Valkenburg/Castleford style caliga step by step

[Martin Moser]

For sewing I use blunt, flexible steel needles, as all the hole are done with an awl. Thos flexible needles follow nicely through the canal opened by the awl, be it straight or curved. Here is a good way how to thread the yarn so that it does not slip out again while sewing:

With a sharp awl pierce the yarn and slide the point of the needle through those holes as shown.



Slide the whole assembly back to the eye of the needle and thread the end of the yarn through the eye.



Now pull the yarn over the eye and the back of the needle. The holes you pierced into the yarn will hold fast the yarn end protruding from the eye.



Pull tight so that it flattens out, twist and apply some more shoemaker's pitch for better grip if necessary.