Yamato glue has been a lifesaver for me and many of the students. Why? Because it has so many valuable uses. You may have others (please write and share them with us), but here are three ways we use the product.

1. If there is a tear in the silk along the selvage where it has been laced, we apply a thin coat to each side of the fabric at the tear. It dries like iron and keeps the silk from tearing further.

2. If there is a loose stitch, the extra silk (or metal) is pulled to the back of the ground fabric and a small amount of glue is applied to keep the unruly thread stationary. A toothpick works great for applying the glue.

3. Whenever we make twists, we apply a small amount of glue to the end that is threaded to keep the twist from unwinding as it is stitched. The excess is cut off before beginning to stitch.

NOTE: Although I know some stitchers use the glue for the finishing process, I do not recommend it. We do not know the ingredients in the product. As it has a long shelf life, it's quite possible there are preservatives in the compound. It takes me less than three minutes to prepare the wheat starch so I highly recommend using the traditional method. If would like to have the instructions for preparing the wheat starch, please e-mail me.