Hand-Stitched Leather Gloves - An Overview

There are many steps involved in the manufacture of hand-stitched leather gloves. Once a customer's measurements are taken, a skin is selected.

This step is vital for proper-fitting leather gloves. The hairsheep skin is stretched before and after sectioning, to put the stretch into the leather. The gloves tranks are cut in such a way that the cuff of the glove comes from the spine of the animal, the toughest part. A blunt knife is used to stretch out the furthest edges of the section, to ensure the entire panel is evenly stretched.

The table cutting process begins with the customer’s measurements. Each finger’s length and position are considered and altered from the template. The leather panels are lightly adhered together first, using a weak adhesive such as hairspray. This means they can be cut together for a perfect match. The thumb components and their corresponding holes must be cut perfectly, otherwise the thumb will not fit correctly. Lines are marked on the back of the glove for the decorative stitch lines called Pointing.

The main components of a hand-stitched glove are as follows:

The trank or tranque is the main body of the glove.

The thumb is cut with its own in-built quirk.

Forchettes are situated in between each finger and dictate their cosiness.

Finally, quirks are small diamonds found only in high-quality gloves. They are positioned at the webbing in between each finger, and both provide more dexterity in the glove as well as relieving some stress from the seams of the fingers.

After the skin is prepared and the components of the gloves are cut out, each piece is stitched together by hand. Three lines or ‘points’ are stitched onto the back of each glove. Six ‘quirks’ are attached to six ‘forchettes’, which act as the gusset in between each finger. The thumb components must be an exact fit to stitch correctly into the thumb hole. Once each forchette is attached to the main glove panel, or ‘trank’, the glove can be stitched closed.

The whole process takes hours, even with this glover’s clamp, called a ‘donkey’. This one was made by Sandra Dunn and Aimie Botelho of twosmiths.ca. It is hand forged and makes glove stitching much faster and more accurate.

There are a few final important steps before a pair of gloves are finished. The lining, made from a blend of wool and cashmere, is inserted into the glove and stitched to the tip of each finger (so that it does not pull out with the hand). The lining and a welt are stitched around the cuff of the glove, as well as around a ‘vent’. The vent is a slit positioned on the front, side or even the top of the glove to make them easier to put on. After the welt is rolled and stitched into place (in this instance, in what is known as a ‘French Welt Seam’), it is hammered flat. At this stage, a button stud closure may be attached if desired. Finally, a final stretch is given to the gloves.

This concludes most of the steps involved in making a pair of hand stitched gloves. These videos were not intended to be a follow-along guide, but rather an overview. For anyone interested in learning about glove making, please get in touch.