Sewing Techniques for Leather

[Irish in Tacoma]

I tend to do things the hard way. In order to practice for making a couple of sporrans, I decided to try to build a saddle. One of the things that learned about saddles is there is a lot of sewing involved. I never would have attempted it had I not learned a simple yet wonderful technique:

Pre-drilling with a dremel tool.

For sewing two pieces of hard leather together, glue them together, then use a stitch groover to give you your line (and it recesses the stitching just a bit), and then use the overstitch wheel to mark the hole spacing (5 stitches to the inch works good). Next, using the dremel tool with a 1/16th inch drill bit, and just drill away. The recess from the stitch groover and the dimple from the overstitch wheel help to guide the drill bit into place, and after a bit of practice, you'll find it is much easier than any other method.

For sewing a piece of hard leather to a flexible one (sporran front to gusset), I go through all the steps above with just the hard piece, and then once those holes are punched, I use an awl to push through the flexible piece to line up with the pre-drilled holes. I'll go about 6 or 7 holes, then sew up to them. Work from the center (bottom) around to both sides because there is a bit of creep going around the curves.

I use a two needle technique, with a needle on each end of the thread, stitching through each hole from both sides, which allows you to keep everything nice and tight. The dremel and 1/16th inch bit give enough room in the holes for easy sewing, and just enough (i need to use pliers) to get the needles through when I backstitch a few holes at the end.

For the gussets, I tried using pig skin, which I had laying around as lining from a holster project I did. Thin and flexible, it took dye well, and really worked well going around the curves. Here are a few pictures.

[auld argonian]

Now that is just brilliant. I've had a build-yer-own-sporran project on the back burner and your tip may just help move it up to the front.

The Dremel is your friend...the cordless ones are downright indispensible.

Best

AA

[A Hay]

Thanks for the tips. I've been using a rotary punch for the holes. Good exercise for the hands and forearms, but tedious.

Nice work on the sporrans. Did you carve the knotwork on the front flaps?

The saddle is an awsome first project!

Tom

[PiobBear]

Nice work!

When sewing soft leather (like a gusset), I like to use a sailmaker's palm and glover's needles; no hole punching (in the thin stuff) required.

[Irish in Tacoma]

Nice work on the sporrans. Did you carve the knotwork on the front flaps?

Yes, I did the carving. I don't carve much, and what I have done has been western style, but I can see a future in celtic knotwork. When I made the saddle, I wanted to finish it fast so I could start riding it, so I didn't put much ornamentation on it.

Thanks for the tips. I've been using a rotary punch for the holes. Good exercise for the hands and forearms, but tedious.

Once you try the dremel, you'll never go back. It is amazing how fast it goes. The only problems I've encountered are having the bit choke up with leather (just scrape it off), having the glue separate while drilling (just hold tighter), or it really was a mess when I did the saddle skirts and was drilling into the sheepskin--that dang stuff jammed it up good until I learned to cut it short before drilling.

BTW, credit for the idea goes to Dusty Johnson, the saddlemaker and friend who talked me through the saddle project. And for any of you DIYers who are curious, making a saddle is much easier than you think. It took me 30 days doing it evenings and weekends.

[Kiltman]

Really wonderful looking work. I do agree that making a saddle is a little over the top for learning to make a sporran. Thanks for the blow by blow of how you do it.

[chasem]

And for any of you DIYers who are curious, making a saddle is much easier than you think. It took me 30 days doing it evenings and weekends.

Is that 30 days worth of work, or 30 calendar days?

[Irish in Tacoma]

30 calendar days. Started 6 Dec 05, finished 6 Jan 06. The book and video that Dusty made show a very logical and methodical method to the project. No wasted effort by getting ahead of yourself and having to undo something. Basically, it involves making all the little pieces first, then the small assemblies, and then putting the whole thing together. As someone who tends to jump ahead and leave things half done (that black sporran in the picture is still missing the tassles 6 months after making it) I really tried to keep to the step by step approach. I'm glad I did, because in the end it was faster.

I worked about 2-3 hours in the evenings, and usually 6-8 hours on the weekends. Being the holiday season, I had more time off than usual which helped. Dusty told me--when you get to work, don't try to make a saddle. Make a strap this day, and cover a stirrup the next day. Keep it in small bites, and it won't seem so overwhelming.

My wife would say that I was obsessed with this project. I might not use such a strong word, but I was pretty focused on it.

[BLAZN]

Yet another person who makes me jealous. I guess the only way I'm ever gonna be able to produce such nice carvings into leather is to just do it... and buy a swivel knife.

Beautiful work.

And... I think the black sporran looks fine sans tassles.

[Freelander Sporrano]

Beautiful work. I've never tried something like a saddle before. Great stuff