It was also common for a kid to unravel their mother's woolen stockings for winding a ball, then go to the village shoemaker and get him to cut out with his knife, four pieces of leather to sew on for a cover. Waxed ends were used to sew the four pieces of leather on the ball. The boy that had a pull with the shoemaker and could get him to sew the cover on was the most popular boy in that section of the country. Read More... How Lemon Peel Orange Peel Base Balls were made

Baseball Stitching clamps were used to secure the baseball during the process of sewing on the cover by hand. In the early days the wooden clamps were made by locale woodworkers or carpenters. The baseballs were both sewn at factories or at home, the work done mostly by women.

A factory that made Major League baseballs in Perkasie, PA. started in a kitchen. As neighbors joined in the baseball stitching, the house was filled with stitchers. An addition was made to the home, but as the volume of work soon required a larger facility, the factory was opened.

During the 1920's the factory employed 50 stitchers that worked at the factory, and about 300 home workers. During WWII home work became quite popular.

This baseball stitching vise and bench was used in the production of Spalding baseballs. While this may seem like a crude device, it should be noted that all Major League baseballs today are still made by hand in much the same manner. The wooden bench bears the Spalding logo on the front, with the metal vise securely bolted on the top. Three screw holes are present in the area where the worker would sit and might represent where a cushioned seat may have once been attached.

Bolted to a work table, this baseball stitching clamp was used to secure the baseball during the process of sewing on the cover. The device was used at the Draper-Maynard factory located in New Hampshire. The Draper-Maynard Sporting Goods company was most famous for their baseball gloves.

 Both the wooden baseball stitching clamp above and the metal one below feature the the D&M "Lucky Dog" logo

Red Sox team visited the factory in 1916, which was memorialized by a now-classic photo of Babe Ruth sewing a cover on a baseball. Ruth endorsed and used D&M equipment throughout his career. Baseballs were one of the largest products of this factory. The company went out of business in 1937.


 In the 1994 American television documentary mini-series "Baseball," Ken Burns featured factory workers sewing baseballs using the wooden baseball Stitching Clamp Saddles pictured above. In general these saddles were commonly used by leather workers.