Tunnel Stitching

[Daggrim]

Ah, much more good info from you Brits. Yup, I'm prepared to rework a tool. Many of the things I own have been "improved".

What makes me crazy is finding poor ergonomic features on a piece of equipment. Y'think after a (insert any number) years of making something, all the errors would be worked out...forever. But I swear I've bought things (car,stereo,phone,drill,printer) that nobody ever really sat down with and tried it out before it was manufactured.

Doug

[Daggrim]

Yup, those old Varifocal lenses certainly make some chores harder. Just try screwing something to the underside of a bench!

Stitching is simply another skill that can be learned and, providing you practice it, will improve with time.

One of the things I would add to Terry's words of wisdom is that you shouldn't necessarily expect an awl to work straight out of the box. Be prepared to polish the cutting edge and keep it sharp. Be prepared to add a little to the bend if it makes the job work better for you. Too many people think tool designers have all the answers but they don't!

I have arthritis and some days I can't move my hands properly but I simply alter my tools to make it easier for me to do whatever task I need to achieve. I have even been known to put a little leather thumb strap on an awl handle so when I drop it the wretched thing doesn't fall far... hardly rocket science but it makes my job easier.

Have fun, Doug - and anyone else who is trying this. It isn't as hard as it might look to do a really nice job.

Ray

Ray,

Well I just finished making my 1st attempt at tunnel stitches. I just used a couple of 1" strips of leather to simulate a cross section of a turnshoe, and put 2 stitches in each side. Four stitches took me a half hour, and some genuine sweat, but I got 'em.

Trouble was, I had to use a pliers to pull the needle and thread thru the holes. I didn't have a real awl, so I used a big S-shaped needle with a triangular section to punch the holes. Will a proper awl fix that problem?

I used some artificial waxed sinew for thread. What kind of thread would work best?

Thanks again for your help.

Dag

[celticleather]

Doug

I don't want to steal Ray's thunder, but I'll offer a couple of thoughts, to which he'll no doubt make eloquent additions.

Most craftworking tools - whether it be awls, needles, knives, hammers, chisels, even screwdrivers - are the products of evolution. People will have tried out different shapes, sizes, materials etc, sometimes over the course of hundreds of years, and almost invariably, the tool that emerges from this process is the one that works best. Sometimes another tool may serve the purpose . . . you could turn a woodscrew with a blunt knife . . . but a screwdriver works better!

It may be that your 'S'-shaped needle is too curved, or not curved enough, and I think the triangular cross-section is more suited to glovers' or sailmakers' needles - which is probably what it was designed for! In my opinion, a proper curved sewing awl gives the best amount of 'push' and leverage to achieve a good stitch, together with the right shape of hole to give a neat result.

What I'm getting at, is that you really need the right tool for the job! A stitching rate of one stitch per 7½ minutes would be enough to put me off tunnel stitching forever! I'm sure that if you can find the right awls and needles, you'd soon be up and away!

As to the thread - you really need a thread thickness (and flexibility) that suits the size of hole that your awl makes. If the thread is too thick or inflexible, it will probably distort the leather when it's pulled up, and if it's too thin it will leave a gaping hole either side of the finished stitch.

I found another pic which may give you a better insight into the technique, particularly the angle of the awl, which has to change as it travels through the leather.

That's my lot for now . . . over to Ray!

Terry

[Leerwerker]

There is another element which might be part of a tunnel stitch.

Someone once brought old tools for me to identify and two or three of them I had never seen before. These turned out to be channel tools - used to cut the grooves in soles so that the leather would close over the sewing.

I found descriptions in The Dictionary of Leather-working Tools by RA Salaman.

[UKRay]

As usual, Terry has hit the nail on the head. Unless you have the right tools you really can't hope to get up to speed with this task. IMHO, the triangular section hole could actually inhibit speed because the sides of the hole will close up when the needle is withdrawn.

Personally I'd shell out the not-very-many $s for a nicely finished curved awl, Doug - lets face it, unless you really get into this type of work it will probably be the only one you buy! Okay, I'll admit to having three - each a different size, but I'm a sad man who should try to get out more...

