Why I Returned to Saddle Stitching After Years of Machine Sewing

I’ve been chasing leathers and making videos for years now… but somewhere along the way, I stopped crafting for myself. So I went back to the playground — back to stitching leather with my own two hands. This time, I put one of my all-time favorite vegetable-tanned leathers to the test: machine-sewn vs. saddle-stitched. Same leather. Same pattern. Same finish. The only difference? The stitching. • Machine-sewn took 7 minutes. • Hand-stitched took 90 minutes. Both look beautiful. Both are durable. But the feeling? That’s where things get interesting. So now I’m curious… which one would you choose? TITLE: Why I Returned to Saddle Stitching After Years of Machine Sewing --- CHAPTERS/TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Reconnecting with Craft I realized I’ve been away from crafting… time to return to the playground. 0:14 - Choosing My Favorite Leather Picked my all-time favorite vegetable-tanned leather… look, touch, smell, even sound. 0:41 - Revisiting the Travel Wallet Applying my second-ever design, the passport wallet… tens of thousands sold, now time for an upgrade. 1:13 - Going Manual: Hand Stitching No sewing machine in the studio… polishing saddle stitching skills… hand-stitched wallet took 1.5 hours. 1:42 - The Side-by-Side Experiment Idea Cut two sets of leather: one machine-sewn, one saddle-stitched… same leather, pattern, burnishing. Only difference: stitching. 2:18 - Hand Stitching Process & Timing Step-by-step hand stitching: card stops, middle separator, full-body assem