Chapter III: Strap Making and Stitching

Instructions have been given on making threads and cutting leather, and now a simple exercise in stitching may be given in the putting together of small straps.

In making a box strap, cut with the round knife or plough from the back of the hide a good piece of leather, which should be 6 ft. long, and 1½ in. wide. Turn down about 2 in. of one end, cut a hole within about ¼ in. of the bend, and slit the part out with two cuts. Neatly shave down the point of the under piece with the round knife, and slant the other end a bit at each side to make a neat point to enter the buckle easily. Run the No. 1 edge tool along the sharp edges of the two sides and of the top and bottom; this takes a small strip off, rounds the edges, and produces a better finish. If brown leather is used, wipe the edges with a damp sponge; instead of pure water, a very thin solution of gum may be used. Then rub the edges with a rag or with a piece of brown paper until they are smooth and polished.

Adjust the screw-crease so that it marks a line about ⅛ in. inside the edges, warm the crease in a gas or candle flame, and rub it sharply all along the edge, guiding the crease mark on the strap by keeping the other side of the crease close up to the strap. Rub backwards and forwards until there is a deep polished mark on the strap, then mark across the point in the same way. This operation is known as creasing.

Two crease marks instead of one may be made after turning the thumb-screw to widen the points of the tool. Then cut a piece to form a loop about ¾ in. wide and long enough to go round any part of the strap and make the ends meet. Edge this in the same way as the strap, polish with dye or water according to colour, and then crease.

For a running loop—one that runs loosely along the strap—the leather about ½ in. longer than twice the width of the strap so as to overlap; shave one end on the top or grain side, and the other on the bottom or flesh side, so that when jointed the pieces will make an even thickness. Allow sufficient length for the two thicknesses of strap to go through, and mark where it is to overlap. Put one side of the doubled part in the clamp and stitch the side opposite, then reverse it and stitch the other; all running loops are made in this way except for very common straps, when the strips are simply brought end to end and a stitch or two is made from side of the doubled part in the clamp and stitch the buckle, put the tongue point of the latter through the hole made for it in the strap, and having marked the stitches eight or ten to the inch with the wheel-pricker on the short underpart, put the loop in between the two leathers deep enough for the stitches to hold firmly. Begin stitching by the buckle, putting a cross stitch downwards close to it. Stitch the straight row along the line of marks close to the buckle end, and have a stitch over; do not pull the thread up at the last stitch, but have both the ends underneath. Put two or three stitches in the centre at the point; here also the last stitch is downwards. Then begin stitching the other side. With the awl put the first hole close to the point and pull the thread through; make the next hole and put the other thread up and the top one down, and so on until the loop is reached. See that the loop is of the right length; if too long, cut a bit off. Put the point in between the two leathers, deep enough to catch the stitches, and put one or two stitches in the side next to the thread, slanting the awl a little outwards at the point. Put the upper needle through the loop so that the stitching will not be over it, and have a stitch or two in the side of the loop next to the worker; finish it up to the buckle. Put a cross stitch at the finish, the same as on the other side, and cut the thread. Put a loop stick of the same width and thickness as the strap through both loops, hammer them lightly to shape, and run the warm single crease along the edges. With a punch of the right size cut the required number of buckle holes, beginning about 5 in. from the point; make the distance between the holes a little more than the width of the strap. This is always the rule in punching single straps, such as garters, cart hame straps, dog muzzle straps, luggage straps, etc.

With regard to threading the needles, a properly made thread will have a nice point, which must be well waxed, and pulled between the finger and thumb two or three times to warm the wax so that it will stick. Pass the end through the eye of the needle for from 1 in. to 2 in., according to the fineness of the point, and holding the thread between the finger and the thumb of the left hand, spin it from you with the finger and thumb of the right hand. Afterwards draw the thread from the needle downwards at the point between the fingers so as to stick the point together well and make it smooth. Take care not to put it too far through the eye, or it will be too thick to go through the holes in the leather, while if it is not pulled through far enough the thread is liable to break. Be careful also to get needles of proper size; light thread for light work and strong thread for thick and heavy work; and a fine awl for fine thread, and a coarse and strong one for coarser thread, and so on.

In making the first hole in stitching, put the needle and thread up from underneath, and draw exactly half of the thread through. Put both needles together and adjust the lengths of the two portions of threads, and with the awl cut the second hole, and stitch on. Always put the lower thread in each hole first and draw it up about 3 in., then put the other needle in and pull, always keeping the thread from below lowest in the hole and the top thread above. This is managed by pulling with the upper hand a bit downwards, and with the hand at the back of the work a bit upwards, thus tending to keep the stitches in position. It may be noticed that the hole is not round, but square and elongated, and tends to help the manipulation of the thread. Do not make a practice of pushing the awl through the work at right angles to the face, but on the slant; the holes made by the wheel-pricker are all on the slant. The above instructions also apply to double-thread stitching, the kind mostly used in harness making, though many things, such as the straps, described above, are stitched with single thread.

