The Rationale of Seam Strength in Leather Patchwork
The leather is a hard-old creature. It has had so many uses such as saddles and sandals due to its durability and muscle. When you begin to cut it into pieces to make patchwork then it becomes slightly less indestructible. Sewing lines with patch leather sewing machine turn into lines of battle-lines, with stress breaking them at the seams, or, keeping the thread. Just run your imagination of a beautiful bag whose staple broke due to the stitching raising a white flag. Yikes.
Looking to get something gritty with patchwork, it begins at the seam. And, to speak truth, hands cannot always attain the muscle. That is where a good patch leather sewing machine pays off–strong motors, walking feet, heavy needles and thread that can be thicker than grandmas oatmeal. These machines bite chunks out of things like a beaver when it gets into birch and assist you in fixing things using teeth like those of a beaver so that the only neck that will be broken will be the neck of people when they stare.
Well, What Makes a strong Seam?
Now we will be technical–and not dull. Leather seam strength is no child play. you require good thread. Polyester thread is unique since it has the power to withstand UV, rot, and stretch. Nylon is great to work with flexibility (bags or wearables). Cotton is an old fashioned one but this wears out quicker. Never belay up your thread. Heavy-weight, thick – the size is written on the spool, and the bigger the number, the thinner the thread.
Then-type of stitch. Remember that saddle stitch or lockstitch. A hand saddle stitch intertwines two ‘lanes of thread in different holes, pushed back in each direction. It is hard to pull out. Your best machine party trick is called Lockstitch since it interlaces thread on the top and bottom. Nor by common running stitches work. Those are snapped together quicker than a magician scarf.
The spacing between the stitch is important. Too near and you are weakening the leather with a volley of holes. Much further and the seam opens in an ugly way like poor dent-istry. Loosley, something like 3mm to 5mm between the patches in patchwork- try it on scrap–then decide.
Friend adhesives or Foe adhesives?
Is leather glueable? Bet, but you can not rely on glue to hold a seam even of something passing the strain of wear and tear. Leather cement such as Barge or Eco-Flo is heaven sent to make things tacked together before they are stitched. It prevents the layers to slide as you struggle to sew them through your patch leather sewing machine. The rule, however, is when you glue, sew. The glue is the butter not the bread.
Stitching Patchwork Designs: Be Unafraid of Rules
But strangely enough the patchwork started as a way to mend up tears and holes. Nowadays, it is more of jazz. One has rules, but the trick is to improvise.
Combining Colour and Texture
Women forget about everything matching by the book. Patchwork sings when you follow contrast. The rugged comes against the smooth. Matte embraces gloss. Next to the upcycled jacket suede go to old belt leather. Use up odds and ends in any mixture. Punchy colors need not be avoided either, in small projects rich blues or mustard yellows can also add a voice.
Order: Geometry or Chaos
There are crafting crafters who live by order. Rectangles and squares are compact like bricks to a wall. It sews up much more easily, and with less wastage, too, unless you happen to be working with little pieces of remnant. Superimpose the polygons, crop the edges and arrange the grain. To these styles, chalk or soap on your diaper. Numbers on the back of pieces you can e-a-s-i-l-y confuse when you play the Tetris with such small squares of leather.
In contrast, free-form patchwork mixes it up. Weird angles, circular patches, triangles that do not even bother to play along. These projects seem to be alive by observing the natural curves of the scraps of leather instead of pressing them into a grid. You may see yourself cutting strange curve and then replicating the same on other patches to create some consistency.
Stitching Styles: Show It!
There are people who conceal seams whatever it takes. In leather patchwork, though, stitches may take a centre stage. Contrasting thread may be utilized in bold outlines. Have a go at whipstitch, this is sewed over the edge and creates a chunky handmade feel. More seams can be made to be decorative through lacing using wide strip leathers which uses huge holes where cord or wide strip leather passes through.
Hand-lacing is of course slower but as dramatic as it can be- get crazy with the double loop, or cross stich, or baseball stich. In a hurry or like smooth finishes? The patch leather sewing machine (And here is our hero once more) does the trick easily.
Care Treasures: Leather Patchwork Durability
Wow, now to maintain the strong over the years. Leather requires a small dose of pampering so that it does not become dry and cracked. When you can, spend the money on a decent leather conditioner and every so often condition your patchwork, particularly the seams which become particularly dehydrated. protect it against direct sun and too much moisture, and leather is as fussy as a primadonna cat.
Run a check on your seams every now and then. When you find out there are breaks in the threads, address them as soon as you can. Make a couple of smooth pulls on the handles and other key pressure points of the bag as well as wearable items.
Patchwork project ideas DIY
First time, diving? Begin with small. Leather coasters,–circle or hexagon. Key fobs. An eyewear case. They assist you in getting a feel of seam strength and even playing with no danger of destroying a huge heap of things.
Step up to a wallet. Take utilitarian and opposing materials (imagine black, brown, burgundy). Have fun with design-bout patches running up one side, and across horizontally on the other. It appears to be deliberate–it is amusing. When certain about it, you may attack a tote or messenger bag. In the reinforce handle and edge, there is an additional row of stitches or lacing.
