My apprentice's first French link stitch went from a tangled mess to a perfect line in about 45 minutes after I showed him the trick with the awl and the beeswax.

What's your go-to method for teaching someone that specific stitch for the first time?

3 comments

3 Comments

Skip the wax at first, it just hides the tension problems. I make them get the hand motion right with plain thread on scrap leather. The wax comes later once the stitch itself looks clean.

the_sage2mo ago

Yeah, wax just hides the bad form at first.

robin8361mo ago

My buddy tried the wax-first method on a holster build and ended up with such a sticky mess he had to toss the whole piece. He was a electrician by trade, not a leatherworker, but figured it'd save time. Took him three tries on scrap before he got the rhythm down, and even then he skipped wax for the first month.