3.904 Straight Blade Stitching Awl in 38mm (the smallest they make). The tip was totally unusable but after a little time with a stone, it made a great one because the handle is really narrow and I can get into really tight spots with it. You can see it here: http://www.siegelofca.com/view_cat_product.asp?id=8&curpage=2 It's the 8th one down.

I wish I could figure out the process for doing thumbnails as I do want to do a small essay of my method but fear the heavy picture load might cause problems.

Here's a link to another thread where I explained how to do it. http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php?topic=4839.msg55818#msg55818

[Nolan Sackett]

For my my wife and I leather (and some custom knives) is our sole source of income and eveything leather wise we make is handsewn, including our beadwork.
A stitcher (a needle and awl machine that can sew linen thread) would be nice but at around $6K+ it sure tain't in the cards.
I did a tutorial on my adapted method of saddle stitch sewing - maybe it will help some folks:
http://www.wrtcleather.com/1-ckd/tutorials/_leatherstitch.html
I did the traditional hold the awl and two needles as you sewfor nigh onto 44 years of sewing leather, but old age and arthritis have crept in and I can't do it anymore. Some folks, especially those new at, have found my adapted method a help (I call it mine but it's just a variation on what others have done as well).

[Silver_Rings]

I have always hand sewn all my work.  I'm playing with machine sewing some thin leather to make a pillow.  The machine is my wife's back up quilting machine, Bernina entry level quilting machine.  It has no problem sewing the leather hardest part is keeping the two layers together as I am not using a top walking foot.  To sew leather the thickness needed for holster a real leather sewing machine is needed.  Big bucks.



SR

[Slowhand Bob]

You can actually get an imported machine really reasonable nowdays.  Do a search under 'leather machines' on Ebay and keep an eye out, you might be surprised.  I have been having a heck of a time learning to get one of these things working right but my hands are in bad enough shape that it is a must.  The holsters above are what became the easiest and fastest method I tried and the results are generally flawless stitches when I do my part.  The sad part is that when the stitch holes are at their peak of perfection, the punch will soon break.  If there is a silver lining, it is that this only occurs over long periods of time.

[Rap Scallion]

Howdy Bitterwheat........

Actually we are all in that same boat!    Bad hands and not the kind of cash to justify a HD Sewing machine.  I have found that with several of the tricks already mentioned here,  that all but the most heavy duty sewing can be accomplished, sewing like a pair of boot soles or heavy saddle parts stiched together, can best be farmed out to someone with a HD machine. 

Hand sewing, or saddle stitching is by far the best way to go for strength and lasting work.  Practice is what is needed to learn to sew a nice even stitch, your work is best when someone sez "Is that hand stitched?"  It took me a long time of crooked joints and lines before I finally found the rythm and got it down to where it is presentable.  Just like shooting, ya got to practice!

I use a diamond awl for poking them holes and sharpen and strop it before and during the sewing chore.  I recently cheated and used a pin sized drill in a dremel tool for a heavy 1911 holster due to my hand strength and arthritus.....needless to say I've gotten over that hump and will do it again!  One of the things that I now do, is to glue my surfaces together with Barges or something like that to hold my two edges together, for punching and lacing and or sewing.

One last thought that was mentioned by someone is to buy a book and read it BEFORE you start, to save time and possibly a nice expensive piece of cowhide!

[Silver_Rings]

I have found that using a finishing nail of the correct thickness with the head cut off mounted in a dremel tool works great for making the stitching holes.  A lot cheaper than drill bits which I was breaking tooo often.

SR

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I have found that using a finishing nail of the correct thickness with the head cut off mounted in a dremel tool works great for making the stitching holes.  A lot cheaper than drill bits which I was breaking tooo often.

I can see how those wouldn't break as often. Sounds like a workable solution. I seldom need to go through that much leather, but it could be a handy trick to know for those times when an awl won't do the job. I'll have to try this to see how it works.

[Uncle Chan]

For those of you who do woodworking, the nail technique mentioned above works great for setting finishing screws, it keeps the wood from splitting.  I never thought of trying it for leather.  However, I just chuck a 1/16" drill bit in my cordless dewalt and it works great. 

Just a suggestion.