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====General Procedure====

====General Procedure====

=====Cutting Leather=====

'''Cutting Leather''' is one of the first things you’ll do for your project. And this is something that’s pretty easy, but there’s a right way to cut and a not-so-right way. Because cutting out the leather is generally the first step in making a leather item and your cuts affect the difficulty of the steps that follow. Clean cuts ensure that burnishing is easy and your stitching lines are straight. Getting a clean cut is all about scoring, using a ruler that won’t slip and having a sharp knife or rotary cutting tool.

The first thing you’ll do is cut out the pieces for your project. And this is something that’s pretty easy, but there’s a right way to cut and a not-so-right way. Because cutting out the leather is generally the first step in making a leather item and your cuts affect the difficulty of the steps that follow. Clean cuts ensure that burnishing is easy and your stitching lines are straight. Getting a clean cut is all about scoring, using a ruler that won’t slip and having a sharp knife.

'''Hand-stitching''' is one of the harder skills to learn, but it's still easy to pick up. Stitching a leather project together is a multi-step process. It involves marking out your stitching lines, punching your stitching holes, and finally saddle stitching the item together. Saddle stitching is a hand stitch that is widely used in leatherworking due to its durability. See the steps below along with the video to learn how to saddle stitch.

Hand stitching is probably the hardest skill to learn out of them all, but still pretty easy to pick up. Stitching a leather project together is a multi-step process. It involves marking out your stitching lines, punching your stitching holes, and finally saddle stitching the item together. Saddle stitching is a hand stitch that is widely used in leatherworking due to its durability, and learning it isn’t that hard. Check out these five simple steps to learn how to saddle stitch.

First, mark your stitching lines with a groover. If you’re not sure how far in to set your stitch, a general rule of thumb is to have the distance between the stitching and the edge be the same as the thickness of the edge.

First, mark your stitching lines with a divider. If you’re not sure how far to set your stitching in, a general rule of thumb is to have the distance between the stitching and the edge be the same as the thickness of the edge.

Second, punch your stitching holes using a stitching chisel. Use the rawhide hammer to pound the stitching chisel with a scrap wood block underneath to avoid damaging the table. The main trick to this technique is to make sure that your chisel is perfectly perpendicular to the leather. A slight angle one way or the other will make it so the stitching on the backside doesn’t line up. This is especially a problem on thicker projects, like belts.

Next, punch your stitching holes using a diamond chisel. The only trick to this is to make sure that your chisel is perfectly perpendicular to the leather. A slight angle one way or the other will make it so the stitching on the backside doesn’t line up. This is especially a problem on thicker projects, like belts.

Now to the hard part: saddle stitching. Once you have the needles through the first hole, take the needle on the left side and push it through the leather. Then, with the right needle, come behind the left needle to make a cross. Next, with the right needle still behind the left needle, pull the left needle through and rotate your hand toward you so that the left needle is now facing you and the right needle is facing the stitching holes.

Stitching Step 1Now to the hard part: saddle stitching. Once you have the needles through the first hole, take the needle on the left side and push it through the leather. Then, with the right needle, come behind the left needle to make a cross.

Finally, put the right needle through the same hole you just pulled the left needle through. If you used a diamond chisel, each hole will be a diamond shape. This means that each hole has a high point and a low point. For your stitching to look uniform you need to consistently put the right needle back through the hole at the same point in the diamond, ideally the point of the diamond that is closest to you (assuming you are stitching towards yourself using the stitching pony). Once the needle is through, pull both tight. At that point, you’ve finished your first saddle stitch. On to the next one. Once you’ve completed your entire stitching line, you’ll need to backstitch. Back stitching is a saddle stitch that goes backwards 2-3 holes to make sure the thread won’t come loose.

Next, with the right needle still behind the left needle, pull the left needle through and rotate your hand toward you so that the left needle is now facing you and the right needle is facing the stitching holes.

Here is a video that shows the saddle stitching technique.

{{#evu:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QS2jPZCLCg}}

Finally, put the right needle through the same hole you just pulled the left needle through. If you used a diamond chisel, each hole will be a diamond shape. This means that each hole has a high point and a low point. For your stitching to look uniform you need to consistently put the right needle back through the hole at the same point in the diamond, ideally the point of the diamond that is closest to you. Once the needle is through, pull both tight. At that point, you’ve finished your first saddle stitch. On to the next one. Once you’ve completed your entire stitching line, you’ll need to backstitch. Back stitching is a saddle stitch that goes backwards two to three holes to make sure the thread won’t come lose.

'''Threading a Needle''' is actually a skill too. Here's a quick aside on how to do it with waxed thread. Click on each image to see more detail.

If you’re trying to learn to stitch, it is ultimately a little bit hard to read how to do it. It’s just something you have to see. If you’re still having trouble understanding how to stitch (and I would be) you can check out this stitching guide, which also has a quick video to show you how to stitch.

 

File:Thread1.jpg

This video will show you how to do a saddle stitch.

File:Thread2.jpg

{{#evu:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QS2jPZCLCg}}

File:Thread3.jpg

File:Thread5.jpg

File:Thread6.jpg

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Once your project is stitched together, making sure to finish your edges will give your project a professional look. There are multiple ways to edge finish, the three main ways being: burnishing, edge painting, and edge turning. Burnishing is probably the easiest and yields some great results. This process finishes the edges by melting the loose fibers together with heat created through friction. Basically, that just means you rub the edges with a piece of canvas until it looks good. A simple burnishing process includes: beveling edges, sanding them, dying them, burnishing them with a piece of canvas cloth, and then finishing the edge with beeswax.

Once your project is stitched together, making sure to finish your edges will give your project a professional look. There are multiple ways to edge finish, the three main ways being: burnishing, edge painting, and edge turning. Burnishing is probably the easiest and yields some great results. This process finishes the edges by melting the loose fibers together with heat created through friction. Basically, that just means you rub the edges with a piece of canvas until it looks good. A simple burnishing process includes: beveling edges, sanding them, dying them, burnishing them with a piece of canvas cloth, and then finishing the edge with beeswax.