Hand stitching thread and needle preferences

[plinkercases]

I have searched and read various post on threads etc, but hard to pull all together all the info so I thought I would give folks a chance to provide their definitive favourites and where/how they get them.

So for those who don't mind taking the time to answer.... fill in the blanks for your go to thread and needle combos for HAND sewing: (I am in Canada so any other Canucks who respond would be appreciated - I need an alternative to Tandy....)

Thread:

Brand, source, what you use for light, medium and heavy duty (specific ordering info)

Needles:( match above of course)

Brand, source, what you use for light, medium and heavy duty (specific ordering info)

Thanks in advance.

[plinkercases]

anyone?...anyone?...Bueller?... Bueller?

Would It help if added "waxed thread"?

[DJole]

Over in my tool box I have a few spools of waxed linen thread in a few different colors, which I purchased from here:
http://www.royalwoodltd.com/cat14-17ar.htm

They have a good selection of colors, and the waxed linen is good for historical re-enactment stuff, and it wears well. 

I use 4 ply in the 50 gram size spool, which is a good amount of thread. I often separate the threads so I have two 2-ply strands for lighter stuff. 

I also have some Tandy black, white, and natural waxed thread, for less "fancy" work. It seems to work fine. 

I am using no special needles-- just a general use 10 pack from Tandy, and some glover's needles for garment leather. 

[plinkercases]

Djole than you very much.

[alpha2]

I get my Tiger thread and John James needles from Egyptian Leather. He's on this forum. I haven't done any projects yet that used anything less than 0.6mm thread. I believe he has some in 0.4 also, though. 

VERY satisfied with both the thread and needles, as well as the customer service.

[zuludog]

Probably like a lot of people I started doing leatherwork with a Tandy beginners kit. It included a packet of 10 needles and I'm happy enough with them, I don't feel any need to change. I don't know what size they are, but I'm sure Tandy would tell you if you asked them

I started with the synthetic (nylon?) thread that came with the kit, but after a while I thought I'd try linen, so for a long time I used unwaxed 18/3 linen which I waxed myself

I've tried tiger thread but I don't like it

Recently I found a British supplier of fil au chinois linen thread, so I ordered some 5m samples of #332 in different colours. I've yet to use it in anger, but it looks pretty good, and I'm looking forwards to trying it

I make mostly knife sheaths and belts with 3 to 3,5mm veg tan leather. If I was using thinner and/or softer leather I might go to smaller needles and thinner thread

A couple of incidentals -

I read in Chris Taylor's book about melting & mixing your beeswax with about 10% linseed oil. When it sets again the wax is softer & stickier

A few months ago I went to a demonstration & lecture by Nigel Armitage. His opinion is that you don't need to make a groove with a stitching groover; just marking the line with an edge creaser or dividers is good enough. So I've been doing that, and the stitching seems good enough, though I flatten it with a mallet

[plinkercases]

Alpha and Zulu thanks for the input.

Zulu how do you set up for waxing the thread yourself?

[NVLeatherWorx]

I use Ritza 25 Tiger Thread and Osborne harness needles that I get from Buckle Guy (www.buckleguy.com).  I use 1.0 for standard stitching and .8 for the finer stitching requirements.  I did get some from Egyptian Leather earlier this year but he is not as consistent on maintaining inventory whereas Buckle Guy is pretty on top of it.  I also have some of the waxed Poly cord from Maine Thread in both .030" and .035" but I don't use it that often (also, it is only available in 70 yard spools whereas my Tiger Thread is 547 yards per spool and works much nicer).  I have tried other threads and found them to be inferior to the Tiger so I stick with what works best and is the most sought after within out trade.

Buckle Guy also has a thread to needle chart so you can't go wrong getting the correct sized needles.

[garypl]

2 hours ago, plinkercases said:

Alpha and Zulu thanks for the input.

Zulu how do you set up for waxing the thread yourself?

I made thread wax by melting beeswax with pine gum resin - bought the resin on Amazon - 1 lb bag was $15.95 and is enough to last 3 lifetimes!  I think I found the recipe in this forum.  Poured into a small round glass bowl - about 2" diameter with larger opening than the base so it popped out easily after it hardened.  Just hold the thread against the wax puck and pull it across once on each side (for flat Tiger thread) makes a nice tacky wax coating on the thread.

[garypl]

Here is a link:

http://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/69286-making-coad-or-sticky-wax-the-easy-way/?tab=comments#comment-453362

 

[DJole]

3 hours ago, plinkercases said:

Alpha and Zulu thanks for the input.

Zulu how do you set up for waxing the thread yourself?

