mrtreat32

Got my maine sample card today also! I actually emailed Ludlow leather asking a question about smaller sizes of tiger thread and I never heard a word back. Could have went to their spam folder or something so could be a mix up. But thats very nice of them to do that for you! I was curious about the pricing break down on the maine thread so that puts it in perspective more on how it compares to other brands! Although I just ordered the extra fine size which is $4.19 a spool. Still comes out to not being cheap if you add it all up.. but its nice being able to get some interesting colors that I wouldnt commit to purchasing a large spool of! got the denim and some other strange colors. Its not my ideal thread since it seems to feel a bit sticky and the doesnt look as consistent as the tiger that I have but for small amounts of different colors I think I am a fan. The tiger thread seems nice that I have but its just too big looking to my eyes for smaller goods. Probably like the fil au chinois thread the most out of those 3 that I tried but its a pain in the ass to get and $$

I have ordered off that site multiple times and not sure I have seen that pic. cool comparison of the sizes. So when I got home from work I had a sample card with thread colors and sizes from maine thread company and on it was a tiny sample of the .20 size thread so I cut it off the card and used what tiny bit I could to try and sew a few stitches...was pretty funny trying to pierce this tiny thread and sew with it (was maybe 2 inches). I got about 4 stitches and they definitely look closer to what I was going for. Much more slanted since they arent filling the holes are tightly. Looks more like a machine stitch or closer to a hermes type pattern than I was getting with the thicker thread.. so I think I need to size down if I want to get that look consistently!

thanks will give them a call tomorrow

haha. I feel stupid now. I have many but Im not sure where to measure the circumference? Once the blade tapers to full thickness? I thought you would need some type of caliper of some sort to get the accurate size.

Does anyone know how many mm the slim douglas awl blade is? Its what Im using now and the website doesn't have it listed. Its the only awl I have ever used and Im trying to get a idea of the size so I can order something smaller elsewhere for sewing smaller projects. (9,10spi) Vergez blanchard has a lot of different sizes that might fit what Im looking for. thanks

Honestly I can't find Barbour except for abbey england and they need me to be signed up for a business account to see the pricing and shipping so not sure how much cheaper it will be than ordering the lin cable. I have done a bunch of google searches and found a few places in the US carrying it but they are book binding companies and the label appears to be a bit different. I emailed one of them and they said they have never sold it to anyone looking to use it on leather. Im not sure if they carry a bunch of different types and don't want to order the wrong thing. I just want to have a reliable thread of good quality and be done with it. I have only tried the lin, tiger, and maine. the tiger and maine are too thick for 9spi IMO so I want something thinner.. which I guess is the barbour but can't find it online.

Im familiar with Barbours brand for hand sewing though I haven't tried it yet. Are you saying they make a cheaper machine thread as well or thats something entirely different

thanks david. Is there a particular brand you recommend?

Does thinner thread tend to give you more of a angle to your stitching? I noticed people using thin thread seem to have more of a slanted angle to their stitches. I was wondering if anyone who has used lots of types of thread can comment on this. My stitching is angled but not as much as I would like. I feel like part of the reason is my thread is filling the holes //// more and creating less of a contrast between the top and bottom of the thread. I am trying to order 632fil au chinois but the only place I know is currently out of the color I am wanting. I would try it out for myself but I only have tiger thread, 432 dil au chinos thread, and some maine thread. Unfortunately the 432 is the thinnest I have on hand. Trying to determine if this is playing some factor in the stitching before I order a particular size. thanks

no problem. The .30 is pretty close in size to the .6mm tiger thread. I don't have a way of measuring it precisely but in feel and appearance. I just had them send me a sample card with the different thread sizes which I should have done ahead of time. Gonna see what the .20 looks like as well as color options.

just got the maine thread in the mail. Sewed a test line with it. Seems nice so far. Feels similar to tiger thread to me. Only problem is I ordered the .30 and .35 looking for something thinner than my 432 fil au chinois and both are thicker. Next order I will order the ultra lightweight .20 It seems of high quality but these sizes seem better suited to 7spi or larger.

yeah I can probably return it but Im not sure if some point down the line I will want or need one for some other reason. So unless Im gonna get not real use out of it I will hold onto it. Also wasnt sure if people had other good uses for groovers that I wasnt aware of.

I placed a order for a Versa groover from Sheridan leather about 2 months back that at the time was on back order. I don't currently own a groover and was using a pricking wheel to mark my stitches and was looking forward to having a groover to go along with that to help out and for the aesthetic look. Between the time I ordered that and now I had ordered a pricking iron and have been getting much better results and really like the way it makes the stitches look. Question is I forgot to cancel the order for the groover and it has now shipped. I understand using a groover with a pricking iron usually isn't done since it prevents the stitches from slanting and kinda defeats the purpose. So Im not sure how much use I will get out of it although it looks like a great made tool. Are there other uses for groovers that I may find? decorative lines? or for hard creases? Or is this something I should probably sell if I decide to use pricking irons as my main method of sewing leather. Would love to hear how everyone uses their groovers or is it maybe possible to use the groover with the iron? thanks

Awesome tutorial. thanks! Edge looks really nice as well. you burnish before you apply edge paint and than burnish again after? In your normal sewing after the backstitch do you always put your right hand needle in front of the left? I pull the left through and downwards/towards me and bring the right needle through behind that one in the upper corner of the / slant. As the right needle is half way through the leather I cast the left side thread over that needle before I pull the threads tight. I recently started pulling the left side up a bit and pulling the right side down to make sure they go in the direction I want them. Im not sure but I think the results would be the same no matter what needle was in front as long as it was consistent.

