Had a customer call my stitching 'sloppy' and it stung but they were right

I was finishing up a leather journal and the thread tension was off on the spine, ended up with these tiny gaps between each stitch. They pointed it out and asked if I could redo it, which felt awful in the moment. Has anyone else gotten criticism that actually made you step back and fix a bad habit in your binding?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancyw977d ago

Oh man, I feel this in my bones (if that doesn't sound too dramatic). Getting called out like that, especially when you know deep down they're right, it's such a gut punch. I had a similar thing happen with a repair job I did on a vintage bag where my stitching was just a little off and the customer noticed it right away. They were really nice about it but it still stung, you know? But honestly, that moment made me slow down and really look at my technique, and I switched up how I hold my awl and thread tension as a result. It's one of those things where the hurt fades but the improvement stays, and that's something, I guess.

riveradams7d ago

Hurt like hell but god, sometimes the hard truths are the ones that make you better.

troy8327d ago

That kind of honesty stings but it usually makes your work better in the long run.