Needles & Thread for Hand Sewing Leather

[Chaa Duu Ba Its Iidan]

Hi everyone:

I have some questions about the sewing needles and thread for hand stitching leather......in particular CAS gun rigs.

So, rather than guess, I will ask you guys who do this work a lot what you use.

Needles
== What is the term used for these leather sewing needles?  I've seen "glovers needles", but I don't think they are what are used.

== What size needles do you guys use and do you use different sizes for various work?

== What brand of needles do you use and who do you use as a supplier?

Thread
I noticed from an earlier thread that you guys seem to concur that linen thread is best for leather working.  My leather supplier sells cotton leather sewing thread in large spools that appear to be best suited for a leather sewing machine.
== Why do you feel linen thread is better than cotton thread?

== I've noticed that the sewing thread for leather seems to be either sized or rated via the number of strands in the thread.  What thread size/strands do you use?  Is there a certain "universal" size or strand-count thread used for virtually any job?  If you do use more than one size/strands of thread, what sizes/strands do you use for specific jobs?

== What color thread do you use for your work?  Is there an advantage to using certain colors of thread for specific jobs, or is it simply a matter of the ultimate coloring of the project?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

Chaa Duu Ba Its Iidan

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

  Howdy CDBII

      Seeing how your new to the forum, I'll try to point you in the right direction, in our FAX/HOW TOO thread you will find a lot of good reading and valuable information, on you question, check out this thread http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,4739.0.html

     What I use is genuine Flax linen thread in size #5 strand and #7 strand, and in natural white color, I wax my own thread, I use large eyed needles and large eyed harness needles, this is what I use for most for my gun leather sheaths excreta,  I dye my own thread when need be, you can buy waxed linen thread at any Tandy store, along with the size needles you need, they also have the waxed linen thread in black, brown and natural, most of us fine that the linen thread works better on leather because it clings to the leather, and locks on so to speak, other threads won't do this, and will loosen up over time, so stay with the linen if you can, IMHO.
   When doing small wallets and things you would use a finer thread and needle to match the work you're doing.

                              Hope this helps

           
              tEN wOLVES