Survival Sewing

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Since you're making new holes in the fabric, you'll find it's safer and more comfortable to use a man-sized thimble or to wrap a piece of old belting around your thumb to help you push the needle through.

II. MEDIUM-WEIGHT SEWING

I don't know the lifespan of leather but it has to be 50 to 100 years or more. That's why, when you find discarded leather items, they've usually been thrown away because the stitching has rotted. In most cases, the original holes in the leather are still intact and you can make the item look virtually new just by directing your needle through them. Sometimes—when the leather in handbags, briefcases, belts and shoe seams is too thick and strong to force a needle through—the reuse of the original stitching holes is the only practical method of repair (see Figure 2 for example).

Incidentally, if you insist on trying to open new stitching holes in tough material by forcing a needle through, you'll only succeed—sooner or later—in snapping the needle and painfully skewering your hand. So stick with those original holes.

The same needles and thread used in lightweight stitching can be used for medium-weight sewing. There's a new polyester-cotton wrapped thread on the market, however, that adds another dimension of strength to medium-weight repair work. It's Dual Duty Plus, Extra Strong by J.P. Coats and I recommend it.

As a trashmongering by-product of medium weight stitching, you'll find you can resew old attache and briefcases you find, oil them with neatsfoot or castor oil and recycle/sell them to pawn shops, second-hand stores or—via classified ads—to individuals.

FIGURE 1.

TYPES OF SEAMS
For all practical purposes there are only three major types of seams found in garments and footwear.

TYPES OF STITCHES

It stands to reason you can't be too fancy when you're using a big needle and heavy thread. These four, basic, simple stitches are all you'll need.

III. HEAVYWEIGHT SEWING

To me, this classification of needle-and-thread repair primarily involves shoe soles and, if you're going to get this involved, you'll want a shoe last and an awl. You can make the awl yourself from a spike and hardwood dowel (see Figure 3) but you'll probably want to buy the shoe last (Figure 4). And that may not be easy.

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