thecapgunkid
40 Cal.
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This series of posts is to help craftsmen in making their leather stitching more authentic. The appearance of hunting bags, bullet bags, wallets , pouches, sheaths and so on will show a marked difference when this technique is used. It differs from modern leatherworking techniques in that;
Ӣ The stitches are smaller and tighter than those taught out of current craft manuals
Ӣ The holes are smaller than those made by rotary punches
Ӣ Needles, or bristles, used are considerably smaller than those used in modern stitching
Ӣ The thread is a different texture, substance and color that that used in the modern way (including artificial sinew)
Once a craftsman starts stitching in this historical technique, the work produced will have a distinctly different look. Once gotten used to as a practice, it will be hard to go back to pre-waxed thread, hole punchers and large harness needles.
One of the first skills I learned in my shoemaking apprenticeship was to taper thread ends so that they could utilize a smaller needle or bristle. DIFFERENT CRAFTSMEN TAPER THREAD IN DIFFERENT WAYS. If you can learn this particular method, any way you taper from here will probably be just as good. Suit yourself.
We use unwaxed thread here”¦most often linen. Just do a search on the net and you will find a vendor who sells it. Some of us Old Timers will use Hemp and linen mixes, but that is a detail you have to look for to see in your work.
The strands of the thread are referred to as “Plys”. The tendency is to write “plies”, but I won’t. Most thread is anywhere from three to five to eight ply. My original role of Barbours 5 ply is still in use since 1976. Lose the pre- waxed thread.
Open your weak hand like making a pistol”¦index finger out and thumb sticking up in the air. Take a piece of thread and wrap it loosely around the first joint on your index finger. The end of the thread should be parallel to your thumb but you have to pin there by moving that thumb else it won’t stay Once you pin it it will stay pinned until the end of this process. The end beyond your fingers should be about four to five inches or maybe a little more.
With your free hand, unwrap the entire thread end by twisting it against its natural twist. It’ll come apart a little reluctantly.
Be the thread”¦
Let the loose ends flop around out there. Now divide the number of plys in half, and gather one half. Five ply thread should be 2 and 3. Anything heavier than that should be divided into thirds”¦3,3 and 2, for example.
You are going to fuzz the ends of the plys, one ply progressively shorter than the previous. To do this take a sharp knife and pin the first set of the thread between the edge of the blade and your thumb pad about three quarter way up the end. You will instinctively not hold that too tight. Draw the blade, keeping it at 90 degrees to the thread, repeatedly, firmly and gently to gradually fuzz the end. If you end up snipping the end or tearing or cutting it off, you are holding the blade too tightly or at an angle. If you are doing it right, you are going to make a lot of passes and gently and gradually fuzz the end of the plys. For those who don’t want a knife edge on their flesh, you can also pin the thread on the bench and draw it across a knife edge. This is shown in the photo. You do it right you end up with the right fuzz. You do either wrong and you will snip the thread.
So be careful, Saint Crispen.
My master used to do this without a knife, using his thumb finger nail. He would work each ply until it fuzzed where he wanted it and then tug. I can do that with hemp thread but I never mastered the technique consistently with linen so I punk out and use the knife.
When you are satisfied with the fuzzy taper ( it’ll probably take you several tries to get the right feel and technique, so get the wife, the beer, the kids and the puppy out of the room), put a little spit on the plys and twist it IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF THE NATURAL TWIST OF THE THREAD. Goof this and it won’t work. When you get it tightly “reverse” wound, push it aside and do the same thing with the other set of thread plys, this time starting about one third of the way back from the tip instead of one quarter. Working from longer to shorter on the plys will help you if you goof up and snip the ply.
My Master was amazing at how he’d get three plys to be short, medium and long every time. It isn’t necessary, but as you get more experienced keep trying for that. It makes your tapers even and reliable when you are stitching
Now you have two separate, reverse wrapped ends coming to two points. They will naturally loosen up a little. One is a wee bit shorter than the other. Remember that you twisted these ends against their will and natural twist. Make sure they are reasonably tight in that reverse twist .
This is the frustrating part. Still pinning the thread with index/thumb, place the two ends on your thigh, down by your knee. Pin them both with the palm of your free hand against your thigh. The free hand is going to roll these ends toward your body, increasing that reverse twist. The hand pinning the thread with index/thumb is going to keep some tension on this as you roll. When you roll up your thigh until the thread ends wrap, reverse the roll rapidly toward your knee and increase the pressure of your free hand. Firmly push the rolling thread end as you move toward your knee, kinda sorta letting your free hand stray off toward the thread pointy end rather than staying at 90 degrees to the thread. This helps keep the taper gradual and even graceful.
