Glues and double-sided adhesive tapes

In our working place we cannot forget glues and adhesive tapes, which play a really important role to achieve professional-looking projects.

Leather, as other materials that we may use for our bags, is not always forgiving: sometimes mistakes are difficult to correct, especially bad seams or holes unintentionally made. A hole in leather, in fact, can no longer be closed and remains there. This is why we are speaking about different types of glue: when we prepare parts to be stitched (especially with a sewing machine) we need them to be in place you don’t want them to slide away!

Here I would like to introduce some kind of glue that I use myself in my creations to make the task a little easier.

The first on the list is contact cement. It ‘a kind of permanent adhesive, which when dry can no longer be removed. Therefore, it is excellent for the parts that must remain glued permanently and moreover that must be sewn together, such as the construction of shoulder straps or handles, or to glue reinforcements. This glue is not perfectly transparent, it may leave signs if not immediately removed. The correct use of this cement is to spread a thin layer of glue on both surfaces that has to be joined, wait just a minute before joining parts.

The second is a non-removable spray glue, which is usually used for bonding large surfaces without losing too much time.

A “must” in the skin of the process is, in my opinion, a glue called “rubber cement” . It is a special glue that once spread on the part, it gets tacky (wait just a minute or two) and then you can join surfaces together. It is necessary for assembling parts, since it is not a permanent adhesive. It is particularly suitable for preparing sections of the bag before sewing. Rubber cement is also used to turn leather edges around reinforcements creating neat and finished edges. Almost every tutorial I am using this technique that gives excellent results.

Sewing leather or faux leather is not as simple as it might seem, these materials slip away easily, especially under the foot of a sewing machine (even industrial). It is important that, before sewing, all parts are kept in place, it is a sort of basting parts that are going to be sewn.

Again you may need a spray glue, but this time totally removable, suitable for big areas.

The famous “Modge Podge” is a great glue, very similar to vinyl glue but much more versatile. It is mainly used for craft projects and comes in various types. Its best quality is that it is perfectly transparent and in the version I usually use it is glossy.

In my videos I am also using a PVC Glue or vinyl glue which is a good product for glueing leather with leather or other reinforcing materials to leather. This glue is transparent and doesn’t usually leave sings.

I am also using some other glues that are leather specific but basically they have the same characteristics of contact cement. Sometimes I need a convenient spout for small pieces or narrow stripes.

In my videos I am largely using double sided tapes which come in various thicknesses. They are essential in keeping together parts that cannot be glued, for example zippers and fabric. The latter in fact, must be well secured to the fabric or to the leather, prior to stitching, otherwise we will never have a precise stitching and good-looking semas.

IMG_2941_web Finding double sided tapes in different thicknesses helps very much in keeping right distances and perfect seem allowances.