Tunnel or butt stitching

[thecapgunkid]

Back in August there was a really neat string on this topic, but I was so wrapped up in my cowboy shooting I missed it.My master taught me what he referred to as a butt seam. In colonial shoes you would most often see this where the back of the heel on the upper was joined, or where the vamp met the side of the shoe and you did not want a seam rubbing on somebody's footsie. I also used it on a neck sheath where the seam ran down the side of the blade rather than along its edge.

The way I was taught involved using a stirrup and block. The pieces of leather to be joined rested on a furring strip that I had sanded into a curved surface. This allowed the pieces to droop downward along the top of the strip of wood. It was key not to have the seam resting on a table-top like plane. This assembly was held in place with a leather strip that ran over the top of the right thigh, pinning the pieces to be seamed atop the furring strip which rested on the top of the thigh of your right leg.

The entire operation was done as seat work, where your shoebench allowed you to sit low enough to make your thighs paralell to the ground. The stirrup ran under your right foot in front of the breast ( front) of your heel on the right shoe. Your right heel rested on a block...in this case a chunk of 2X8. Thataway you could tighten and loosten the stirrup by pushing your toes down to stretch the stirrup. Sort of like operating a foot pedal.

This held the piece on the top of your thigh securely. Woldomir Billy was a big fan of holding things securely while he worked his magic in front of my eyes.

The degree of curve in the awl determined the entry points of the holes on the way into the right side of the butt and on the way out of the left side of the butt. The butt is where the edges met. I never mastered this the way Woldomir did, so I used to scribe lines equidistant from the butt on both pieces of leather. I learned just how far my awl woiuld have to be by trial and error, and grew to favor an awl with a tight curve to keep the seam neat and close to the edge.

My pricking wheel would mark the scribed lines. Woldomir could push the awl through both sides in one motion. Not me. I used to stab both sides seperately and then line them up on the furring strip before tightening the stirrup.

I did learn his technique of tapering thread and using bristles, because that operation and welting on a shoe almost always requires the travel through curved holes. He also taught me something else very important...that curve in the awl was also designed to lift the and pry the hole upwards for easier access. Combine that with a lot of handwax on the thread, and the stitching technique he taught me was as follows;

Stab the awl and define the hole through both sides of the leather.

Left bristle in first, thread pulled about halfway through. I became a big fan of cutting my thread length to a span...the distance between my arms stretched out to the sides... like I was gonna fly away. The longer your thread in hand stitching the greater your chance of tangles.

Rest the right bristle tip into the left thread at the point of exit from the hole on the right side, and drag it through by pushing it and pulling the thread it rests on.

Make a half cast by pulling the right thread up through the loop before closing the stitch. This has the same effect as the first knot in tie-ing your shoes, so each stitch is secured and gooped up with handwax in each hole.

At the end of the seam, back stitch about three or four stitches, and hammer the seam closed.

The thread I was using was two ply hemp and one ply linen, and the handwax I was using was equal parts pine resin and pitch with a small amount of pine oil and a chunk of beeswax. I dunno how I did not burn the house down when mixing the stuff over a very very very very low heat. Did I mention that you keep the heat very low?

Hopefully I managed to attach a shot of my most recent shoemaking demonstration showing the block and stirrup arrangement and the neck sheath with the butt seam.

Don't shoot yore eye out, kid

The Capgun Kid