Looking For Thread With Color Options

[hestes]

Hi all! I want to first say thank you all for the great information here. I am a week into learning to make holsters and this forum has been extremely helpful.

I have a question about thread and color options. I am currently hand stitching and I have a request for a holster with pink thread. Does anyone have any suggestions on a brand, etc? Right now all I have is a spool of waxed linen thread that I ordered from Springfield. I would like to find something with more color options that will still hold up well and I'm not sure what good types of thread are for this kind of thing or what I should avoid.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

[J Hayes]

http://www.mainethread.com/product216.html

I've used this in the .035" size, worked good

[hestes]

Thank you! I will give that a shot.

[The Dawg Club]

We get our from http://www.thethreadexchange.com/ . Plenty of colors

[hestes]

Thanks for the previous input. I have purchased a boss and am now looking for 277 nylon thread for it. I placed an order with www.sewingmachineoutlet.com/ricetn.htm, but received an email that the supplier of that thread has gone out of business.

So I am back with a couple of questions.

Is 277 what most people use for holsters? The thread exchange has a variety of colors in 207.

Does anyone have another supplier they would recommend that has a variety of colors? I would like to find red, pink, purple, etc.

Thanks in advance for your time.

Edited June 8, 2013 by hestes

[electrathon]

Buy unwaxed linen and pull it through Fiebings dye. Let it dry, then wax and sew.

[hestes]

Buy unwaxed linen and pull it through Fiebings dye. Let it dry, then wax and sew.

Thanks for the reply. However, I am now using a Tippmann Boss to sew, so waxed thread isn't recommended. I would like to find spools.

Edited June 9, 2013 by hestes

[Matt S]

Buy unwaxed linen and pull it through Fiebings dye. Let it dry, then wax and sew.

I do this but with a Sharpie. Less messy and does faster.

[hestes]

I do this but with a Sharpie. Less messy and does faster.

This did make me wonder, have any of you bought just a a white spool of nylon or polyester thread and dipped it in dye to get the color you want?

[electrathon]

This did make me wonder, have any of you bought just a a white spool of nylon or polyester thread and dipped it in dye to get the color you want?

Nylon and polyester will not accept dye (think od trying to dye plastic. Linen will accept dye. If you dipped a roll I would guess you would have light and dark areas, like tie-dyed. You may also have drying areas. You can also use Rit dye on it too. I like the Sharpie idea on short run batches al lot, great idea. You do not have to wax it, I just threw that in since you said you were buying waxed.

[hestes]

Nylon and polyester will not accept dye (think od trying to dye plastic. Linen will accept dye. If you dipped a roll I would guess you would have light and dark areas, like tie-dyed. You may also have drying areas. You can also use Rit dye on it too. I like the Sharpie idea on short run batches al lot, great idea. You do not have to wax it, I just threw that in since you said you were buying waxed.

Thanks for the info. Originally, I was buying waxed when I was hand stitching. Instead of starting a new thread when i started looking for spools for my Boss, I just updated this one....sorry for the confusion.

[rickmoo]

hestes, the threadexchange.com in weaverville n.c. has lots of nylon and poly thread to choose from. all sizes. of course # 207 and smaller there are more colors to choose from, but they have had a good selection in larger sizes too. their site is great and the prices are good also.

[rickmoo]

also, the thickness of leather depends on the gun generally. really small guns don't need thick leather. the leather determines to a point what size thread you need. i start at #207 minimum uless i make a holster for say a NAA mini revolver, then # 138 is enough . i use a cobra 4 machine and i have thread from #138 to # 346.

[hestes]

also, the thickness of leather depends on the gun generally. really small guns don't need thick leather. the leather determines to a point what size thread you need. i start at #207 minimum uless i make a holster for say a NAA mini revolver, then # 138 is enough . i use a cobra 4 machine and i have thread from #138 to # 346.

Thanks! I recently ordered a couple of spools from the thread exchange in 207 to experiment with. So far, I'm pretty happy with it. I've done 2 holsters with it, one for a subcompact xd and one for a sig P938. So far the 207 seems to be working ok. I guess I will see how it holds up.

[Gump]

What it boils down to on thread size is looks, # 69 nylon at 6-8 stitches per inch will tow a car out of a ditch with 3" nylon web with just ten passes lengthwise over 5 inches. Nylon has amazing strength, especially when used on a properly glued seam. I do a fair bit of repair work , and I have found that you cannot tear apart most seams by hand,[195 lb mechanic, powerful hands]. Polyester thread is softer but not quite as strong as nylon, but has higher UV protection. it is used a lot in factory production of outdoor gear. I guess in the end it is what works for you, as for me ,I have items sewn with # 69 that have withstood 20 years of use with no broken threads yet. Gump.

[chriscraft]

hestes, I just received some PURPLE bonded thread in size 277 from Bob Kovar over at Toledo industrial sewing machines. These might be left over Weaver thread. I'm also looking for colored thread in sizes larger than 277. Call him up as it's not on his site.