Solo Fine Threading I

[Willis Efram]

Continued 2 Summer 524

Having met a founder and made his entrance into Syka after talking to Mathias, Willis Efram headed off deeper into the settlement. Considering their options, the two spoke internally for a few quick moments before settling on finding a place to stay first. Running back to the earlier conversation and Mathias' pointing, Willis recalled the direction of The Protea Inn which seemed like a good place to stay. The idea of an open kitchen with plenty of food was more interesting to his growing body than being closer to or on the water. Particularly in a place so close to the water even when not on it. He knew if they really wanted to swim they could easily enough, and so focusing on food made the most sense.

Focusing on orienting himself and finding his destination, Willis picked out locations and paths while Efram focused instead on the background as it passed and the sight it displayed. People and animals walking about. Mostly people inside the settlement, but even there some animals could be found. Birds most especially seemed to be common and flitted about from rooftop to rooftop. While Efram's mind pondered on this, Willis continued his control of their body and headed off down a path that seemed to lead to the building Mathias had pointed out as the Inn.

This was not all that hard, seeing as he could see part of the structure from the shoreline and so could already to a degree see his destination from the docks. A short walk later and the pair sharing form found themselves there and passing through the threshold as the door was not locked.

Heading inside Willis was met with a wide open room with tables, seating, a fireplace, and all manner of things. Efram focused more on this scenery, taking in the doors they could see, the hallways, and other such things. Willis though focused on the person before him, a short woman compared to himself who had garments he had not seen before. At first glance she seemed human, but a bit... Different, than most he had seen. Upon his entering this person paused in their work and took him in within a glance before turning back to her work and speaking to him a simple "Be with you in a moment!".

"Of course" Willis replied, moving to wander a bit and not interrupting the woman in her work but letting her finish up while he took in the particulars of the room. Soon enough he found the eating area, and what looked to be the kitchen. He could already smell something that drew his attention away. However he did not have long to wait before the woman finished her cleaning work and headed over to greet the new face. "Hello I am Amira, the assistant inkeeper. Welcome! I believe you are new yes? What brings you here?"

Having gotten the womans undivided attention now that she was done with her work for the moment Willis met her eyes in turn and did his best to respectfully give his own undivided attention to her. Efram for his part continued to wander his focus, but since he was limited to what Willis was looking at this only allowed him to stray so far.

"Ah yes, hello. I am Willis Efram, and I just arrived. After speaking to Mathias I decided to see if you had any room left and see about staying here for awhile. Also I am not sure what that is, but it smells delightful... Ah, he did mention the cooking being included, which did possibly factor into my decision..."

A grin on his face rather than shame as he admitted his reasoning, Amira smiled back at the tall youth. For some odd reason Willis could not identify he found himself reminded of the Konti back in Mura, though why exactly he could not say. Something about her mannerism perhaps? Her bearing? He could not say why exactly, but he felt something was there. "Of course, we have several rooms to spare. Are you wanting one of the normal guest rooms, or one of the suites? The suites cost more but are larger, but all include food. Do you have a preference?"

"Ah just a normal room would be fine, thank you. If possible I would like to drop a few things off, and head out before it is too late. I am looking to run by the Mercantile place Mathias mentioned, and see about getting some work there. I do not have a trade per say, but I have some experience working with leather, and hoped to ply my trade through them."

With another smile Amira nodded along, motioning for Willis to follow before walking off down a hallway. "Of course, just this way to your room. Since you are in a bit of a rush I can wait to explain things further when you return. For now just note there is a guide of sorts about the basics of the settlement in your room, and the kitchen offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with other snacks and things in between if needed. I hope your stay in Syka will be fruitful! Ah and if you are not skilled in the wilds, make sure you steer clear of the jungle without an escort all right?"

Willis nodded in reply, before quickly heading along after the woman to find his room.

WC: 906

[Willis Efram]

Having sorted out his housing, Willis dropped off a few of his things in his new room before waving to Amira on the way out and heading for the Syka Mercantile. Both being relatively close to the docks and the Syka Commons he did not have much trouble finding the place, particularly since Mathias had pointed it out before leaving him to his own devices.

Once more pausing to orient himself Willis looked about for a bit before finding the correct path heading back towards the commons which would most quickly lead to the business he was hoping to work with. While it was hot out it was not unbearably so, and Willis long strides quickly ate up the distance before arriving at the Mercantile. Even in such a small settlement several people could be seen going in or leaving this center hub of trade. With a smile on his lips Willis headed inside, looking about to find a worker who he could talk with.

