Sewing leather is not an easy process. For work you will need: leather itself, linen twisted thread (waxed), polyester or lavsan, a needle suitable for thread, an awl. Moreover, in working with leather, the most important thing is the choice of an awl - its shape is important, which will become the key to a beautiful and correct seam.
The first thing to do is to select the leather for sewing. It can be extruded or solid. Pressed leather is short-lived, so whole leather is preferred.
Awl. Choose a diamond-shaped awl in cross-section so that it repeats the cross-section of the sewing needle. The awl should be sharp so that it can easily enter the skin, while the fibers of the skin should move apart, not break. You can make an awl yourself from a thin screwdriver, better than Russian-made. If desired, you can sharpen the awl with a medium-grit file using a vice. It is advisable to complete the sharpening procedure with a small file so that the edges of the sewing become smooth.
It is convenient to cut leather with a shoe knife, but you can make neat cuts and clerical ones.
In order to learn how to sew leather correctly, you need to be patient and have great desire.
Mark the holes required for the stitching on the leather, you can use a metal ruler. Small notches are made on both pieces of leather from the edge at the same distance, with an interval of 5 mm. You can use a needle for this. Then the final holes are pierced with an awl. At the same time, they unfold relative to the axis of the future seam at an angle of about 30-45 °. The angles of rotation of these holes should coincide on one and on the other piece of leather.
Take a needle and thread. Take the prepared pieces of leather and fold them over so that the holes line up. It is better to fold the thread in half, and count its length one third more than the intended seam length.
Sew the seam itself. If you decide to sew leather on a sewing machine, then do it not with a foot drive, but with your hands. If you are worried that the details of the product will begin to creep apart when sewing, then their preliminary gluing, not strong and better at the edges of the part, will protect you from this, so that later the gluing points will be inside the product.
Beginning and finishing sewing leather is necessary with a locking stitch. To do this, sew 4 stitches, go back to the beginning and repeat the stitches over the sewn one. The seam will not come apart. The threads on both sides of the seam are tied in a knot, cauterized and pressed against the skin, while they stick.
Patience, accuracy - and you will succeed!
