Members oarsman Posted January 29, 2012 Members Report Posted January 29, 2012 (edited) If I can jump into this thread please... I've recently gotten back into leather work after many many years... All of my projects up to this point have involved hand stitching with black waxed thread (from Tandy...) I am currently working on a sheath project which is going to have a natural finish on it, and I have chosen to use tan waxed thread (from Tandy...) for the stitching... Today I stitched the belt loop on it and when I pulled each stitch tight the thread lost it's tan color and turned grey... The leather is unfinished, and my hands are clean... I'm at a loss... Suggestions please??? Allow me to make some clearifications... The thread I'm having trouble with is "natural" linen waxed thread and the finish on the sheath will be "clear-lac"... I may be pulling the thread too tight and the compression of the wax and the thread fibers appear darker/dingy/greyish... I don't know... I may need to find more of a white thread than a natural thread to accomplish the look I'm going for... Katsass, if I can ask..., what color thread was used on the holster you have shared??? Edited January 29, 2012 by oarsman Quote
Members katsass Posted January 29, 2012 Members Report Posted January 29, 2012 (edited) If I can jump into this thread please... I've recently gotten back into leather work after many many years... All of my projects up to this point have involved hand stitching with black waxed thread (from Tandy...) I am currently working on a sheath project which is going to have a natural finish on it, and I have chosen to use tan waxed thread (from Tandy...) for the stitching... Today I stitched the belt loop on it and when I pulled each stitch tight the thread lost it's tan color and turned grey... The leather is unfinished, and my hands are clean... I'm at a loss... Suggestions please??? oarsman, that was natural waxed linen from Springfield Leather. First you might make SURE that the thread from Tandy IS linen. Tandy sells some stuff for 'hand stitching' that is not linen. After that, I might suggest that you do something like my procedure and see if it helps. I pull the thread I'm to use through a piece of paper torn from a brown paper grocery bag in order to remove as much of the surface wax from it as possible. For some unknown reason other types of paper don't work nearly as well. Pull the thread through a folded piece of the stuff quickly enough to be able to feel a bit of heat --- a couple or three times. Then pull it through a block of beeswax once. Pull it through your fingers once to remove excess, and then go to town stitching. It works for me. I just don't use Tandy for anything much anymore --- they were fairly good 40 years ago, but have diminished in quality (IMO) in more recent times. Mike P.S. If the thread came on a spool of any sort, and/or the label in or on it says 'Tex' anywhere in it --- it ain't linen. Edited January 29, 2012 by katsass Quote NOTE TO SELF: Never try to hold a cat and an operating Dust buster at the same time!! At my age I find that I can live without sex..........but not without my glasses. Being old has an advantage.......nobody expects me to do anything in a hurry.
Members oarsman Posted January 29, 2012 Members Report Posted January 29, 2012 Thank you Mike, I'll give your suggestion a try and let you know how it turned out... Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.