I inseamed two pairs of boots today. The thread I’m using is called a taper; it’s seven cords twisted together that taper down to the thickness of a hair at each end. I wax the thread with a sticky wax called Hand Wax and then twist the tapered ends around a bristle. When the thread is waxed and the bristles are attached, it’s called a Waxed End. The bristle is stiff so I can feed it through the hole I punch with the curved awl, and then I can draw the full thickness of thread through the hole. Shoe makers used to actually use boar’s bristles (and some still do) but my bristles are cheap plastic fishing line.

Once I begin sewing on the welt, I keep the wooden haft/handle in my right hand always; I don’t ever lay it down as I’m sewing. After feeding both bristles through in opposing directions, I pull out all the slack, wrap the thread on the left side around my left hand (I wear a glove), loop the thread on the right side around the narrow part of the haft, and pull the stitch down tight. Because the thread is waxed, once I pull it down it will stay tight and not relax.

It takes me around 45 minutes to inseam, or stitch the welt, on one cowboy boot.