I meant to throw in a few words about stitch marking wheels. I like to use the 'pricker wheels' that were popular in the 1920s/30s. They can be purchased quite cheaply on eBay and IMHO are a much nicer thing to use than the standard TLF offering. The little spikes make less mess than the big chunky markers and the neat little holes are easier to see.

Regarding thread, I'm in complete agreement with Terry (again). Get thread that suits the awl and the job you are doing with it. I use linen thread for most of my historic work because it is what would have been used at the time. IMHO it also seems less likely to cut the leather than synthetic - particularly important for shoes which are sometimes wet - wet leather is often soft leather. Linen seems to have more 'give' and 'tolerance' to use.

Now I have a question : how do you guys finish the soles of your shoes? I ask because single thickness sole turnshoes are notorious for soaking up moisture (okay, I know they should really be worn with patterns). I saw a pair a week or so ago that had a 'riveted on' sole that seemed to work quite well but I'd be interested to know your thoughts.

From a historical perspective, is there anything to suggest that they may have had extra soles added?

Ray

[Daggrim]

Thanks again guys for the help. Ray, I know that the shoe rand was added around the 13th century...a small band of leather sewn between the upper and the sole , to help keep it more water tight. That was eventually made into a wider band, a welt, which stuck out from the edge of the shoe, to which was sewn a second, outer sole...the modern shoe.

They've also found insoles which were just lain into the shoes.

I riveted a pair of outsoles onto a pair of Viking boots, but I could do it only because the boots had a seam running right up the vamp, leaving the boot flayed from toe to ankle. I put in the rivets before I sewed up the seam. Not period, but very functional. The Norwegian reenactor who has them loves them for walking on rocks.

Also, I'll be searching soon for the proper tools.

Doug

[jeeperaz]

Dag,

Here is a link you may be interested in... although it is not specific to your question.

This guy blogs about reproduction medieval footwear:

http://wherearetheelves.blogspot.com/

[UKRay]

Really useful link - many thanks jeeperaz.

Dag,

Here is a link you may be interested in... although it is not specific to your question.

This guy blogs about reproduction medieval footwear:

http://wherearetheelves.blogspot.com/

[celticleather]

Who would have thought this thread would stretch so far?!

There is another element which might be part of a tunnel stitch.

Someone once brought old tools for me to identify and two or three of them I had never seen before. These turned out to be channel tools - used to cut the grooves in soles so that the leather would close over the sewing.

We visited this aspect of stitching quite early in this thread (27th July), and although the closed channel method is used quite a lot in shoemaking, I've not yet seen it used in conjunction with tunnel stitching (but I'm not a shoemaker!). We often use it in the course of shoe repairing, to stitch the outsole to the welt of a shoe, and sometimes to stitch the outsole directly through the upper and into the insole.

Just to make clear what I'm talking about, I stitched a small section of a sole in a channel to illustrate the process (see pic below).

1. Cut the channel (with the channelling tool).

2. Open up the channel.

3. Mark the stitch spacing (I use a pricking iron for this).

4. Lay in the stitching (conventional saddle-stitch or machine stitch).

5. Close the channel with adhesive, stain and burnish.

Shoemakers often use a curved awl to punch the stitch-holes, but I believe it's more often used to stitch the welt to the upper of the shoe, which is a different process.

Dag,

Here is a link you may be interested in... although it is not specific to your question.

This guy blogs about reproduction medieval footwear:

http://wherearetheelves.blogspot.com/

This video raises the spectre of the boar's bristle, which is mostly used for welting . . . far too fiddly for me . . . I'll stick to my curved needles!

Personally I'd shell out the not-very-many $s for a nicely finished curved awl, Doug - lets face it, unless you really get into this type of work it will probably be the only one you buy! Okay, I'll admit to having three - each a different size, but I'm a sad man who should try to get out more...

Ray

Ray - If you reckon you're a sad-sack with just three curved awls, then what does that make me? My collection runs to ten un-hafted, and another couple hafted!

Terry

[Daggrim]

Dag,

Here is a link you may be interested in... although it is not specific to your question.

This guy blogs about reproduction medieval footwear:

http://wherearetheelves.blogspot.com/

Jeeperaz, my man! Thanks so much for the link. It's so cool to see photos of that guy doing the same things I see in my book about medieval shoes that were dug up in England. A great resource.

Dag