Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Hello,
When you sew in a straight line, are there certain techniques that can make the stitches even and straight? Or is it just years of practice?

Side note- Does anyone have links to pouch making tutorials and patterns? Thanks

One trick I've seen is people who will mark a little line on the side of their thumb to use as a gauge so the stitches are the same size.
As to making straight stitches, you can try to follow one individual thread in the piece you're sewing.
I'll try to find an illustration of these techniques when I have time later. (I'm heading out the door at the moment.)

As to making straight stitches, you can try to follow one individual thread in the piece you're sewing.

That's what I do. Linen is quite easy: even with the fine stuff the threads are quite distinct.
Also, since most period pieces are cut on the square, you can pull threads out along each edge to make the edge perfectly square. (Does that make sense? I can take a picture this weekend if necessary)

Wool is trickier - I tend to just eyeball that and accept a little bit of wandering.
Our ancestors weren't perfect either.


(Oh - didn't ask. Are you hand sewing or machine sewing? I do almost entirely the former)



So far as pouches: is there a particular one you see online that you like?
I have a new belt pouch in pieces on my worktable: I can post pictures of the construction if you'd like.


Also - give this a look:

Purses in Pieces PDF

Are you asking about stitching in fabric or leather?
With fabric, of course you can use the weave as a guide (if you have good eyesight!).
With leather, I will often make two holes quite a distance apart, then make another hole (eyeballed) exactly mid-distance. Then I make another pair of holes between all three of those... and so on. It turns our reasonably even, if not straight.
Leatherworking shops sell gadgets that are supposed to mark a line of holes. They don't often go all the way through, but they give you a nice even straight line.

In the tools I sent you is a four prong chisel and a one prong chisel. To make even stitches in leather use the four prong. Line it up, tap it with a mallet to punch the holes, thentake the first prong and place it in the farthest hole. tap and repeat. This will keep your stitching holes even in leather. For fabric, use either Elleth's or Udwin's suggestions.

The tool Kortoso is suggesting is a small wheel with tiny prongs sticking straight out, the whole is on a small handle. It looks like a set of roweled spurs with just a handle instead of the u shape that would go around the heel of a cowboy boot.

When you place the tool on the fabric and roll it forward it leaves little even marks. That is where you'd place your stitches. I can provide pictures of the tool if the description is unclear.

I agree with Kortoso, it depends on what you're working with.


It sounds like leather. Something I will do with leather before punching my holes is to scratch the line I intend to make. I then follow up with an awl. (I have recently acquired a chisel, like the one Peter mentioned, but am not very adept with it yet. )

If for fabric, there are many ways. You can mark your seam with chalk. For curved pieces, it is good to use pins, both as guides and to hold your fabric in place. I just hold it in place and compare to my thumb. If it's a long straight running stitch, I will do several stitches at once before pulling my needle through.

Elleth wrote: Our ancestors weren't perfect either.

Well put! I was reading on a historical trekking list about much the same thing, that reproducitons are too perfect and that those who would have made what for them would be everyday items would have taken pride in their work, but being handmade would have certain imperfections, and as such, added character. The same goes for what would be repairs. In the LOTR films, Viggo would repair his costume himself if he could, reasoning that a Ranger in the Wild would be forced to do these things himself, and as such, may not have the skills to expertly fix a seam or repair a string of beads, etc.

Ken

For leather, I use tiny finish nails instead of an awl, and actually nail my project down, starting on opposite ends. This helps hold the pieces out straight and not put any wrinkles or distortions between the two pieces, so when the time comes to stitch it together, every hole lines up perfectly.

I've done something similar to Greg, using scotch tape to hold two pieces together. I turn it inside out first so as to not leave bits of tape on the finished side of the leather.