Since most of the folks here in Accoutrements and a lot of crafts people I meet on site are interested in sewing and materials, I thought I’d pass on some of the crans taught to me over the years. If there’s enough value and interest, I’ll keep going with threads like this. Else, I’m content to just cobble stuff.
Take a look at this YouTube for a minute;
Obviously a well practiced skill, winding and tapering a thread end to sew with is almost a joy in itself. The person doing that in the video is using an unwaxed Linen thread, single ply. Search the web with phrases like…”shoemaking thread”…or…”Unwaxed thread”… and so on and eventually you’ll come across something like this;
That stuff is mostly used by professional crafts people. The consumer or more easily accessible version is artificial sinew, shown on the right, or spools of 4-5 ply, unwaxed Linen ( flax) shown on the left. Sinew is not as sacrilegious as it sounds. It’s color is almost identical to hand-waxed thread if applied the right way and it will taper to apply to tighter stitches on more primitive looking projects. Unwaxed Linen thread is meant to be gopped up in a machine during the machines stitch cycle in the repair shop. It differs from the synthetic or waxed threads in that its wind is clockwise whereas the waxed, machine stuff is counter clockwise. Haven’t a clue as to why.
As with almost everything else in Living History, the best thread comes from a crafts person. Spinners are ideal. I still use that spun and wound out of 1 part flax (linen) and 2 parts hemp. I once knew an English woman named Maggie who delivered to me the best clothing I still wear and the best thread I still sew with. The bad news is that, after parting with her and everybody else when I ventured off into Cowboy Action, I lost contact. Upon going back to a Rendezvous a year or two ago for a couple of three hours between the cataracts and the turnover I did not see a lot of folks I knew fifteen years earlier. The good news is she made me enough to last me at my age until I am either walking the streets of glory or roasting over a slow fire. I tapered the end on this piece;
A lot of Cordwainers will tell you that the most critical part of sewing is the handwax you use. Research enough and you’ll find that the ingredients are Pine Resin, Pine Pitch (tar) and beeswax. Mixing them in different proportions, with a lot of touchy-feely experience will produce wax grades that are even seasonal. More pine goo will yield a “Winter Wax” and more beeswax will yield a “Summer Wax”. The former is well documented as needing a firkin of cold water to keep from falling apart and the latter will stand up to ninety degree heat.. You can’t sew with hog bristles without it.
Winter wax, on the left, is generally darker, more aromatic, and stickier. The summer wax, on the right, is more solid and harder. Off the shelf beeswax, in the center, will do for starters. Cordwainers using hand wax are said to be responsible for the coloring on Meershaum pipes.
The legendary Hog Bristles require a lot of practice to work with. I can’t document harness needles as being present in the 18th Century ( Ladies used very fine needle point needles, but it is not clear whether shoemakers picked up on them) but I use them all the time. Search for “John James” or “Osborne” Harness needles. If you are going to taper and wax thread ends ( requires sewing with an awl) then pick the middle range of utterly confusing size charts when you order.
If there’s enough interest or folks find this stuff of value, then I’ll crank out another long winded dissertation on tapering thread and stitching in a clamp. Else, I have to figure out how to make a leather jerkin/weskit so I have something to do this winter.
Don’t shoot yore eye out, kid,
The Capgun Kid
