Leather gloves, having been around for centuries, are worn for multiple reasons, out of which a few could be protected from abrasion, debris, exposure to cold weather, friction, sports, and sometimes even fashion.
One of the reasons why leather gloves are so unique is because of the fact that the making of leather gloves is a lengthy process that needs a lot of attention and quality control.
The Leather Gloves Manufacturing Process
The essence of making perfect leather gloves includes quality material, outstanding skill, and expert handiwork. The leather glove manufacturing process is then further divided into five basic steps to get the perfect end results.
1. Size
Just like how everyone doesn’t wear the same size of clothes, it would be illogical to expect everyone to wear the same size of gloves. Each glove is designed with specific sizes to fit the hands of the user perfectly. Due to this, even if someone has really small hands or the other way round, no one needs to worry as their sizes will be available.
2. Choosing the Material
For an amazing quality of gloves, the perfect leather should be chosen. This is the second step of the leather gloves making process. The material cannot be too soft or too firm. It needs to be genuine leather material – just the right amount of soft and elastic to be comfortable and to let the wearer’s hands move freely, especially if the gloves are going to be used in a work environment.
Leather generally looks the same but has different wearing qualities. The different types of leather are classified by color and size, which help determine what type of gloves will be made by a specific material. Top-grain leather has greater wearing qualities, and side split is the most durable part of the hide.
Elite Leather’s glove catalog consists of different types of gloves made up of different materials, all suitable for different settings and work environments.
After the material is selected, two more steps follow:
- Wetting: This is the process where the leather is moistened to improve its flexibility. The wetting process ensures that the leather fibers swell and soften, which enables manufacturers to stamp and shape the leather as required.
- Skinning and Platting: This process is where the leather is stretched to maximum to determine which section of the leather will be used in which part of the glove. Once the skinning and platting process is complete, the size of the glove is measured which then takes us to the cutting process.
3. Manual Glove Cutting
Although cutting might sound easy, it’s more difficult than it seems. The gloves pattern should be positioned in the right way and the cut should fit glove style. For this, an iron hand is used and the leather is cut to the exact shape of a glove and then placed under a hydraulic press..
For the best end results, cutters who are skilled and well-experienced are hired, who know what they’re doing. At Elite Leather, we employ such experts to craft and cut our gloves so that each product comes out perfect and fits the needs of our customers.
4. Sewing
The fourth leather glove production process is sewing. Gloves can be sewn in two ways; with a machine or by hand.
For machine-sewn gloves, not all of them might be alike. There are different techniques involved in them. The Chinese method requires the gloves to be sewn inside out, meanwhile, there are other artisans who sew them skillfully from the outside.
In hand-sewn gloves, every single stitch is done by hand. This process is a lot slower than sewing with a machine and it takes special craftsmanship to create beautiful gloves in the end.
Sewing includes further steps such as:
- Detailing: Detailing includes adding distinctive design details to the glove, from motifs to ribbing or lacing.
- The Piqué Stitch: This means includes sewing knit stitches at the base of each finger to allow ease and solidarity which can help improve the efficiency of the glove.
- The Lining: Lining helps make the leather more comfortable for long term wear. While lining, the glove is positioned with the help of a wooden hand and the lining is stitched and secured by adding invisible seams at each fingertip.
- Finishing: The finishing process includes making the final touches in the glove.
5. Finishing
The final steps in glove making include the Baguettage – which is the process of testing the finger seams to see if they are too tight or not so that the glove can be comfortable to wear.
Then there’s Shaping – the process where the glove is worn in warm hands to make sure that there are no folds or seams that may make the glove uncomfortable.
The last step is Ironing and Pairing. The gloves are ironed, checked and attached together and then finally the product is ready to be shipped.
Conclusion
Quality leather gloves are made with the needs of the wearer in mind. They’re manufactured through a specific process, with the help of artisans and expert craftsmanship. Elite Leather Creations has a range of gloves in their catalog, made of a variety of materials. These gloves are soft and flexible, and much more durable than lower quality gloves, giving the wearer a sense of appreciation and comfort.
The Elite Glove Guide
Take a look at our glove guide and find out which leather, size, and type of glove fits your needs best. You can order our gloves by contacting our team or send us your queries to find out more.