Looking about inside the store Willis could see various wares that seemed at home in Syka. He also saw a few burly men looking about said wares, while a sole woman could be found behind the counter. Both Willis and Efram found her enchanting, though it was Efram who spoke silently in their head about the topic. "Ask her if she is interested in having your child!" What followed was the mental equivalent of verbal tussle, with Willis mostly insisting on his position of "No!" while Efram tried to point out the view of "What would it hurt?" All the while Willis pointedly look away from the woman and around the room to avoid any expression giving away his internal dialogue, before Willis finally won out with the logic of "We haven't even asked her name yet!". Finally calming himself and the verbal argument ending Willis headed over to the woman at the counter and smiled his normal calm smile at her.

"Hello, I am Willis Efram. I just arrived here today, and was looking for some work with leatherworking. I'm still training, but not bad at it and learning fast. Mathias mentioned I might be able to find some work in the trade here?"

The woman for her part seemed to be considering Willis words, and perhaps would not have been surprised by Efram's line... Though it might have soured the mood. After a short wait while Willis patiently awaited her answer she finally spoke. "Well... For greetings, I am Juli Chaliva, myself and my father James Chaliva run the place. As for work... I don't think we are directly hiring, there is not enough demand at the moment and you are an unknown in terms of skill... However, we could probably help you work through here. More like... Uh, maybe consignment, if your familiar with the term? Sort of as the middleman, if you make something we can stock it within reason and sell it on your behalf, and then give you your share of the proceeds later. Or if someone wants a custom order for something we could pass it on to you. Though that would likely need to wait till you show your skill."

Juli seemed to be deeply considering all of this as she looked over Willis, considering him seriously. "Also we might ask you for a batch of orders of a particular item... Or if people drop off things needing repairs, we could hand them over to you for the repairs if your skill is up to snuff to do the task. Then you could return them here, for them to pick them back up... We also sell most of what you would need for the task of making items of leather or repairing them, including fabric, leather, thread, and waterproofing materials. For now though, well first things first I would really need to gauge your current skill before we go any further. Being in training as you said is one thing, but you need to at least have the basics down..."

For a few moments Juli walked off, holding up a finger in a waiting gesture at Willis, before returning shortly with some leather goods. "These items are from some locals, who dropped them off when they were busy and needed to head back out. Haven't come back for them yet. But as you can see they are damaged. Fix these as best you can, patch, replace, whatever is needed, and then we can talk. I'll grab the basic materials you will need, and you can work today out on the terrace. After that, if things go well, you can take the stuff with you to work elsewhere. Ah do you at least have the tools to work with?"

Listening to her words Willis nodded, gesturing at the pack he had which included his leather workers toolkit.

"Yes, that is not a problem. I just need materials to work with, not the tools as I have those on hand. And thank you for the opportunity, I will do my best!"

WC: 842

[Willis Efram]

With a smile on his face, Willis headed out onto the terrace with an armful of damaged leather items. As it was not raining at the moment he was not too worried about direct damage, though leaving such items outside long term was not a good idea. Still he did not expect to take too long, though at his current level of ability he did think he would be a bit on the slow side. That being said, once he got a bit better he would likely pick up on his speed, particularly once he was repeating a job he had done before.

Heading back inside for another trip Willis took the armful of materials and things Juli had prepared which was sitting on a plank of wood, something Willis assumed he could use as a work surface. After all he did not want to go cutting or damaging the flooring. Once he had those in hand he quickly took it all back outside. Looking them over it was a normal enough mix of things. Small scraps of leather for patches. Larger pieces for needed replacements. Some strong string of a material he was not familiar with which seemed to go well with the work. And various oils and materials for water proofing the goods once he was done. Before he was to begin working though he went over the damaged items before him. He would keep at the work even if he did not finish today, but for now he planned to see what would be the quickest and simplest in hopes of knocking it out first.

The first item he pulled out seemed only a bit damaged. It was a small leather pouch, and it appeared it had gotten caught or snagged on something sharp and needed to be resowed to keep the sides intact where it had been stitched. Running his fingers over the material it also seemed the waterproofing needed to be reapplied, as it was somewhat dry to the touch rather than oily or waxy or such.

