Skiving in Leather Garment Making: Why Seams Are Thinned and How Skivers Work

Skiving is shaving leather thinner in one chosen spot, usually from the underside, so a seam, fold or overlap does not pile up bulk. On a jacket it is used at edges that fold or overlap, so they can be folded or overlapped without a lump. It is a trade: thinner leather folds flatter, but removing too much weakens the edge.

Makers do not all agree that seams should be skived at all, and this page shows both sides. It is about skiving in making: local thinning where pieces meet. For how a whole jacket comes together, start with how a leather jacket is made, part of the leathercraft and garment construction guide.

Skiving, splitting and shaving: three different jobs

Three words get mixed up, and they describe different jobs.

Skiving also evens out thickness: leather varies across a hide, and pieces can be skived to a uniform thickness. This page stays on the local, workshop-level job.

What skiving does at a jacket seam, collar and hem

Thin leather folds more easily, and layers lose bulk where pieces are joined. The three places where a jacket stacks the most leather are the ones worth looking at.

Seams. Where two panels overlap or a seam allowance folds back, the layers add up. Skiving the edge lets them fold or overlap without a lump, and a well-skived seam gives the jacket a cleaner outline. One store guide lists skiving among the preparation steps before the first stitching.

Collars and cuffs. Folded pieces such as collars and cuffs are fused and bundled before sewing in one factory profile, and edges may be skived at this stage.

Hems. A hem turns the leather back on itself, so the same logic applies: thin the turn-under so the fold lies flat instead of standing proud.

How skivers work: hand knife, edger and bell-knife machine

Tools fall into four families, from slow and controlled to fast and consistent.

By hand. The leather is dry and clamped, a line is marked where thinning begins, and the knife edge faces away from the maker. Strokes are smooth and consistent. Hand skiving is slow and skilled but gives more control. A bookbinding conservator advises thinning in successive passes and checking by color change or by folding the leather, because folding doubles any error.

By machine. In a bell-knife machine a feed carries the leather through a thinning blade. One industrial model's page lists a skiving angle of 0 to 20 degrees and a maximum skiving width of 50 mm (about 2 in), which shows that such a machine thins a narrow band, not a whole panel. That page names fur and felt as materials, so treat it as an example of how these machines are specified, not as a leather jacket setting.

Corter Leather shows hand skiving with Japanese-style knives and French edgers on wallet edges, and says a bevel done by hand can look like one from a bell skiver. The project is a wallet, not a jacket, so use it for the knife technique and not for jacket thicknesses.

The trade-off: bulk and drape against strength

The question is how much to take off. Two strands of advice pull in opposite directions.

• Skive. Thinning edges so they fold or overlap without a lump gives a cleaner outline, but removing too much weakens the edge. A store guide says seam allowances, evenness of stitching and overall structure are checked throughout.
• Do not skive seams. One UK jacket maker never skives seams. It says skiving may give a neater seam, but a skived seam with a small stitch size becomes a potential weak point.

Both views meet at the stitching. A small stitch puts needle holes close together, and the same maker warns that holes too close let leather tear along the seam like postage stamps. Thin leather plus dense stitching is the combination to watch. Our guide to stitches per inch on a leather jacket covers how to count and judge stitch density.

Hobbyist advice is rough and unmeasured. One forum member takes butted edges down by about half and a third layer to about a third; another says if the leather tears easily it is too thin; a third says chrome-tanned leather is harder to skive than vegetable-tanned. These are opinions, not tested limits, and the thread gives no measured strength figure.

Skiving on a jacket you are checking

You cannot see skiving from outside, but you can see its results.

1. Run a thumb along a folded edge, such as a collar or cuff. It should feel even, without a ridge.
2. Look at seams at the shoulder and armhole. They should lie flat, not stand up in a lump.
3. Check that the edge has not gone paper thin or cracked at the fold; a store guide warns that too much removal weakens the edge.
4. Check the stitch line near any skived edge for evenly spaced stitches. Stress areas such as armholes and pockets are often double-stitched or backed with tape.

Leather Collection's guide to how custom leather clothing is made lists edge skiving among its preparation steps for made-to-order garments.

Doing it yourself

If you are making a piece, start on scrap and keep knives very sharp, stropping them often. The Corter Leather video above also advises making a sheath for any flat knife. For a full project, see how to make a leather coat; for joining the skived parts by hand, see how to hand-stitch leather. For linings, see leather jacket lining types.

FAQ

What is skiving in leather?

Skiving is shaving leather thinner in one spot so folds and joins lose bulk.

What is the difference between skiving and splitting?

Skiving thins a local zone in the workshop. Splitting separates layers of the whole hide at the tannery.

What is a bell-knife skiver used for?

It is a powered machine that feeds leather through a thinning blade. Tool sellers present it for production work where results must stay consistent.

Does skiving weaken a seam?

It can. A store guide says removing too much weakens the edge, and one UK maker never skives seams for that reason.