Straight stitches versus canted stitches?

[Chiro75]

I'm a noob to leather work, so please bear with me... so I've been using a 4-pronged thing with diamond shaped tips to punch holes in my leather for sewing. I'm using a two-needle saddle stitch technique. I've seen leather watch straps like the photo below. With the diamond-shaped awl/tool it seems like my stitches are canted a little, whereas these run in a nice, straight line. Is this a matter of using a different type of tool to punch the leather? If so, what tool would I want to get? Thanks in advance!

 

[Diomedes Industries]

You can always use a single awl or a drill bit to make your holes - this may help you keep them straight.

TF

 

[Chiro75]

But the diamond shape of the hole is what cants the stitching when saddle stitching. Do I just use a different type of awl?

 

[Swivelknife]

Hi, Doc! Good to hear from you again! The stitched example you have shown is a machine stitch. Hand stitching that many stitches to the inch can be extremely challenging no matter what tools you use. ---Sandy---

 

[Chiro75]

Here we go, this answered my question perfectly...
http://www.visla.net/upload/acsses//SMN15_English.pdf

Diamond shaped awls are going to produce a slanted stitch, so I would need a different tool to make my stitches fall in line more.