Front visor pinned and ready for stitching:
Again, the condition of the stitch line makes it difficult to count the holes which has to be done if things are going to be lined up in the correct position.
I finished the first pass across the stitch line today. This is the most difficult stage of the restitch as you must insure that the visor holes are lined up with the shell and you are sticking your hand into a cluster of T pins as you stitch. The added difficulty here as mentioned, is the condition of the stitch line after the old thread was cleaned out. No matter how hard you try sometimes, damage occurs, one hundred+ year old leather has a mind of it's own. The thickness of this leather helped as despite the flaking, the leather between the holes was solid. Obviously, I had no problem with the rear visor, the leather/finish was in better shape. Once the restitch is complete I will apply black shoe polish along the stitch line to fill in and make this less noticeable.
Tomorrow is another sunny day 70F/21C so I am going to get this done. Bright sunshine outside is the best condition for restitching anything!
Another sunny day here in the low 70's F- 22C. I finished this old beauty and will deliver it to member Pionierhorn at the SOS.
As mentioned, black shoe polish was applied to the stitch line to make things less obvious.