Repair Stitch for a Leather Sofa

Prepare the area for stitching. Wash the area with leather cleaner and trim any rough or ragged areas with scissors. If you are repairing a torn seam and there are holes from the original stitching that haven't ripped, leave these in place, but cut away any holes that have ripped through. Snip away any torn thread strands.

Hold the ends of the leather together. Pull them together using one hand on each side, tugging until the ends of the torn area meet. Pinch them so that the edges fold upward together. Temporarily hold the ends in place using binder clips, spacing the clips as far apart as you can to leave room for stitching.

Thread a needle. Use a thin needle if you are sewing through existing holes; use a leather sewing needle to penetrate the material if you need to make new holes. Double-thread the needle by pulling the thread through the eye and pulling the end through the double it up. Tie a double knot in the end of the joined thread about two feet from the eye of the needle.

Sew the leather using a whipstitch. Insert the needle through one side of the leather seam (at the end of the rip) and pull through until you are stopped by the knot in the end of the thread. Position the tip of the needle again on the same side of the seam and poke it through the leather next to the original stitch, causing the thread to wrap itself over the seam. Repeat this until you've sewn across the length of the seam, removing the binder clips as you go. Secure the stitch at the end of the seam.

Run the stitching back over the seam in the same manner, going the opposite way; this reinforces it.