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