Joe I did a search for chromexcel and Maverick and this thread popped up. How was the quality of the "second" that you received.. Im thinking about placing a order with Maverick

Gonna try it out. Just placed a order for .30 and .35!

thanks gonna give it a shot when I get home tonight.

I go left needle first when normally stitching. So keep it that way just reverse which needle goes on top? And than on my way back (stitching towards me) switch back to the needles I normally put on top. same here

Yes I think so ! so reverse the order of which needle goes in first? If I normally bring the left hand needle through first I would bring the right instead? I would also reverse which needle lies on top from how I normally stitch? Did that make sense? Im not trying to reinvent the wheel but I have tried changing very small things in my sewing technique and each one changes the result a fair amount. If it was as simple as following Stohlmans book everyones stitching would look pretty much identical but thats not the case IMO. I think different tools making different size indentations etc all contribute to the changes. The process of saddle stitching is similar but tons of factors add up to make it also Very different from my limited experience. I live in nyc and all the pizza places use pretty much flour, water, tomatoes, and cheese but to say that just following that formula will give you a great result just isn't accurate. Some are clearly much better than others based on many small factors.. I think a lot of the same principles apply to any craft. Im not saying my stitching would look great if I had a certain thread and it would be shit with another but the sizes clearly look different from one another regardless of tension.

Yes I have seen I think most of them now a few months back when I started but I dont remember every detail since its a lot to take in at once. Also he has over 15hrs of footage so finding something specific would take a long time? Unless there is a way to search specific details in the video Im not sure? From what I remember he also does it very different from the link I posted and from what I have read elsewhere. I find his videos that I have seen to be very informative but they are not the FINAL word on all things leather sewing IMO. If he answered all questions to suit everyones style of work we could all just bookmark his videos and there would be no use for the forum. For example he uses Tiger thread I believe and to me it looks far too chunky when sewing 9spi so Im looking to learn from other sources and get other peoples input as well. If I had the same tools as him, same thread, and wanted the same look as his work maybe his videos would be the end all.

Did you backstitch at the beginning of the piece when you started and than again at the end to make it look uniform? I might give that a shot if so.. I like the way both sides ended up with symmetrical stitching. "Yes I did. It's a neater look." This might be a dumb question but to do this do you just start at the 2nd hole and go to the first hole and than resume sewing as usual. Same process as you would when finishing a project? Also when finishing a project and backstitching do you do it the exact same way as regular stitching? Left needle through first, right needle behind that one and cast left thread over? I have never had a problem with thread coming loose but I feel it could look neater on my work. Tried to do some reading up but Im finding different ways of doing it online and books that I have. This is one link I found. http://www.bowstock.co.uk/backstit0.html

Im trying to find a place to buy some Barbour thread and I did a search on this site but its a bit confusing. The different online retailers seem to have different packaging so Im not sure if they are all the same. Some spools look small and others are large all with different labels. the 35/3 is equal to 832 chinois? What would be the equivalent of 632? Btw fineleatherworking is out of the 632 which I was going to order in Ecru (beige). Any other US online stores carry this thread?

thanks for the feedback guys. I thought maybe it would be cheaper to get a US made hammer but after looking on Amazon anything around 2lbs with soft tips seems to be going for around $50. So pretty similar in price. At that point I might just go with a Barry King. The split hammers look interesting as well. Not sure if the barry king or the split face have any advantages over one another.

stitching looks awesome again! Think I will order the 632 now that I see it in use. Actually doesnt look all that small. Is there a website that sells the Barbour thread in the US? I should probably get some cheaper thread as well for practicing until I get better. Kinda liking the N10 pricking stitches even more than the 9. I only have a 4 tooth 9spi iron at the moment and wanting to pull the trigger on something bigger (probably 10 teeth). I was actually leaning towards getting a 7spi iron for the variety but after seeing your stitching and trying out 7spi with a overstitch wheel Im not liking the big stitches so much. Think Im gonna get a 10!

I have some hammers at home to get a idea of the weight I want but they are steel. I dont think home depot carries that brand? maybe. Was trying to get a feel if people thought they were of high quality since that isnt exactly cheap for a hammer. Dont mind spending the money if its nice though. Also would the regular flat style be preferred for pricking irons? I know a lot of people like the round and tapered mauls by Barry King but cant envision how that would work with hammering a object as straight as possible. Maybe it helps. not really sure. thanks also the heads of Barry King and the previous brand I mentioned are made of a different material I believe. Would like something that gives me the weight and force I want but also fairly easy on the wear of the tools.