Next after that was a bag, a larger satchel that had a large strap which looked like it might go over the neck. This one had a trio of rents cutting across a good portion of one side of the bag, leaving Willis to assume an animal had clawed at it. While he was no expert he did not like to think what would happen to a person taking that kind of a rending blow, and did wonder if had the bag not been there if the person would have been hurt quite severely or even killed.

Lastly after that was a item of leather, beyond which he could not quite make out. Had it been a boot? Or perhaps a glove? Willis tried to work it out, but soon gave up. Letting out a sigh he felt he might need to tell Juli this one was a lost cause, but the other two seemed feasible enough to fix.

WC: 501

[Willis Efram]

Starting off on the simplest job, Willis took out the pouch with the torn seams. Looking the item over, he could see that it was made from a single smallish piece of leather that had been folded in half and then sown along the edge to close it. There was also an opening on one side or the middle of it all where a seam was not added, where a button had been place in it to allow it to open or close. This part seemed intact, as did another side of the seam on the other side of the button which seemed to have been done in portions instead of all as once long seam.

The last part though, the seam farthest from the button which consisted of roughly half of the sown part, seemed to have been ripped out. Looking at it closely though and using his fingers to poke and prod and feel, it did appear all of the holes that had been pierced through were still intact and it was only the string used to knit the seam together that had been torn out.

Feeling the leather as he had, it seemed a somewhat softer leather compared to some of the hardier items he had seen. It was also a bit of a thinner material, and so likely was meant for use in town and not out in the jungle. Based on this Willis expected if he needed to he could just force a needle through the material to make any opening for the stitching rather than having to purposely pierce out a hole beforehand and stitch exactly there.

Taking out some small scissors for snipping threads and such small things, not used for cutting leather but only for softer things that were small, Willis went to the end of the seam and cut the knotted end off. With a few more small snips he was able to work out that end, slowly pulling out the half raveled thread from that entire section of the seam. Luckily the other half that had been knitted was still intact and he had been able to avoid getting into it or damaging it, since the person had done a somewhat odd half seem on either side of the opening in the middle with the button.

Checking the length of the removed material and comparing it to the other half of the seam that was still intact Willis measured out a bit of string that was a bit too long and checked himself again. Then before cutting he measured again with a bit of leeway to make sure he had enough string for the work, before finally cutting it with the snippers and eyeing his work again. Lastly before he could start his true repair work Willis fitter the string with a small needle out of his kit, finding one of the smaller ones that could fit through the small bits and weaves that the seem had been made to fit.

WC: 501

[Willis Efram]

As usual threading the needle to begin his work was a tricky task. Eyeing it under the light of the Sykan sun Willis tried to fit the end of the thread though the loop on the needle, missing several times. For a moment he wished there was some kind of thread looper that did this, but then was reminded this would require looping the thread into that loop to fasten it which would likely be a process in and of itself.

After several attempts and sighs Willis did indeed manage to thread the small needle. Focusing then on his fingers and the material before him even his brother quietly sank into the background of his mind. Likely, Willis reasoned, because Efram found this boring and tedious and had no interest in the work unlike Willis who found himself enraptured and focused on this and nothing else. If someone charged him or something he was confident Efram would let him know, letting himself instead sink into his current task.

Starting at the end of the seem Willis set his needle through the tiny loop of leather, not threading anything tight just yet but just keeping it loose to make sure he could get it all through. Tightening it all, he knew, would be his final action, not something he did early on. Up and down he weaved the needle and thread, going along the grooves of the loops and fitting them all one by one. He kept at this for awhile, pausing a few times to stretch his hands or to focus on a particular loop that seemed problematic, but otherwise keeping at it. If this was thicker leather that he needed to pierce through or even just a piece of leather not yet holed he likely would have needed to fasten it down or in place, but just threading alone did not require such fastenings.

He kept at this for awhile until finally he had the entire length of holes threaded on the seam, and he could let out a sigh and pause in his work. At that point he slowly looped through the thread and took out any gaps or opening in the looping, working his way through until the thread was nearly as taught at it could be without being pulled taught. Finally he pulled on the threading, pulling in on the seem and temporarily fastening the two pieces of leather together snugly. However to keep this fit he then had to work the end of the seam, measuring out carefully how much room he needed before taking out his thread snipper and snipping it there so as to also removed the end with the needle. With that he had to tie off the end and form a knot, trying for one similar to the knot he had cut off at the beginning for regularities sake as the other. Being careful he did this as closely as he could... Only to recall he had yet to fasten the starting end of the thread which was also just stuck in place and not yet tied permanently to the leather...

