My textblock shifted during sewing and I didn't catch it until I was casing in

Happened last Thursday on a 300 page journal. I use a sewing frame and everything looked fine. But the signatures drifted maybe 3mm to the left over 8 sections. Didn't notice until I put the covers on and the spine was all wonky. Had to rip it apart and start over. Wasted like 4 hours of work. Anyone else have a trick to catch shifting early during sewing?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_williams1d agoProlific Poster

3mm shift sounds like your kettle stitch might be pulling things off, check your thread tension next time.

logan6581d agoRising Star

@ray_williams the thread tension tip makes sense but 3mm is a big shift even for a tight kettle stitch. Might be worth checking if your sewing awl has a bit of rust or gunk in the eye of the needle first. Could be the thread is catching on something small before it even gets to the stitch.

the_wade1d ago

Damn, that's a good point about the eye of the needle. I've been fighting with a similar issue on a saddle I'm restitching and never thought to check for actual gunk in there. Do you think a small piece of dried wax or rosin could be what's throwing the tension off by that much, or is it more likely a burr on the metal itself? I'm asking because I just cleaned my awl with some rubbing alcohol and a pipe cleaner, and I'm still getting a slight pull on the thread right where it enters the eye.