Are you currently using a pricking iron to mark out the position of your stitching holes, but just aren’t happy with the results, and your stitching looks untidy. There’s a very handy and tool that could help called an overstitching wheel. It could help you improve the appearance of your stitching and is a must for any leathercrafters toolbox but also helps to create more decorative edges.
An overstitching wheel is a hand held tool that consists of a handle and a metal shaft with a spiked rolling wheel on its end. The spiked wheel is rolled along your leather to create neat evenly spaced indentations that mark the positions/location of your stitching holes in your leather. The wheels are interchangeable and come in various sizes. Once you have the positions of your stitching holes marked out you can then use your awl to punch the holes through your leather and sew your pieces together.
Overstitch wheels are sometimes used instead of pricking irons as they produce much neater, even spaces for your stitching. The spiked rolling wheel creates very uniform even spaced marks in your leather for your stitches. In fact, you can almost make your hand stitches look as good as machine stitches. Please read on for more info and useful tips and tricks.
Other names for an Overstitch wheel.
Just in case you were wondering an overstitch wheel is also called:
- Stitching wheel
- Leather stitching wheel
- Stitching wheel tool
- Spiked wheel
- Leather pricking wheel
- Pricking wheel
- Stitching marking wheel
- Spiky wheel tool
Different uses for an Overstitch wheel
The Overstitching wheel is mostly used to mark the positions of your stitching thread holes, but it can also be used in other ways to help improve the look of your projects.
- An overstitch wheel can be used to create a purely decorative edge for your leather project. Sometimes an overstitch wheel is used in conjunction with a leather edge groover to help create a straight decorative groove/edge. Simply drag the leather groover over your leather to create a straight groove along your edge. Now use your overstitch wheel and run the wheel inside the groove to create the appearance of machined stitches in this groove. You should push down fairly hard in order to create this fake stitching effect.
- The overstitching wheel can also be used to help recess your stitches. This is done by running over your stitches with your overstitch wheel once your stitches are in place/sewn. This results in your thread getting recessed into your leather, creating a neater appearance as well as helping protect your thread from being scraped or torn during everyday use.
How much does an Overstitch wheel cost?
As with all leathercraft tools they vary in quality and can be purchased depending on your unique requirements. The wheels can range in price from the very cheap $7 to the more expensive $22. It really depends on your budget and the quality you require. Overstitch wheels are available from Amazon and numerous other leather suppliers at the above-mentioned prices. Click this link to Amazon to see the extensive range that’s available.
Overstitch wheels come with a variety of different wheel sizes. The most common wheel sizes are 5, 6, 7 or 8. The sizes relate to the number of stitching holes per inch. For example a size 6 overstitch wheel would have 6 stitching holes per inch. Depending on the look/ aesthetic you require you can simply change out the wheel on your overstitcher and replace them with a bigger/ smaller wheel. They are usually sold in a set of 3 or 4 with different sizes. The wheels can be changed with the aid of a small screwdriver that is sold with the tool.
What are the advantages of using a Overstitching wheel?
- They help create much neater more uniform stitches that are in a neat straight line.
- The spiked wheel can also recess your stitches so that they are protected from everyday wear and tear.
- You can use the overstitch wheel as a purely decorative tool by creating indentations along the edge of your leathercraft projects.
- The pricking wheel will mark the position of your stitching holes easily and neatly along curves or in other tight edge situations.
- The wheel also helps to give your leather projects the appearance of a machine stitched product.
- The stitching wheel can be used instead of using the traditional pricking irons to mark out the positions of your stitching holes.
- The overstitching wheel will save you time compared to the pricking iron and result in a lot less physical effort to create your stitching holes.
Other tools that can be used with the Overstitching wheel.
As mentioned previously you can also use a leather edge groover to help create straight recessed grooves in your leather. Sometimes these 2 tools are sold together. The overstitching wheel is run along this groove in order to create a recessed stitching groove. An overstitching wheel should not be confused with a pricking or stitching wheel which has sharper more pronounced wheel edges that actually pierce the surface of your leather.
Conclusion
In light of the above information and the fact that an overstitching tool is fairly cheap and easy to use, isn’t it about time you bought one of your own. Some Leathercrafters prefer using the traditional pricking iron, but there is definitely a place for both in your toolbox. Each tool has its own specific use and will help save you time and improve the look of your projects. Good luck with your next leathercraft project. Check out some of my other posts if you would like to learn a bit more.