Finishing linen thread

[jpless77]

I'm new to linen thread for hand stitching. Can anyone help me with finishing suggestions? I know I can't clip and melt like nylons or polys so any feedback would help, thanks. 

[thefanninator]

Back stitch 2-3 stitches. That's it. Maybe a touch of glue.

Make sure your final 2-3 holes are as small as you can make and still get a needle through.

Edited November 10, 2016 by thefanninator

[TinkerTailor]

1 hour ago, thefanninator said:

Back stitch 2-3 stitches. That's it. Maybe a touch of glue.

Make sure your final 2-3 holes are as small as you can make and still get a needle through.

If you have to use pliers to get the backstitch needles through this is not a bad thing. In addition,overwax the thread in the last few stitches and also for the backstitch. As you get to the end of your stitch line, grab your wax, warm it up and get that section of thread good and coated. It will help lock the stitches in the holes, and keep stray linen fibers at bay. You can just rub the excess off the surface when done. Be careful if finishing after stitching because excess wax on the surface will effect penetration of dyes and finishes. Casting your stitches to create a knot inside the hole is also done to help lock the backstitch.

[MADMAX22]

Casting stitches as mentioned if you dont normally do it helps. 

I use a mix of bees wax and rosin, once its back stitched its good to go. Ive had several projects that I used this method and they are 6-7 years old with out coming undone. No need to do anything extra at the end, just back stitch and cut as close as you can. That is if you use the rosin mix. 

[zuludog]

Towards the end of the line of sewing rub some more beeswax onto the thread so it's well coated

Then backstitch 3 or 4 or 5 holes, depending on how keen you are

If you're really keen you could backstitch your backstitch for 1 or 2 holes, but you might find it's difficult to get the needles through by then

Settle the stitching by bashing it with a hide hammer or similar when it's finished

[jpless77]

Thank you all for the responses.  What do you mean by "casting". I'm not familiar with the technique. 

[zuludog]

By chance, soon after I became interested in leatherwork I met a retired traditional cobbler in a pub. Among other things I asked him if there was anything better than linen thread for sewing leather. His reply, in a nothern English accent, was

'Eee, thee cahn't get better n' linen'

He went on to explain that as leather, beeswax, and linen, were all natural materials, with time they intermingled or melded or fused into one material; whereas synthetic thread was too slippery, and would always be separate, and so slide out.

That advice cost me several pints, which I don't regret

 

[TinkerTailor]

39 minutes ago, jpless77 said:

Thank you all for the responses.  What do you mean by "casting". I'm not familiar with the technique. 

It is kinda hard to explain. when you are putting the second needle through, you wrap the thread from the first thread around the needle point a wrap or two. This basically causes the two threads to twist around each other insider the hole instead of just passing by each other creating an overhand knot inside the hole. Casting can also be incorporated into normal stitching to either add some lock to the stitch or to make changes to the slant of the stitches  and how the stitch lies. Here is a couple of videos that should answer yer questions: Nigel has covered stitching astounding detail and is a master. I should note, Nigel Armitage is left handed and has done videos in both. You may have to reverse some of the techniques in some of the videos. Around 8 mins he talks about casting for appearance sake:

This one is also a great video on saddle stitch tips. Ian does nice work and explains stuff well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zTOqJCWbfY

[jpless77]

Thank y'all very much, big help

[TinkerTailor]

I totally forgot a detail on linen thread, you can taper the tip. If you lay the thread on the table and scrape it towards the end you will pull off fibers, thinning it to a point. Can't really do this with synthetics. There are many ways this can be an advantage, One is if you run out of thread in the middle, you can just align the tapers on the ends of the old and new threads, twist them up and keep sewing. When you are done, the join is invisible. At the end of the stitch you can taper the thread to keep the backstitch from looking too heavy, or in the case if stitching around circle, hide the overlap.

Also, whenever I backstitch, if at all possible I bury the ends of the threads between the layers by putting the needle into the hole, then only through one layer and pulling it out from the inside of the seam. The seam pressure and any glue in there will hold the tails better than just cutting them off flush. If you plan well you can do this with most of the seams on a project.