Stitching the hull halves together

You can start stitching the hull along the keel line at either end. Move both of the hull halves to your work table, and place them so that their keel edges about 1 inch apart. Let enough of the hull hang over the table edge so that you can work on the first set of keel stitch holes.
From the outside of the hull, insert a tie through the keel hole closest to the stem end of one hull half. Take the tail end of this tie and pass it through the matching hole in the other half. Both ends will now be on what will be the outside of the hull. Insert the tail end of the tie through the locking end, making a complete loop. Don't pull it too tight at this point; like the rivets, there needs to be some room for adjustment.
Continue along the keel using this stitch technique until you reach the other end. As you continue along the keel you will need to lift the hull off of the table to feed the ties through the holes. At this point the hull is starting to look like a boat, but the stem ends of the planks will not be together yet.
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