Leather Case Construction--Part 2: Stitching

Once you've got your leather ready to make a case, the next step is to join the front and back pieces together. There are a few different ways to do that (including adhesive, rivet-fastening, or other mechanical fastening methods), but stitching is a traditional means of joining soft materials together that brings with it a classy, old-school aesthetic. And it is also relatively easy to do--you don't even need an elaborate or expensive industrial sewing machine to get it done (though that would definitely speed things up a bit, if you don't count all the practice needed to learn how to do it correctly). Today's post demonstrates a simple means of hand stitching leather by punching holes in it and then using a sewing awl to create a clean, tight stitch. The results look very good, and with a little practice, even "professional". Before deciding to make a case for my iPod, I'd never used a sewing awl before. After about ten minutes of practice, it felt pretty natural. With a little more practice, I'm sure I could master some of the finer craftsmanship points of the process. Since I got so excited about this whole leather stitching thing, I thought that I should share the experience with others out there who might want to try it themselves. So here it goes...
I started off by trimming down the leather a bit so it was easier to handle. I found that between 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch border around the stitched area worked well for me. I also hacked off the excess length where the iPod slides into the case, since I needed to start and end my stitches there, and didn't want to have tocut through them to get the case to the right size. I also used a white colored pencil to lightly mark where the stitch would be so I wouldn't meander too far off course as I punched the holes.

Next, I matched up and trimmed the leather for the other side of the case, as shown. (Note the extra long tail that was used later to form the securement strap for the back of the case.)

Before punching holes for the stitching process, I found that it was important to make sure that the leather pieces were secured to each other. If they're not, it's difficult to ensure that all the holes will line up correctly for the needle and thread to pass through and make a clean stitch. For each of my cases, I found that simple masking tape wrapped around the edges worked well, but the stitching worked best if the tape didn't cover the actual stitch line.

Once the pieces were taped together, it was time to get the other tools out. I used the following: a utility knife, a 4-in-1 punch (for making the holes to stitch through), a sewing awl (which contains a bobbin in its handle to carry the waxed thread that is passed through the needle of the awl), rivet sets and snaps (for making the snaps on the strap), and a big mallet for smackin' stuff (I used a rubber-headed mallet to keep from chipping the ends of the leather working tools--smart to do since these things ain't cheap).

To make sure that I had the same number of holes punched on each side of the case (for proper symmetry), I started from the bottom edge of the case, centering up the punch right in the middle (I measured this with a ruler for accuracy rather than eye-balling it), as shown below. (Note that I've put the case on top of some mat board, which is then on top of some scrap wood so I didn't punch holes into the top of the table. Professional leather workers have marble slabs that they do their hammering on...but I'm too cheap for that.)

Next, I began the beatings. After laying down a couple good hits onto the end of the punch with the mallet, I could feel the tips of the punch passes all the way through the leather.

I pulled out the punch and then used a hole or two from the previous smack-down to position the next set of hole punches, as shown below. If the punch didn't go all the way through the leather (or just barely kissed the back side of the leather), I put it back into the holes and smacked the punch again until it broke through all the way. Clean holes make clean stitches.

I kept working the punch all the way around both sides of the case until I had a straight, uniformly-spaced set of holes.

To begin stitching, I pulled some excess thread through the end of the needle until there was at least 2 and a half to 3 times the length of thread for the entire line to be stitched. Stitching uses a lot of thread, so it's important to make sure you've got enough to make it past the last hole.

I then pushed the needle up through the first hole so that it would poke through the top of the case. (The side that the needle pushes out of tends to show the cleaner side of the stitch...so I made sure this part of the stitch ended up on the screen-side of the case--which is the side that everybody sees when they're using the iPod.)

Next, I pulled back the needle slightly so the thread at the needle tip would make a little loop, as shown.

I then passed the free end of the thread through the loop...

...and then pulled the thread all the way through.

Once the thread was completely through, I held it down flat against the surface of the case...

...and then pulled the needle back out of the hole. The free end of the thread should not be pulled all the way out of the hole (though it may peek through the other side a bit), so I held enough tension on it to make it at least stop at the back side of the case.

I continued with the stitching, pushing the needle through again...

...following that with more threading through the loop...

...and continued on to make the stitch. After doing this for a while, it's easy to see why sewing machines were such a great invention.

After it was completely stitched, the results looked  nice (as seen below). I then cut the extra thread off, leaving a couple inches of length to finish off the end of the stitch.

I tied this into a simple "granny" knot...

...removed the tape from the outer edge of the case...

...and tucked the thread ends down into the inside of the case's new seam.

Lastly, I tacked these loose thread ends down with some super glue. It created a hidden little end to the stitch that shouldn't ever come loose.

After the super glue had dried, I put in my iPod to check for proper fit. Just as planned, it was nice n' snug, but not too tight--like it was custom made for it, or something. Sweeeeeet.

The next step (which I'll show in my next post) was to trim out the hole for the screen and other features, and then to add the snaps for the handle. Peace out.