Let me add my 2 pennyworth to the mix here:

I find that after sewing for a while, the waxed thread starts to get unwaxed (it rubs off as  you pull it through the holes). So I have a cake of just plain beeswax that I run over the thread.
Nothing fancy, and I haven't found any reason to do anything else yet. Maybe Zulu's (or other people's recipes for wax stuff) holds up to wear (such as wallet stitches) better than what I do. 
This seems to be related to thinner threads; thicker threads probably hold more wax in their fibers. 

[alpha2]

DJole, I found that to be the case when I used unwaxed thread and waxed it myself. Don't have that issue with Tiger. Having said that, some Tiger is much more waxed than others. I think that waxing it yourself just coats the outside, the Tiger seems to be waxed throughout. I could be wrong, but it seems that way to me. It also seems that my self-waxed picks up more dye, or dirt than the factory waxed stuff. 

[NVLeatherWorx]

24 minutes ago, alpha2 said:

DJole, I found that to be the case when I used unwaxed thread and waxed it myself. Don't have that issue with Tiger. Having said that, some Tiger is much more waxed than others. I think that waxing it yourself just coats the outside, the Tiger seems to be waxed throughout. I could be wrong, but it seems that way to me. It also seems that my self-waxed picks up more dye, or dirt than the factory waxed stuff. 

I would have to agree with you about the pick-up of dye, antique, dirt, etc.; I have never had that issue with Tiger thread and I have also never had to wax Tiger thread during the stitching process.

[zuludog]

PLINKERCASES - this is how I made up my beeswax

I took the part used up piece from the Tandy starter kit and a lump of beeswax rescued from my father-in-law's shed. He reckons it's years old, possibly dating back to the 1960s

I bought (and ate!) a meat pie, and kept the aluminium foil tray intact. At this juncture I should point out that people from the north of England are well known for their fondness for pies. Babies in this part of the world usually progress directly from the breast onto a diet of pie & chips and strong tea, so such items are readily available

Make up a water bath from the foil tray and a small frying pan or similar, and place the wax into the tray. The water in the frying pan should be just hot enough to melt the wax, barely simmering; you do not want to boil like crazy. Hold down the tray with long nosed pliers to stop it wobbling about and spilling the wax

As the wax melts estimate the volume and add 5 to 10 % linseed oil; stir it all together with an old tent peg. Then turn off the heat and let it cool

When the wax mixture is more or less set but still warm & malleable, tear off the foil tray and knead the wax into a sort of squat sausage -like or cylindrical shape, then let it cool fully, say overnight

Cut off the desired length of thread; fold it over about half the circumference of the wax cylinder and hold it down with your thumb; then draw the wax through/across the wax.

This is the book where I saw the linseed oil softening tip. I think it is a very good guide to starting leatherwork

'Leatherwork: A Practical Guide' by Chris Taylor

If I'm doing a long run of stitching I sometimes re - wax the thread in situ

I do leatherwork for a hobby, and waxing thread seems to me to be a satisfying part of the whole process. But I can see that if I was a professional, or had to do a lot of sewing, I would consider ready-waxed thread

My son is about 1,83 cm weighs about 82kg, does kick - boxing and runs marathons. He still eats pies

Edited August 6, 2017 by zuludog

[plinkercases]

3 hours ago, zuludog said:

My son is about 1,83 cm weighs about 82kg, does kick - boxing and runs marathons. He still eats pies

All good to know thanks... including never try to take a pie from your son...

Everyone else thanks for the info so far. Interesting points to consider. I think I may be placing an order with buckleguy in the near future unless there is a table turning post come along.

[zuludog]

I see now that there are a couple of mistakes in my post Ah well, it was late at night and could have done with better proof reading. I'm sure you'll manage

[DJole]

9 hours ago, alpha2 said:

DJole, I found that to be the case when I used unwaxed thread and waxed it myself. Don't have that issue with Tiger. Having said that, some Tiger is much more waxed than others. I think that waxing it yourself just coats the outside, the Tiger seems to be waxed throughout. I could be wrong, but it seems that way to me. It also seems that my self-waxed picks up more dye, or dirt than the factory waxed stuff. 

Interesting!
I have never used Tiger thread, but now my interest is piqued. The next time I need a thread color, I'll replace it with some Tiger thread to experience it myself. 

[alpha2]

It's nice that you can try it without a large expense. Egyptian Leather sells small amounts, that's what I did to test colors and sizes. If I'd had to buy a large amount right off I probably wouldn't have tried it.

[Dunluce]

Reading the earlier posts about the beeswax coming off the thread and having to be reapplied while sewing got me thinking. I coated my thread with beeswax as normal but then got out my ironing board and iron. I stuck the thread between a couple of bits of brown paper and gave it a few runs over with a hot iron. Some wax came off on the paper but you could definately tell most of it was absorbed into the thread. It definately seemed to give a stiffer smoother thread that was easy to sew with