You would be surprised how often we get orders for a strip of leather 12 feet long. That is, after all what may be needed for a large wheel or a wide dodger. Unfortunately, the animals that provide us with our source of leather are not that big. And flaws in the hides will further reduce the size of the resulting leather panels. So it will usually be necessary to piece smaller sections of leather together. But leather cannot be conveniently "seamed" like fabric because it is too thick. The doubled seam would be awkward and unsightly. Fortunately, because leather is not woven like fabric it can be nicely butted end to end. A zigzag stitch can be run right down the center of the butted pieces -- the butted seam will develop about 30 to 40% of the strength of the leather itself. This is generally quite sufficient for the normal cosmetic and protective roll that leather plays.

Many leather covers are hand sewn because the objects to which they are secured cannot be placed under a machine. This can be awkward for those with little experience. The spacing of stitches is hard to maintain and pushing the needle through the leather can lead to blisters and cuts. Both problems can be solved if the leather is passed through the sewing machine first along all sewn edges. Set the machine to the longest possible straight stitch and remove the thread from the needle. Use the largest needle possible -- we sometimes cut the sharp point away to make the hole in the leather larger. These "pre punched" holes will make hand stitching both easier and more accurate than it would be otherwise.

Leather stretches somewhat so covers should be intentionally small. Then they can be stretched in place as they are sewn. But leather will shrink a bit when wet so a little slackness in a protective cover will go away with use.