Hand Stitching 1. Griffing

BAEL LEATHER SCHOOL
Sep 2, 2018 · 6 min read

Those who use the machine don’t actually use hand stitching well.

And those who are professional to the machine don’t need to do hand stitching since they can use machine very well.

But, since it is difficult to make 100% with machine, it is helpful if you know the basic method of hand stitching.

If you can do both well, that will be great.

You need to stitch with exact number of stitches and exact match with lining like the wrist band.

1. Is for stitching in areas where the presser foot can’t fit

2. And when the work is not preceded because the presser foot is caught on the subsidiary materials.

3. It is also performed when the machine movement is limited such as when it is necessary to attach patch (It is attached to a part of the bag to connect subsidiary materials to the main body) for D-ring to the bag already made.

4. Hand stitching is used when the machine you have can’t work because the leather is too thick and hard and there are big section differences.

5. Box stitching (stitching that penetrates the two leathers with right angle of them) is a unique stitching of the hand.

6. Some prefer the hand stitching because it is very delicate and dense (the tension of the thread is good) and diagonal line of needle hole is different from the machine.

It is the saddle stitch (stitches used in Hermes saddler, a method that threads on both sides of the thread and replaces the thread with a cross) of so-called luxury goods company which caused boom of leather craft in Korea.

The firmness of the stitching is better than the machine. It is preferred by many people because it is possible to do craft with small number of equipment, failure is much less than the machine and it seems that slow sewing one by one is also suitable for slow life.

But ironically, even original company created saddle stitch is now using the machine because of the production period and the costs. Making a bag with hand stitching is only available for the special edition or some parts nowadays.

People in Korean workroom do remake work of luxury goods a lot. Whenever I see them who make a bag with 100% hand stitching, I think they are very capable and our country is great. But, since Korean workrooms are in fierce competition, it seems that the value and efforts of hand stitching are not properly recognized.

My German friend, who was my house mate in Firenze, saw my hand stitching and knew the value and effort even if he couldn’t make it. Hand stitching in foreign countries seemed to be highly appreciated more than we thought.

Whenever I made a bag at the Leather School, my German friends tried it and gave me a rating.

Then, shall we experience the hand stitching together?

We need to do the griffing first to do hand stitching.

The photo is called griff.

We can make a hole by putting this fork liked one.

The one you see is a griff made by Vergez Blanchard which is used by luxury good companies.

The No. of griff is divided by interval of dents.

For example, №10, which is dense, is used for small goods, and №8 is used for bags.

Each No. is again divided into 2 dents, 5 dents, and 10 dents… according to the number of dent.

2 dents is used to adjust the curved side or number of stitches.

5 dents or 10 dents is used for straight line.

There are also 20 dents and 30 dents. If the numbers of dent are many, the more forces are required.

I have Vergez Blanchard griff of №10, №9 and №8 with 2 dents, 5 dents, 10 dents and single dent.

I mainly use №9 and 10 for small goods and №8 for bags.

Griff is called as MockTa in Japan.

Griff is called as Chisel in North America and MockTa(目打) in Japan.

In addition to Vergez Blanchard, I have Japanese Iwataya and Hiuchiya, Kyoshin Elle and one type of Korean griff.

I don’t actually have greed for collection of equipment, but I bought all of these because the shape of needle stitch is different.

I use appropriate griff or MockTa for each situation as necessary.

For example, when I need to make a hole in the leather all at once, I use Vergez Blanchard, and when I need to do delicate work, I use Iwataya for marking and use awl additionally. I recommend Kyoshin Elle as a tool that many people use and price is cheap.

Since Blanchard makes deep diagonal line of needle stitch and Iwataya makes relatively low line, so there is a difference in the final stitching.

In my eyes, stitching of Blanchard looks somewhat complicated and the one of Iwataya looks neat. But it is just my personal taste. Nowadays, leather crafts are popularized and there are many good griffs in Korea.

You’d better to use it actually and choose the one that suits you.

It is griffing made by Japanese MockTa. It has different feeling from Vergez Blanchard

Once you choose griff and its number, you need to draw a graph marking line on the leather.

Draw a reference line for griffing with divider like the photo.

This line will be hit by hammer after adjusting the dent.

For reference, the width of marking line of European griff is usually 1.5mm.

You can adjust it narrower or wider as needed.

If you draw creasing later, you should consider the width of creasing to decide the width of marking line.

You need to hit with silicon hammer unlike metal hammer for bonding. Or you can use wooden hammer.

It can prevent the holes from being too deep and prevent the dent of griff from the impact.

Since it is curved side, we can mainly use 2 dents.

You can hit by putting the first dent on the previous hole and next dent on the marking line.

You can hit around the marking line like the photo.

You can use more dents for the straight line on top of bag.

The photo shows 10 dents.

Likewise, you can hit by inserting the first dent on the previous hole and remain dents on the marking line to make even holes.

In this way, griffing is completed.

Then I will stitch the threads through the holes we made.

BAEL LEATHER SCHOOL

Written by

Participating in the work of leather crafts, writing and lecturing at BAEL Leather School after completing 'La Scuola Del Cuoio' in Italy.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade