Customer Reviews

The Art of Hand Sewing Leather

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you want to know, I mean REALLY want to know how to do this skill, then Stohlman is the one to learn it from. Hand drawn illustrations of the tools and techniques to easily sew leather by hand. Clear instructions, and pelnty of tips and hints to make life, and leather, good!
A basic skill when working with leather, and a good book to learn from.

Stohlman is an excellent teacher of skills in all of his works.
Kay

If you are just starting in hand sewing leather, you need this book. It gives you all of the basic stitches and tools you need. With many tips on helping with speed and making it look great

Clear, concise instructions. Ideal for beginners to the craft. Good diagrams to go with instructions.

If you are interested in, or have a need to stitch leather, you really need this book. As far as I'm aware, it is the only really detailed booklet - which is what it really is - on the subject. Everything is different in leather stitching - the needles, the thread, the starting and finishing techniques, and even the preparation of the base material (i.e., the leather). Know also that if you machine stitch leather, you will still need to know how to hand stitch. The best machine-sewn goods are still hand-finished, for one thing, and there are things you simply can't do on a machine, like blind-stitching under a belt loop. Like many of Stohlman's books, this is an "oldie but a goodie". The size is something between a large pamphlet and a very small book, but the information is priceless.

Al Stohlman gives a good introduction to the art of hand sewing leather. Illustrated with step by step stages this little classic still works well as an introduction to the basic (and some more advanced) techniques used when sewing leather. He goes through the tools needed and how to use them properly to sew leather in a variety of ways. The numerous hand drawn sketches are detailed and still serve their purpose very well. The only disappointing thing was the aged and rather poor quality of the few pictures used to illustrate some projects. The aged appearance should come as no big surprise though when remembering that the book was first published in 1977, long before the age of digitized illustration and publishing.

Although I have been working with leather as a hobby for many years, I learned a good deal from this little gem of a book. Methods and projects are presented very plainly and clearly with series of step by step illustration. These simple black and white line illustrations are brilliantly simple and extremely effective.

This one is a little sleeper. I was a little hesitant ordering this one...even more so when I saw it in the box. It is certainly not the most impressive looking book in my collection, but it is soon to be one of my most treasured. I opened the book and didn't stop until I read through the whole thing. My interest in sewing leather comes from the desire to re-upholster the interior of a car of mine...I figured I would start with the steering wheel. This book gives you a no-nonsense approach to hand sewing just about anything you can think of...I from the looks of it, anything made using the techniques in this book will last longer than I will.

Anyone interested in making custom leather items by hand needs to read this. I'm just starting out in this hobby, and I did about 20 or so projects before I got this book, and it's helped out immensely. My stitches are even and straight, look better and I sew about 3 times faster.

An excellent book, well illustrated and set out. This is a must for all beginners to experts. Al Stohlman has no equal when it comes to leather work. Money well spent.

I highly recommend "The Art of Hand Sewing Leather", by Al Stohlman. The text and accompanying sketches were extremely well done and in my opinion will never be outdated ! This book is loaded with information, including plans for building your own Stitching Pony (Seat with legs and adjustable jaws to hold your work while stitching.)

Todd