A thread for stitchers, crafters, and makers

[Hugh Manatee]

I am ready to get stitching again. I now have a new prototype to finish. I know how I'm going to stitch it but would like a little advice on the thread.
Anyone who knows me will realise I don't really do style or even colour coordination. Should I go for thread that will blend into the dyed leather or one that stands out? Here is a picture to show the only choices I have:

You can just make out where I have marked the hole positions. This will have twin rows of stitching. What do we think?

 

[hopless500]

I am ready to get stitching again. I now have a new prototype to finish. I know how I'm going to stitch it but would like a little advice on the thread.
Anyone who knows me will realise I don't really do style or even colour coordination. Should I go for thread that will blend into the dyed leather or one that stands out? Here is a picture to show the only choices I have:

View attachment 391246

You can just make out where I have marked the hole positions. This will have twin rows of stitching. What do we think?

I'd go for the dark if I was doing it

 

[Reynard]

I'd go the other way.

Brown thread with black leather looks execrable. The natural thread will give it a nice contrast.

 

[Hugh Manatee]

Too late! I started it a while back!

The wooden thing is my new stitching pony. This is a traditional piece of kit that usually has a piece at the bottom at 90 degrees to the bit you can see here. The idea being you sit on the horizontal bit and stitch away. Trouble is, my very long body doesn't allow this so I have mounted it here in a vice.
Yes, that is in the kitchen and yes, Mrs Manatee is very good!

BTW, the leather is actually dyed a dark brown colour. It does look a bit black here thanks to light reflections.

 

[Reynard]

Oh come on, 'execrable'? Meaning you don't like it, I'm guessing. As I said, it's a matter of personal taste.

No, it doesn't do it for me. It's just the combo of brown and black... If the thread was black, it wouldn't bother me either way.

Dad had a business making, amongst other things, leather goods e.g. briefcases, musical instrument cases etc. It was always either matching thread or natural thread for contrast. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

 

[Hugh Manatee]

Thread resurrection! People must be making things? I'm always interested in what people decide to make rather than just buy!

Here's a planter I made for my daughter's latest plants....

 

[hopless500]

Still making felt stuff. Plus enjoying playing with fabric hardener .... it sets rock hard and is verrrry interesting. Much experimentation on the cards.

 

[raleighnut]

Still making felt stuff. Plus enjoying playing with fabric hardener .... it sets rock hard and is verrrry interesting. Much experimentation on the cards. View attachment 407753

Nice, very similar to the 'Walnut Shell' boats. I made one about 3yrs back at Chistmas, similar to this.

 

[Reynard]

Not had as much time to paint as I'd have liked of late, but here are a couple of recent-ish bits and bobs.

Item number one. A4 sized pen and wash of a friend's BMW silhouette racing car.

Item number two. Derek Warwick, Peugeot 905, 1992 Le Mans 24 Hours. 18 inch x 14 inch watercolour.

 

[Jenkins]

Not had as much time to paint as I'd have liked of late, but here are a couple of recent-ish bits and bobs.

Item number one. A4 sized pen and wash of a friend's BMW silhouette racing car.
View attachment 414942

Keith White?

 

[Reynard]

Keith White?

Yeap.

 

[Mugshot]

I've been making a pond, waterfall feature thing in my garden recently and I've nearly finished it. One of the last jobs was chucking a load of gravel and chippings round the edge to hide the liner, and I thought that you could probably make some little walls and cottages or ruins or whatever out of them. That got me to wondering about fixing them together and my first idea was to use my glue gun with suitably coloured glue sticks to look like mortar, but I'm getting conflicting information about it's suitability for use outdoors. Anybody got any experience of using hot glue outdoors?

 

[raleighnut]

I've been making a pond, waterfall feature thing in my garden recently and I've nearly finished it. One of the last jobs was chucking a load of gravel and chippings round the edge to hide the liner, and I thought that you could probably make some little walls and cottages or ruins or whatever out of them. That got me to wondering about fixing them together and my first idea was to use my glue gun with suitably coloured glue sticks to look like mortar, but I'm getting conflicting information about it's suitability for use outdoors. Anybody got any experience of using hot glue outdoors?

Gripfix would do a better job than a hot melt glue.

EDIT - Gripfill is waterproof and suitable for external use.

 

[Mugshot]

Gripfix would do a better job than a hot melt glue.

EDIT - Gripfill is waterproof and suitable for external use.

You're right, the downside is that my wife would quite like to do some bits and bobs but she can't use a sealant gun due to arthritis in her hands. I suppose she could put a pile of rocks in front of me, tell me what she wants and then I get the exciting job of sticking them all together.

 

[Mugshot]

Now THIS ONE stuck stones onto bird houses and feeders, they used sealant. THIS ONE used a glue gun to stick rocks onto plant pots.