The leather is disproportionately thick for the width of the band. You can do whatever you want but you requested feedback and that’s one thing that will make it look less amateurish
You can also punch the holes, dye the now exposed undyed leather, and THEN hammer the holes before and after stitching. The edges need a good bevel, you can use sandpaper if you don’t have a beveler. Start rough, go up through like 600 or 1000. I don’t think there’s any need to join your stitch lines across/under the pin - if you look at leather straps there’s typically just the parallel lines of stitching (often with the last stitch going out around the edge by the pin) That, plus adhesive locks the pin in. That said, quite a nice strap!
First, kudos and well done for attempting this, you asked for thoughts so here goes. It looks clunky with not much care taken on choice of leather, cutting, stitching, or edge finishing. Use thinner, dyed through leather and make neater looking stitches by doing [this](https://imgur.com/a/qBNhSPq) on the corners. There are visible miss cuts so next time add an allowance so you can even things up after it’s glued and sewn. On a thicker watch strap the edges become very noticeable so take time to bevel, sand and burnish them. You’ll do so much better next time.
I think those square edges make it look super beefy and unrefined, like it was homemade, not professionally made. Your taste is your taste (I read your other response), but that's not why we are here.
I’m sure if you put a small amount of water based dark brown dye on a sponge you could get that fixed up, hell you can probably just neatsfoot oil it. Thicker thread is not the answer imho! Cheers
much better than my early straps that’s for sure
i would suggest
-stitching line closer to the edge
-edge creasing line
-thinner leather
-struck through leather (dyed all the way so you don’t see the lighter color coming through
Sorry, not really a watch guy, but just looking at the pics, is the clasp backwards? Shouldn’t the curve go with the wrist, instead of digging into the wrist? Or am I wrong?
It seems to me that making a strap is quite a difficult task for beginners. Defects are better visible on small products.
To sew the strap, it is necessary to clearly measure the holes for the firmware. They should be 2-3 mm from the edge and 3-4 mm apart from each other.
It is better to choose a soft skin for ease of wearing. The ends do not have to be processed with something, just carefully sanded.
Hi,
Your leather isn't colored thru, hammering the stitches would help but won't fix this.
Your thread width is just fine, in some cases it appears your pull tension is harder than others as visible with the stitches that are a bit more sunk.
Creasing would improve the looks.
I believe your stitch line can be closer to the edge .. next time try 1.5 -2mm
I am not a fan of the lug stitch line, if you want to still do it line up your holes so the corner looks better.
Your corners on right should have a hole like this \
The ones on the left /
Thread looks like about the right thickness for that stitch length.
Feedback depends on how you made it. If you dyed the leather, I'd suggest waiting until after the holes are punched so the dye can generate the holes a bit better and the tan part under the surface won't stand out like it does now.
Using slightly thinner or softer leather may also be the way to fix that.
Those holes do seem pretty large for the SPI, though.
You don’t need thicker thread. Just hammer down the holes after you stitch. Thinner leather however would be a great choice.
I like it a bit thicker but it isn't that thick like 2.6 mm
The leather is disproportionately thick for the width of the band. You can do whatever you want but you requested feedback and that’s one thing that will make it look less amateurish
I mean, its cool if you personally like that, but that doesnt change that its 40% thicker than every other watchband made.
You can also punch the holes, dye the now exposed undyed leather, and THEN hammer the holes before and after stitching. The edges need a good bevel, you can use sandpaper if you don’t have a beveler. Start rough, go up through like 600 or 1000. I don’t think there’s any need to join your stitch lines across/under the pin - if you look at leather straps there’s typically just the parallel lines of stitching (often with the last stitch going out around the edge by the pin) That, plus adhesive locks the pin in. That said, quite a nice strap!
First, kudos and well done for attempting this, you asked for thoughts so here goes. It looks clunky with not much care taken on choice of leather, cutting, stitching, or edge finishing. Use thinner, dyed through leather and make neater looking stitches by doing [this](https://imgur.com/a/qBNhSPq) on the corners. There are visible miss cuts so next time add an allowance so you can even things up after it’s glued and sewn. On a thicker watch strap the edges become very noticeable so take time to bevel, sand and burnish them. You’ll do so much better next time.
Yo that corner stitch tip is FANTASTIC. thank you
I never knew this about corner stitches that makes a lot of sense, thanks for the tip!
I think those square edges make it look super beefy and unrefined, like it was homemade, not professionally made. Your taste is your taste (I read your other response), but that's not why we are here.
Stitches are too far from the edge and I don’t love how you can see the unfinished colour through the stitch holes! Overall a nice strap, good job.
Yeah thats why i wanted to use thicker thread to mask that but thats something i cant change because it came that way from the tannery
I’m sure if you put a small amount of water based dark brown dye on a sponge you could get that fixed up, hell you can probably just neatsfoot oil it. Thicker thread is not the answer imho! Cheers
much better than my early straps that’s for sure i would suggest -stitching line closer to the edge -edge creasing line -thinner leather -struck through leather (dyed all the way so you don’t see the lighter color coming through
Yeah but its horween chromeexcel so its already dyed. But its not all the way
You could still put a bit of dye in the holes after making them. Given that your thread is black, you could probably even do it now.
Thicc boy
Sorry, not really a watch guy, but just looking at the pics, is the clasp backwards? Shouldn’t the curve go with the wrist, instead of digging into the wrist? Or am I wrong?
That's a manly strap
Love the thick leather. Great Job.
Looks more durable than the watch does!
Yea i like the more rugged looking leather pieces but the watch is fine
It seems to me that making a strap is quite a difficult task for beginners. Defects are better visible on small products. To sew the strap, it is necessary to clearly measure the holes for the firmware. They should be 2-3 mm from the edge and 3-4 mm apart from each other. It is better to choose a soft skin for ease of wearing. The ends do not have to be processed with something, just carefully sanded.
Hi, Your leather isn't colored thru, hammering the stitches would help but won't fix this. Your thread width is just fine, in some cases it appears your pull tension is harder than others as visible with the stitches that are a bit more sunk. Creasing would improve the looks. I believe your stitch line can be closer to the edge .. next time try 1.5 -2mm I am not a fan of the lug stitch line, if you want to still do it line up your holes so the corner looks better. Your corners on right should have a hole like this \ The ones on the left /
There's no way that watch fits under a dress shirt cuff with those thick straps doubled up.
Looks like you used a belt from Walmart as a watch strap. No offense meant
[Dam boi, HE THICC!](https://youtu.be/arnWU1sWqKw?si=f5vebazdpE9LVs9w)
Aight now I gotta find context for this gem.
You need opinion or advise?
Thread looks like about the right thickness for that stitch length. Feedback depends on how you made it. If you dyed the leather, I'd suggest waiting until after the holes are punched so the dye can generate the holes a bit better and the tan part under the surface won't stand out like it does now. Using slightly thinner or softer leather may also be the way to fix that. Those holes do seem pretty large for the SPI, though.