First of all, most people that do fake stitching use two large of a thread. My first time, I did, the next time I used some 6 pound fishing line. Looking for something .015 or smaller in diameter. Don’t over do the size of the stitch I have full instructions on my site on how to make the stitches. Also for the rib tape, take a look at www. Getstencils dot com. Gary makes pinked tape for different scales. The stuff looks and works great, look him up.