You will notice that you wrapped a taper into this thread. That’s because the tension you put into the thread when you reversed the twist is now expressing itself by intertwining the two ends. If you did it right, the twist in the taper is gradual and comes to a dandy looking gradual point.
It took me about six months to get this right. If you did not spit and wrap tight enough, the finished thread will not be tightly wrapped. If you did not pull slightly with the index/thumb or push at a slight angle with your palm hand when rolling toward your knee the twist may be too compact and uneven. You can pull the end toward you again and go back out to the knee to straighten it out.
This is a skill in and of itself. Unlike the previous post about awls that everyone should use, this requires practice and skill.
Some guys don’t bother to unwrap the plys and just go ahead and fuzz the whole end at once. They usually cite a shortage of time. That’s OK, but I always found my needles would stay threaded during stitching in tighter stabbed holes when I did it the way I am describing here. Sah-zeetch his own.
Wax the manure out of your thread, giving particular attention to the tip. You can’t get enough wax into the thread. Now you are ready to thread your needle. I wear bi-focals, so this is the worst part for me.
The sole reason to do this is to allow you to use smaller needles than the conventional ten penny nails sold as harness needles in craft stores. When combined with the stabbing of the awl described in a previous and upcoming post, there will be such a pronounced difference in your stitching that you will never come back to hole punchers and big needles. That’s what the old timers did. That’s how your work will look far more authentic in its detail.
Next Post, we will show how to use this tapered thread end and set up the stitching. By the way”¦once you learn this technique, it will take you less time to execute than it did to read this post. In fact, just for poops and giggles, try this one on for size”¦take a piece of thread about four feet long. Double it up on a hook on the wall. Using the reverse twist principle, unwrap one side, pin it and unwrap the second side. When they are both really tense and reverse- unwrapped, using your palms and firm, brisk pressure, wrap them again. Remember the comments earlier about intertwining hemp and flax? That’s how it’s done. For years I have been using two plys hemp and one ply linen on my uppers. I had them both spun for me by a craftswoman. Once waxed up thoroughly, this makes a tight looking thread.
http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/thecapgunkid/media/holdingtheend_zps777b4224.jpg.[img]
[img]http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/thecapgunkid/media/taperingbytrimmingthethread_zpse26515e6.jpg[img]
[img]http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/thecapgunkid/media/rollingthetaper_zps2f0ce930.jpg.[img]
Ӣ The stitches are smaller and tighter than those taught out of current craft manuals
Ӣ The holes are smaller than those made by rotary punches
Ӣ Needles, or bristles, used are considerably smaller than those used in modern stitching
Ӣ The thread is a different texture, substance and color that that used in the modern way (including artificial sinew)
Once a craftsman starts stitching in this historical technique, the work produced will have a distinctly different look. Once gotten used to as a practice, it will be hard to go back to pre-waxed thread, hole punchers and large harness needles.
One of the first skills I learned in my shoemaking apprenticeship was to taper thread ends so that they could utilize a smaller needle or bristle. DIFFERENT CRAFTSMEN TAPER THREAD IN DIFFERENT WAYS. If you can learn this particular method, any way you taper from here will probably be just as good. Suit yourself.
We use unwaxed thread here”¦most often linen. Just do a search on the net and you will find a vendor who sells it. Some of us Old Timers will use Hemp and linen mixes, but that is a detail you have to look for to see in your work.
The strands of the thread are referred to as “Plys”. The tendency is to write “plies”, but I won’t. Most thread is anywhere from three to five to eight ply. My original role of Barbours 5 ply is still in use since 1976. Lose the pre- waxed thread.
Open your weak hand like making a pistol”¦index finger out and thumb sticking up in the air. Take a piece of thread and wrap it loosely around the first joint on your index finger. The end of the thread should be parallel to your thumb but you have to pin there by moving that thumb else it won’t stay Once you pin it it will stay pinned until the end of this process. The end beyond your fingers should be about four to five inches or maybe a little more.
With your free hand, unwrap the entire thread end by twisting it against its natural twist. It’ll come apart a little reluctantly.
Be the thread”¦
Let the loose ends flop around out there. Now divide the number of plys in half, and gather one half. Five ply thread should be 2 and 3. Anything heavier than that should be divided into thirds”¦3,3 and 2, for example.
