Transfer Of Beeswax From Thread To Leather Whilst Stitching

[iamasmith]

I made a project recently (only my second) but I put a lot of effort into the stitching and was turning the piece constantly in my hands whilst working with it. It was a small folding knife sheath with a lot of stitching and I'm not sure that a stitching pony would have been of any help here due to it being wet formed with close seams (which I trimmed also).

By the time I had finished I was conscious that the Beeswax in the thread that I had been using had polished the stamping and the sides of the piece quite considerably so I was a little nervous of the dye taking evenly.

It didn't and I didn't like the look of the piece at all. In the end I buffed most of the dye off afterwards to leave a kind of antiqued look but was wondering if this is a common problem and how you may re-prep a piece for a solid tone of dye if there has been some wax transferred... or is the answer to glue the piece, dye it and then stitch it??

The piece in question, that raised the question is...

[Hilly]

Did you use pre-waxed thread?

This is what I have learned about using pre-waxed thread:

You need to rub it very briskly between 2 layers of brown paper before you use it. Rub it between the paper so fast and hard that you are about to burn your fingers!

This heats up the wax and drives is deeper into the thread, while removing the excess at the same time. Look at the paper after you are finished, and you will see just how much extra wax is on that thread.

Also, I wash my hands OFTEN during hand stitching, especially if doing a large project. Helps keep the dirt, oils and wax from transferring onto your project.

[iamasmith]

Cheers Hilly, yes it was prewaxed thread and I hadn't heard that tip.

Many thanks,

Andy

[js5972]

Good recovery!

Ditto above.

I usually clean up the stitch area with some denatured alcohol or DeGlazer.