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Sowing Canvas

David Day

David Day

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Hi Everyone!

Well, I’m glad to say I’m back in the game and soon to be venturing into the great outdoors again, I do have a few little repairs and mod’s to do first and would appreciate some advice.

What sort of thread and needle would be best to sow heavy canvas? I have 2 pouches I need to sow onto my LK35 and I want to get them fitted ASAP. Also, when funds allow I’m still hell bent on getting a Lavvu and as you probably know, there’s a hundred and one mods you can do if you have the skills an some patience and most of these will require sowing heavy canvas.

Also, is there a best type of stich to use to ensure strength at the pockets?

Cheers All :)
 
The pack is a canvas LK35 and the pockets are the ones in the pic buddy :)

image.jpg
 
You could go another route and glue Heavy Duty Velcro to both pack and pouch...........use a quality contact adhesive.
Easily strong enough to hold the pouches......... even when full.
You would then have the option of using the pouches on a belt........or detaching them from the pack and leaving them at home if not needed?
 
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Yet another route may be to sew on attachments such as straps and buckles to the outside of the bag in order to fasten the pouches. (pity the pouches aren't earlier or you could have used a strip of webbing belt without the buckle, they just had two spring steel hooks in the back of each pouch and a top buckle for a shoulder strap)
 
I would prefere straps and buckles too.

It would be nice, if it is possible to remove them, and might be handy, if you want to take something out of them.

The old Swiss rucksacks had been constructed like that. I can store my complete cooking equipment in the remoovable pouch. That is very nice!
 
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Looking at the pouches, I would sew a loop of heavy duty webbing on to your main bag in the appropriate place so that you can attach the side packs with the a carabiner attached to the metal squares that are already on them. (does that make sense?)

I would suggest using a good semi-circular canvas needle and heavy duty waxed cotton thread. You can often get a few yards from a shoe repairer or that well known online auction site ;)
 
David Day said:
Hi Everyone!

Well, I’m glad to say I’m back in the game and soon to be venturing into the great outdoors again, I do have a few little repairs and mod’s to do first and would appreciate some advice.

What sort of thread and needle would be best to sow heavy canvas? I have 2 pouches I need to sow onto my LK35 and I want to get them fitted ASAP. Also, when funds allow I’m still hell bent on getting a Lavvu and as you probably know, there’s a hundred and one mods you can do if you have the skills an some patience and most of these will require sowing heavy canvas.

Also, is there a best type of stich to use to ensure strength at the pockets?

Cheers All :)
Click to expand...

Hope all is ok?
 
1 shot willie said:
You could go another route and glue Heavy Duty Velcro to both pack and pouch...........use a quality contact adhesive.
Easily strong enough to hold the pouches......... even when full.
You would then have the option of using the pouches on a belt........or detaching them from the pack and leaving them at home if not needed?
Click to expand...


….and that's why he's an administrator.....a bit clever that is!!:bow:
 
I have sown thick canvas and leather . Useful tools to have are an awl and a pair of pliers. Obviously a thickish needle and decent thread and the needle can be held in the pliers and pushed part way through and then pulled all the way through with the pliers . Opening up a hole with the awl may also sometimes be needed and helpful.
 
Yes, I would do it like that with thread from the shoemaker.

A carabiner hook I wouldn't recommend. That probably makes noise.
Straps an buckles is the right way to do it.

Avoid metal on metal if possible!
 
You have to do the webbing or leather strap on both sides of the fabric of your rucksack.

Like a sandwich:
Webbing, fabric of the rucksack, webbing
like
Bread, cheese, bread

If you use leather straps (which you probably get in surplus shops, and can cut the buckle with 6cm leather away from the rest of the strap) , make first the holes with a sharp awl on a soft wooden board through both layers. Stich deep through both layers into the wood!

Than, in a second go, with a round not sharp awl through all three layers and than the round needle with thread in the third go, using small pliers.
At first you could glue the leather (with holes) to the ruck sack, a shoemaker would do this now a days before he uses the mashine. But with glue it becomes more complicated.

(A shoemaker you ask would use a sharp leather needle in the mashine and destroy your rucksack. Handmade you don't want to pay! So that isn't a good idea.)

Do not stich with a triangular sharpened leather needle trough the cotton, you would weaken it!
That would destroy the rucksack!

The seam must be in a sqare and additional in a X In between at webbing.

But with leather the square should be enough for this relatively little force.

Leather is far more complicated to do, but leather straps and buckles are far better for this job, because they don't open, even if you don't have continuous force on the buckle. If course the strap must go throug an O -ring after the buckle, like every belt does it.

If you do it like that, you have the removable option and relatively short seams to to.

To stich the pouches directly to the rucksack would be much more work! Some military rucksacks have that, but this is made to hold ski to the mountain troop rucksack, you often can slide ski between rucksack and pouch. I guess you don't need that option.
 
You have to ask a shoemaker how to do the seam. I can't explain it properly without showing the motion.

You have to use two needles at both ends of the thread. You go at first through one hole, having now both needles at both ends.

Than you go with both needles in opposite direction through the next hole and twist the threads inside each hole and always in exactly the same way. Then you pull the threads after each twist.
The result is an incredible strong seam that looks very well at both sides.

A shoemaker can explain it to you, when you buy needles and thread there.

And that's the right way how to get material and advice.

Sewing leather and canvas is a profession, nothing that can be picked up easily at you tube.
 
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