Before I stitch anything, I lock the spacing. Once that’s done, there are no shortcuts left.
What you’re seeing here is a pricking iron being pressed into the leather to set the stitch rhythm before sewing. I’m working with 3.5 – 4.0 mm stitch spacing, keeping the line roughly 3 mm in from the edge, on leather that’s about 1.1 – 1.2 mm thick.
That margin is tight. There’s no room to improvise later.
Spacing isn’t just about how a stitch looks. It’s about how the panel behaves once tension is applied. If spacing drifts even one to two millimeters, it shows immediately. The stitch won’t sit flat. The edge starts to pull. The panel loses its balance, something that becomes especially obvious near zippers and high-stress points.
This is why spacing is decided before the machine ever comes close.
Once these marks are set, the leather already has its instructions. My job at that point isn’t to guide the stitch — it’s to follow what’s already been established. I don’t rely on guides while stitching. If the spacing work is clean, the stitch line stays honest on its own.
This step feels slow, especially when you’re building jackets day after day. But it prevents rework. It prevents compromise. If spacing is wrong here, there’s no fixing it later.
You don’t “correct” leather. You redo the panel.
At Leatherings, this is one of those quiet steps most people never see, but everyone feels when they put the jacket on. The front panel stays calm. The zipper runs straight. The jacket doesn’t fight the body.
That’s what disciplined spacing gives you, not perfection for show, but balance that lasts.
If you’ve worked close to edges on jackets, especially around zips or curved panels – you already know how unforgiving this stage can be. The leather decides early whether it’s going to cooperate.
And once it decides, you either respect it… or start again.
John Micheal
John Michael is a master leather crafter and co-founder of Leatherings.
Since 2019, he has overseen every critical stage of jacket construction from pattern cutting to zipper setting, building leather jackets defined by precision, balance, and longevity.