In back stitching, use one thread only; begin by putting it up from below; put it down backwards in the next hole to the one last made, and then pull it tightly from below. There is not much difference on the top side, but the stitches on the underside are twice as long and cross each other in chain fashion. Sometimes it is convenient to adopt this method to use up waste points, etc., but such things as traces, surcingles, waist-belts of web, saddle girths, etc., are always stitched with single thread. When repairing inferior harness, single thread can sometimes be used without stitching backwards, by doing what is called spotting, that is, always going forward thus / / /, and only up and down forward, the stitching appearing like spots, and not as an unbroken chain.

Stitching with white lace in cart work is done in this manner:—Put the holes on the upper side very close together, but underneath; the distance apart may vary with the fineness of the work. This kind of lace stitching is not much in vogue now, but it looks well when across the end of breechings for cart purposes, across the openings in cart cruppers, etc. Lace needles and white skin will be necessary for this work.

Riding bridles and almost all light brown work are stitched single thread and backwards, with either white linen, cotton, or silk beeswaxed, or sometimes with yellow fine hemp thread beeswaxed.

Dog-collars are made in a similar way to the straps previously mentioned, only the bend is made a little longer underneath to allow sufficient lining under the D to which the chain may be fastened.

Now that an insight into stitching has been obtained, the making of a waist-belt, Figs. 64 to 66, may be described. Cut the web so that its ends meet together round the waist, and also cut pieces of very thin belly brown leather or basil, for binding the ends; the latter should be about 1¼ in. wide, and as long as the webbing is wide. Turn down the binding along the centre lengthways, hammer it lightly, and with the screw-crease mark along one side; then slip it in both sides of the ends of the web, and either put a tack or two in it, to keep it in place, or paste it down. Allow the paste to dry before proceeding further. With the wheel-pricker along the crease mark the stitches, about ten to the inch, then put the web in the clamp, the latter being between the knees, and begin stitching at the end farthest from the worker. Use one yellow or white linen thread dressed with beeswax. On coming to the end, cut the thread; also cut the binding square with the edge of the web and stitch both ends across at some distance from the edge.

Prepare the pieces to be put over the straps and chapes; cut them about 3 in. wide, and straight on one side, making any fancy cut on the other; two of these pieces are wanted, one at each end. Then cut the straps and chapes, and use light tinned bridle buckles or brown covered buckles ⅞ in. wide. With the compasses set to the right width, mark out the straps on a close piece of brown shoulder or belly leather. Cut the straps about 6 in. long and the chapes about 2½ in. long. They may be cut in long strips, being afterwards divided into the required lengths. Form the strap, point one end a little, and shave the other end to go under the pieces above mentioned; rub the edges either with water or solution, and crease them about 1/16 in. from the edge. Then turn down the chapes for the buckles, shave down both ends thin, and let the lower one be a little shorter than the other. Punch a small hole about ¼ in. from the end, cut the hole clean out at the bend, and the piece is then ready for the buckle.

Use thin brown waste to make the loops; with the compasses mark a width of this about ⅜ in., cut to the right length; then rub and crease the chapes. Place the buckles in the leather, put in the loops about half the width of the chape between the two points of the chape, and close to the buckle, and put two or three stitches in each end. The pieces to hold up the belt firmly at the small of the back should be about 1 in. wide. Rub the edges and crease them as well as the two pieces for the front, and mark stitches with the pricker in all of them. Three of these back supports will be needed, one right across the centre of the belt and one on each side, 3 in. from the centre at the top and slanting inwards to within 1½ in. from the centre at the bottom.

To determine which is the lower and which is the upper side of the belt, bear in mind that, when being worn, the buckles will be on the left-hand side and the straps on the right. Put one of the 3-in. wide pieces flat on the belt, within about 3 in. of the end, and either paste or tack it in its place from the lower side. Put the straps in about ¾ in., all three exactly alike, one in the centre, and the others one on each side within ⅛ in. of the edge. Place the other piece in the other end so near the edge that, in putting the buckle chapes up to the loops under the edge of the piece, the outer edge of the buckle is flush with the end of the belt. Fasten the chapes in position exactly opposite the straps in the other end. Then backstitch the pieces in each end all round, in the same way as the binding was treated. Put a second row of stitches farther in than the first, through the strap ends and through the end of the chapes; leave about ½ in. between two rows, and then lay on the back straps. Having pricked them, stitch them in the same way as the others. If pasted on, they can be kept more easily in their place; if pasting is not convenient, pencil on their positions and keep them to the mark in stitching.

It is usual to put a piece of whalebone or good hard cane inside these to keep them up; thin the bone or cane and push it in between the leather and webbing from one end, and then stitch both ends across. Put four or six holes in the straps and see that they work easily in the loops, when the belt is finished.