You are going to fuzz the ends of the plys, one ply progressively shorter than the previous. To do this take a sharp knife and pin the first set of the thread between the edge of the blade and your thumb pad about three quarter way up the end. You will instinctively not hold that too tight. Draw the blade, keeping it at 90 degrees to the thread, repeatedly, firmly and gently to gradually fuzz the end. If you end up snipping the end or tearing or cutting it off, you are holding the blade too tightly or at an angle. If you are doing it right, you are going to make a lot of passes and gently and gradually fuzz the end of the plys. For those who don’t want a knife edge on their flesh, you can also pin the thread on the bench and draw it across a knife edge. This is shown in the photo. You do it right you end up with the right fuzz. You do either wrong and you will snip the thread.
So be careful, Saint Crispen.
My master used to do this without a knife, using his thumb finger nail. He would work each ply until it fuzzed where he wanted it and then tug. I can do that with hemp thread but I never mastered the technique consistently with linen so I punk out and use the knife.
When you are satisfied with the fuzzy taper ( it’ll probably take you several tries to get the right feel and technique, so get the wife, the beer, the kids and the puppy out of the room), put a little spit on the plys and twist it IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF THE NATURAL TWIST OF THE THREAD. Goof this and it won’t work. When you get it tightly “reverse” wound, push it aside and do the same thing with the other set of thread plys, this time starting about one third of the way back from the tip instead of one quarter. Working from longer to shorter on the plys will help you if you goof up and snip the ply.
My Master was amazing at how he’d get three plys to be short, medium and long every time. It isn’t necessary, but as you get more experienced keep trying for that. It makes your tapers even and reliable when you are stitching
Now you have two separate, reverse wrapped ends coming to two points. They will naturally loosen up a little. One is a wee bit shorter than the other. Remember that you twisted these ends against their will and natural twist. Make sure they are reasonably tight in that reverse twist .
This is the frustrating part. Still pinning the thread with index/thumb, place the two ends on your thigh, down by your knee. Pin them both with the palm of your free hand against your thigh. The free hand is going to roll these ends toward your body, increasing that reverse twist. The hand pinning the thread with index/thumb is going to keep some tension on this as you roll. When you roll up your thigh until the thread ends wrap, reverse the roll rapidly toward your knee and increase the pressure of your free hand. Firmly push the rolling thread end as you move toward your knee, kinda sorta letting your free hand stray off toward the thread pointy end rather than staying at 90 degrees to the thread. This helps keep the taper gradual and even graceful.
You will notice that you wrapped a taper into this thread. That’s because the tension you put into the thread when you reversed the twist is now expressing itself by intertwining the two ends. If you did it right, the twist in the taper is gradual and comes to a dandy looking gradual point.
It took me about six months to get this right. If you did not spit and wrap tight enough, the finished thread will not be tightly wrapped. If you did not pull slightly with the index/thumb or push at a slight angle with your palm hand when rolling toward your knee the twist may be too compact and uneven. You can pull the end toward you again and go back out to the knee to straighten it out.
This is a skill in and of itself. Unlike the previous post about awls that everyone should use, this requires practice and skill.
Some guys don’t bother to unwrap the plys and just go ahead and fuzz the whole end at once. They usually cite a shortage of time. That’s OK, but I always found my needles would stay threaded during stitching in tighter stabbed holes when I did it the way I am describing here. Sah-zeetch his own.
Wax the manure out of your thread, giving particular attention to the tip. You can’t get enough wax into the thread. Now you are ready to thread your needle. I wear bi-focals, so this is the worst part for me.
The sole reason to do this is to allow you to use smaller needles than the conventional ten penny nails sold as harness needles in craft stores. When combined with the stabbing of the awl described in a previous and upcoming post, there will be such a pronounced difference in your stitching that you will never come back to hole punchers and big needles. That’s what the old timers did. That’s how your work will look far more authentic in its detail.
Next Post, we will show how to use this tapered thread end and set up the stitching. By the way”¦once you learn this technique, it will take you less time to execute than it did to read this post. In fact, just for poops and giggles, try this one on for size”¦take a piece of thread about four feet long. Double it up on a hook on the wall. Using the reverse twist principle, unwrap one side, pin it and unwrap the second side. When they are both really tense and reverse- unwrapped, using your palms and firm, brisk pressure, wrap them again. Remember the comments earlier about intertwining hemp and flax? That’s how it’s done. For years I have been using two plys hemp and one ply linen on my uppers. I had them both spun for me by a craftswoman. Once waxed up thoroughly, this makes a tight looking thread.
http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/thecapgunkid/media/holdingtheend_zps777b4224.jpg.[img]
[img]http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/thecapgunkid/media/taperingbytrimmingthethread_zpse26515e6.jpg[img]
[img]http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/thecapgunkid/media/rollingthetaper_zps2f0ce930.jpg.[img]
