134 



THE .POINT BARROW KSKIMO. 



the other, which is then &quot;blind -stitched&quot; down by sewing it &quot;over and 

 over&quot; on the edge, taking pains to run the stitches only part way 

 through the other piece. The seam is then turned and the edge of 



the outer piece is turned in and 

 &quot;run &quot;down to the grain side 

 of the under with fine stitches 

 which do not run through to 

 the flesh side of it. Thus in 

 neither seam are there holes 

 through both pieces at once. 

 The sewing is done with flue 

 sinew thread and very flue 

 round needles (the women used 

 to ask for &quot;little needles, like 

 a hair&quot;), and the edge of the 

 feather is softened by wetting 

 it in the mouth. A similar wa 

 terproof seam is used in sewing 

 together boat covers. 



There is one pair of water 

 proof boots iu the collection 

 (No. 76182 [1794] Fig. SI). The 

 tops are of black dressed seal 

 skin, reaching to the knee and 

 especiallyfull on the instep and 

 ankle, which results from their being made with the least possible num 

 ber of seams, to reduce the chance of leaking. The soles are of white 

 whale skin, turned up about 1 inches all around. The leg and upper 

 are made all in one piece so that the double water-tight seam runs down 

 the front of the leg to the instep, and then diagonally across the foot 

 to the quarter on one side. The bottom is cut off accurately to fit the 

 top of the sole. The edges of the upper and the sole are put together 

 so that the inside; of the former comes against the inside of the latter, 

 and the two are &quot;run 7 together with fine stitches, with a stout double 

 under-thread running through them along the surface of the upper. 

 The ornamental band at the top is of white sealskin &quot;run&quot; on with 

 strong dark thread, and the checkered pattern is made by drawing a 

 strip of black skin through slits in the white. Hound the top of the 

 band is sewed a binding of black sealskin, which holds a drawstring 

 of sinew braid. The sole is kept up in shape and the boot made to tit 

 round the ankle by a string of sealskin twine passed through four loops, 

 one on each side just back of the ball of the foot, and one on each 

 quarter. These loops are made of little strips of white whale skin, 

 doubled over and sewed to the edge of the sole on the outside. The 

 ends of the string are passed through the front loop so that the bight 



FIG. 80. Pair of man s dress boots of deerskin. 



