Bags

[Trkdriver99]

I have a question about what to "sew" a bag with. When do you think that in came in vogue to use leather wangs/strips to sew bags and other leather goods. I make most of mine with waxed linen or cotton thread. I see some where folks have used wangs to put togather. Just wanted to know.

Ronnie

 

[rich pierce]

I think leather whangs became popular when Tandy started up. :haha:

 

[LRB]

Rich has pretty much nailed it! Keep using your thread.

 

[Black Hand]

I suspect that some people think it makes the bags look "Old-Timey". I think it just makes things look sloppy and poorly made....

 

[MSW]

i agree...

if you look at originals, they mostly seem to be made with thread ... now i'm not one to jump on the HC/PC bandwagon- if you go for that stuff, fine, but i don't insist that anyone subscribe to a specific set of theories or doctrines just because i do (or, in this case, don't) agree with it, BUT, the old guys did it that way, and probably with good reason:

'cause it worked.

i use waxed linnen thread for mine. jus one guy's free opinion, and no doubt worth twice the price.

 

[Old Salt]

You can use artificial sinew also. It will work as well as the waxed thread.

Leo

 

[LaBonte]

Sorry but some folks need to go beyond the history of just the East coat/colonial period - yes linen or hemp thread was the most widely used method for sewing Eastern bags, but lacing was used in the Southwest and other areas where there is Spanish influence - it had nothing to do with Tandy. The use of lacing along with sewing is as old as mankind and when done properly is just as neat as sewing, but whether to use it or not should be based on as always: who, when, and where.
Despite some folks answers, history did not stop at the Mississippi River or at the year 1800......

 

[rich pierce]

Good post, my friend. Sometimes I am just a junior high kid making wisecracks from the back of the class. I do tend to have tunnel vision (pre-1800 and east).

 

[BrownBear]

I think all of us are prone to "tunnel vision" around the era and people that interest us most, forgetting that there was lots going on all across the continent.

Here in Alaska the late 1700's meant Russian influence. If I was to really follow what's correct, I'd be pursuing that more. Info is pretty scarce, but I'm digging. Showing up at an event on the West Coast dressed in period Russian garb would be like a skunk at a lawn party, but in fact the Russians were pretty busy in California. It's all perceptions and yeah, a little "tunnel vision" thrown in for spice. Some folks are louder about it than others is the difference.

 

[hoochiepapa]

If you go to the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, you will find that the natives used sinew to stitch things, way back. Or shredded yucca. And I can't help but think the pioneers that followed used the same techniques.

 

[LaBonte]

Yes teh Indians did use natural fibers and in regard to sinew continued to in the west long after thread was available, but as to the pioneers using alternatives - very little documentation except for those on the very fringes of "white" society and documentation is what counts when talking what was available and used - all depends on whom, when, and where.
Also thread was one of the more common trade items from the 1700's on - much of the post 1800 western Indian gear I've examined first hand is sewn with thread or a mix of thread and sinew.