WC: 520

[Willis Efram]

Smiling at himself for the silly mistake he had nearly made, or made but caught before it mattered, Willis returned once again to the starting end of the threaded seam. As he had noticed before the seam was fastened, but the start was just clipped into place firmly but not permanently. Carefully grasping the string and unfastening it in such a way as to not let it loosen, Willis tightened it one last time a bit more to get it fully snug before tying off this other end and knotting it as he had just done for the first end. Once that was done he took out his snipper again and neatened it out, before checking both ends and the other seam for uniformity and consistency.

Having mostly repaired this one, Willis took out a rag and lightly whetted it before wiping down the leather item once more. Before it was to be oiled and waterproofed it needed to be cleaned, which meant whetting it faintly and cleaning off any muck, and then once it dried oiling it with a cloth or a brush. In this case the leather was pretty thin and it was dry enough outside that he did not expect it too take too long, and so he set it aside where the air passing over would help with this drying and moved on with his work.

For now he put that piece out of his mind, just reminding himself to make sure and oil it all properly later once it was dried. While he waited Willis returned to the other items, focusing for a moment on the wrecked piece. Letting out a sigh Willis wondered if perhaps the shopkeeper had been testing him with this one, and resigned himself to let her know it was a lost cause and that it would be better to use this one for scrap and start it anew. Willis for his part doubted even a master leather craftsman could have done much with that piece, so damaged was it.

Letting that turn aside Willis turned to the other piece remaining, the satchel or bag. This one was made with a thicker cut of leather and was much sturdier than the pouch, which meant it would need more work to do anything with it. Also, the Akontak reminded himself, it was much more damaged and so likely needed would have needed more work to repair it even if it had been made of the same material as the pouch.

Focusing on the task at hand Willis tried to tackle things one at the time, focusing first on the damage. Checking it over he felt this was beyond a patchwork process, and would require taking out a whole side portion of the bag and replacing it. This was much trickier than just patching it, and would take more time, but based on the length and stretch of the three gashes he did not believe patching it would do. However before he could replace anything Willis would need to measure out the piece of leather to replace it, taking out a measuring cloth and some chalk to mark with, along with a blank piece of parchment to mark out the shape of the piece once he had it out. Once all of of this was done he began his work on the next step of the process.

WC: 564

[Willis Efram]

To start with the new piece, Willis began with some rough measurements. Holding the marked cloth in various spots he measured out its dimensions roughly. Length. Height. Diagonal. And then again but across the arc of the curve so that he had the length of it at its narrowest and widest points. Each of these he marked one by one on a scrap parchment until he felt he had a good feel for the size and shape of the piece he would be removing and replacing. It would not be quite the same once it was flattened out, since the piece he would be cutting out would be flat and need to be reshaped into the final form, but having a good idea of the shape when it was done was also helpful.

Next, with a good idea of the shape and dimensions of the piece after it was shaped albeit with some ragged cuts across it from the claws shredding, he began to check on how it was fastened. Unlike the other piece that was openly fastened and had ended up being torn by something, this one was fastened much more securely. By turning the material inside out he could see how they had fastened it on what would end up being the inside of the piece, working it flushed and then covering the outside piece with a thicker overlapping piece of leather to cover said seam on the outside. This was perhaps a bit beyond Willis current ability to do free hand on his own work, but perhaps was possible when directly copying off another piece. In this case he had a technique to trace and follow, along with the other half of the bag that was intact, which gave him a good foundation to work from.

With this in mind Willis did his best to commit to memory all of the techniques he was seeing here, hoping to use these same techniques on his own work at a later date. Between all of the notes and the physical example he had to follow now he believed he could do so.

Finally at the critical moment to actually do something, in this case cut the seam that held the damaged piece in place, Willis once more took out his snipper tool and slowly began removing the string that kept this piece together. For now he only cut the seams where it connected to the damaged piece, making sure to keep any other seams intact where the piece was still good. After quite a bit of snipping he finally was able to free the ruined piece and pulled it free from the rest of the piece. With that done he once more returned to measuring, holding the damaged piece out flat again and measuring again so he could get a better measure of the piece he would need to cut. This had to be done carefully as the damage would cause the dimensions to change a bit, but holding it flat and like it would fit if not damaged he got a close approximation. Between this, the earlier measures, and comparing the rest of the piece, he had a good idea of the piece of leather he would need to cut out to proceed with replacing the damaged section.

WC: 550