‘Waxing the Thread’ is a 36 page A4 print magazine for hobbyists and all who are interested in traditional leatherwork, includes pattern and instructions, basic techniques and guidance on how to purchase leather, and much more. Issue 5 takes a look at box stitching, and projects to make a backpack, apron and wallet. Project 1 introduces a new skill – box-stitching. As you’ve come to expect, we’ve given you a step-by-step guide with colour photos to help you as you work through it. Once you’ve got the hang of this stitch you’ll be able to work through the first Pattern Page which this time, includes 2 patterns. After making these items you’ll be able to use box-stitch for your own patterns or designs. Project 2 is quite a large one, but we think you’ll easily be able to follow the instructions to make this unisex back-pack. We’ve also taken a small step towards lining with leather and for the first time in WTT have added a separate flap to the Project. The second Pattern Page is something a bit different and very appropriate given the amount of time many us have been spending in their workshops recently. Given in three different sizes and with consideration for the size of leather pieces, the Workshop Apron is a practical project which can be personalised with pocket placements – we’ve left these for you to decide on. Each of the Projects and the first of the Pattern Pages state which materials (and leather substances) we’ve used when making the projects ourselves – we’ve even stated which company we purchased the leather from! For beginners, we’ve included a few pattern making tips, offered some help with producing a symmetrical billet and have given some encouragement to get you started with tool maintenance. There’s also information on purchasing supplies during lockdown and an interesting article about Salmon Skin. If you’re a regular reader of the feature pages we hope you’ll enjoy reading about our visit to The Hay Binders before joining us on our tour of the Thomas Ware Tannery in Bristol. As always, we’ve included the ‘Readers Pages’, where you can learn from Mark Papworth about Anglo Saxon leatherwork, see what’s been selected for this issue of the Readers’ Workbench page and finally, we’ve created a new competition in the Just For Fun section but this time expect a bigger challenge than in previous issues!
