Hand Sewing Leather

[baileyuph]

This subject requirement frequently comes up in repairs and I have the toughest times sewing leather with a curved needle where there are no previous needle holes.

To make the job easier, sometimes I will run a repair piece of leather through an unthreaded needle which sure makes the curve needle process much easier, patch or small area repairs, for example in a higher tech car seat to avoid a time consuming tear down.

Any ideas of how to make hand sewing leather easier?

Doyle

[gene]

Doyle,

email me and I'll email you some info that may be of help. I put spaces in the email address so spy bots won't pick it up. I don't need any more junk email. I'm still waiting for my 4 million dollars from Ethiopia.

geneonthenet @ hotmail.com

gene

[sofadoc]

I don't need any more junk email. I'm still waiting for my 4 million dollars from Ethiopia.

Now you got me worried. I sent 'em a check for 10 grand last week. Are you saying that there might be a delay before I get my 4 mill?

[byhammerandhand]

Kim Buckminster, who frequents Carr's Corner, cued me into a special needle for leather.  It has a bit of curve to it, has the diamond cutting point, and a nice flat surface to push with.    I've been using them for several years to do blind stitching and would not be without.   Lube up with a bit of silicone oil.    My fingers still hurt after doing several feet of leather stitching, but it works better than any curved needle that I've used.

It's a J-shaped Loopuyt's Post Mortem needle.  (Morbid, but you'll get over it.)   I think I got a dozen #2 for about $20.   I have a friend that's a vet and he found them from one of his suppliers and he ordered them for me.

http://shop.ashleysupply.com/Loopuyts-Needle-1846-Loopuyts-needle.htm

If you are not doing blind stitching and you can get to the back-side, you can use a Speedy Stitcher to do a lock stitch.  The replacement needles are pricey, but I've found the collet holds needles that my wife uses for one of her sewing machines, so the variety of needles from that are large.  These, or some other variant, are available at most sporting goods / camping supply stores.

http://www.speedystitcher.com/main.html

[baileyuph]

Check your mailbox Gene.

Sent the address.

Doyle

[gene]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCVGf-Tgw0M

Stitch Marker at 1:27

gene

[byhammerandhand]

That looks like the "stitch marker" I used in eighth grade shop class to lace up a wallet that I made and tooled.   Another stitch marker (AKA Pricking Wheel) looks like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCVGf-Tgw0M

Stitch Marker at 1:27

gene