MUZZLELOADER Magazine The Campfire: Main Forum List The Campfire Discussion Forums Accoutrements Relearning Stitching
The Campfire: Main Forum List The Campfire Discussion Forums Accoutrements Relearning StitchingGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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| Graybeard |
I am fortunate to live in a part of Maine that once was the capital of hand stitched shoes in the US. Got a lesson from two of the Bass Shoe Co. Handstitchers from days gone by. Man, how little I know... Anyrate, they gifted me this old linen thread and taught me how to tame the wild ends and properly thread a needle, never needing knots or stitch thru's. Gave me pure old beeswax cakes, three sizes of needles by the tens... Pease is one Happy Camper....  | ||
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Pilgrim |
Hey thats awesome! I'd like to know that needle threading secret myself! It is pitiful when a man lets his ego push his intelligence beyond his ignorance. | |||
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| <mtnmike> |
See the start of a great year for Pease  | ||
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| Greenhorn |
Gizamo, Look for any tidbits strewn about the net Chuck Burrows/Labonte/Wild Rose Trading. He has shared much. | |||
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| Pilgrim |
And is one leather guy who's work I certainly admire!! It is pitiful when a man lets his ego push his intelligence beyond his ignorance. | |||
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Booshway |
Now you guys are making me blush! Anyway - Pease nice find. As for threading a needle there are in fact a few different "correct" ways dependent on which discipline one learns from - shoemakers tend to use a different one than say saddle or harness makers such as taught by Al Stohlman for instance - neither one is necessarily better over all. I first learned how to sew from an old and VERY cranky Penna Dutchman (really German) in the early 1960's. He taught me the fairly common style of threading a needle where it goes though the thread - no knot. I also started out making up my own threads using single cord and then twisting however many cords needed for the work at hand. While learning if I didn't do something "right" (i.e. HIS way) he'd reach over and smack me on the back of the head or hand with a stick. Needless to say I learned fast! 51 years later I can still feel those smacks.. Heck shoemakers (and some other disciplines) even use boar bristles (nowadays more often monofilament) as a needle with a special tie to the thread for doing blind work. Al Stohlman's "The Art of Handsewing Leather" shows how and shoe making suppliers offer the thread and the bristles - with this type sewing you MUST use a good coad for waxing the threads. aka Chuck Burrows | |||
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| Graybeard |
Chuck, Do you make your own coad... Or have any recipes that replicate a 18th century formula? The reason for asking .... I am collecting receipts (recipes) for working leather in a 18th century manner. Just finished a batch of Dubbin and it is great stuff to work with. So it made me wonder what else could be made....? Pease | |||
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| Booshway |
I make a simplified version of the blond coad that works well for regular sewing - I use about a 60/40 mix of beeswax and pitch (I gather my own pitch locally), but you can buy different types from various vendors. I just melt the wax, add the pitch and then pour into little cat food cans - let cool and strip off the can. One of the best place to find more recipes is the Crispin Colloquy http://www.thehcc.org/discus/m...1028.html?1305135115. This a professional shoe makers forum with loads of info. Many of the older recipes don't even use wax at all - mixes of pitch, rosin/resin, tar, creosote,etc. Another resource is Williamsburg - the gent that used to run the leather shop has some videos out on doing 18th Century leatherwork - not sure how to get a hold of him so I would just contact Williamsburg via their site or check with the guys on the FF board - Jay Howlett is a member there so maybe you could PM him. Marc Carslon also has a treatise on coad/code which includes a recipe from WIlliamsburg http://www.personal.utulsa.edu...arlson/shoe/CODE.HTM Also check out these links Coad Google search Hope that helps - it's been a long joureny with leather - 51 years next Tuesday - but what a ride! aka Chuck Burrows | |||
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| Factor |
It's great to find the resource of knowledgeable people with first hand experience. I'll bet you can learn a lot from them for sure. I'd love to find some of that double tapered linen cord for sewing. The only kind available that I have found is synthetic. Sparks "I thought when you said you chased tornadoes, it was just a metaphor." --soon to be ex-fiance in Twister | |||
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| Greenhorn |
Check out the web site for Brettuns Leather. I'm not certain of the % of fibers, but great stuff to work with. | |||
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| Pilgrim |
GQQGLE Making a Waxed End (Winding Linen Around a Boar Bristle ,a good tut.... on how to attach the linen & bristle. Anyone have any spare Boar Brisles? | |||
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Greenhorn |
I had the luck of being taught stitching by my grandfather who had been a harness maker pre WWII, and my aunt who hand made the shoes the designers came up with. Both made their own coad, both differently...Grandfathers had more wax, and was black. Both also had summer, and winter versions. My aunt passed away in the seventies, and I have not since had a pair of shoes, or boots that fit ....the ones she made for me did fit. Ohio Travel Bag has tapered threads (polyester) in 8, and 11 cord in 72 inch lengths. Most of my work is done with hemp thread I bought in a surplus store years back. bought a whole case...good Italian hemp dated 1936. Woody | |||
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MUZZLELOADER Magazine The Campfire: Main Forum List The Campfire Discussion Forums Accoutrements Relearning Stitching
The Campfire: Main Forum List The Campfire Discussion Forums Accoutrements Relearning Stitching2014 Historical Enterprises, LLC