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Sylvia, I'll give that method a try once my spool of Barbours arrives. Who knows, maybe it'll arrive this week! I also ordered two beveling stamps from Barry King, those should be here tomorrow. I'm curious to see if it's worth the difference in price, but I'm already impressed with his service. He got the order out and a shipping number emailed right away. One last question : Since you're prepping your thread ahead of time, any good rule of thumb on how long to make your pieces? Do you have a standard length you work with? I've noticed that if the thread is too long, it gets annoying to deal with.

This sounds interesting, but I can't quite visualize it. Could you post a picture or two?

Got a spool of it on the way, hopefully it'll arrive early next week.

The Barbour's only comes in natural. Do you guys dye it for other colors? Will Fiebings dye it?

I have tried three or four different spools of thread, from two different retailers. What knot do you use to hold the thread in the needle?

I am using a dremel to drill holes, with a 3/64" drill bit. I own an awl, and I've tried using it, but after stabbing myself deeply in the hand and fingers a few times, I decided that modern technology is a good thing. The needle I'm using is a Tandy Harness needle. It's not pulling the thread tight, with the linen, that breaks it. It's pulling the thread through the hole. It breaks before the thread ever gets to the other side, right at the eye. I'm going to take some pictures to explain what's going wrong, perhaps that will help.

I've yet to discover the perfect type of thread for hand sewing. The Al Stohlman book recommends cotton or linen, waxed. I bought some waxed linen thread from Tandy, and the problem is, it breaks all the time. About every 8 to 10 stitches, in fact, it breaks right at the eye of the needle. It gets very, very frustrating having to stop every 5 minutes and rethread my needle, especially since the thread gets a few inches shorter each time. I looked around and found "synthetic sinew," which appears to be waxed nylon. The good thing is, it doesn't break. The bad thing : It's so slippery that knots won't hold. With the waxed line, I used the method of piercing through the thread with the needle, then bringing the end of the thread around to the eye and pulling it through. This makes a larks head in the middle of the thread around the needle. That holds the waxed linen in place, but the synthetic sinew just slips out. I've tried almost every knot I can think of, from a few half hitches, overhand, square knot, etc, and any knot that's strong enough to hold is so big it doesn't go through the holes. Sewing is turning into the part of any project that I dread, and I find myself procrastinating. I love how the finished product looks, but these problems are making sewing an exercise in frustration. Any tips? What thread do you guys prefer, and what knots do you use to hold it in the needle?