Costumer Just Getting Into Leatherwork

[LadyRuna]

I just discovered Leatherworker.net recently, after a friend of mine mentioned that he has several elk hides that have been sitting around just waiting for a project (he dreams of having a coat made from the hides...) Well, I've been sewing FABRIC for many years & have made coats, and lots of costumes - including "Neo & Trinity" from the Matrix. Neo's jacket was from black denim, and Trinity was from Lycra-backed vinyl (it's stretchy, but icky synthetic that after 16 years has finally gotten sticky so it can't be worn any longer).

As far a leatherwork, I've done a bit of hand-stitching with real leather, made purse handles with pleather (fake leather) & sewn a suede purse (pigskin). I really enjoyed making the purse and found that I prefer using real leather over the pleather. The only advantage of the pleather is that it's far less expensive than real leather - but once you try real leather, you just don't want to go back to the fake stuff. I'm currently working on a project that's using synthetic suede and am sewing it on my trusty antique Singer 201. I love that machine, but since it's a home-sewing machine, I don't want to throw at it anything thicker than 3oz leather. My friend's elk hide is 3 - 6 oz, so some of it will be OK, but I fear that the irregularities in thickness will kill my antique Singer once the number of layers builds up. I'm drooling over some of the spiffy leatherworking machines, but haven't decided which yet.

The attached photos are of the purse. It's small - about 6x9" - but a good size for my use. One side has two seams and the other has one because the purse was a "sampler" in which I tried out various leather seaming techniques. Because the pigskin suede was garment-weight (about 2 oz), my Singer 201 sewed it about as easily as any home machine handles quilting cotton.

Edited January 25, 2016 by LadyRuna

[Art]

The 201-2 with the "internal" gear drive motor are best for garments and quilting. They make a nice tight stitch and will sew without much pucker, however, denim is about the max product and maybe some 2 or 3 oz for suspenders and other lightweight stuff. If you want to abuse a small machine, get a 66, or a 404 Slant, or two, and run whatever you want through them. They are a sturdy little machine and no great loss when they go tits-up.

Art

[LadyRuna]

The 201-2 with the "internal" gear drive motor are best for garments and quilting. They make a nice tight stitch and will sew without much pucker, however, denim is about the max product and maybe some 2 or 3 oz for suspenders and other lightweight stuff. If you want to abuse a small machine, get a 66, or a 404 Slant, or two, and run whatever you want through them. They are a sturdy little machine and no great loss when they go tits-up.

Art

I just happen to have a Singer 66 as well... I didn't try sewing the purse on the 66 because I'd figured the 201 would do a better job with it. I'll have to try it out next time I start a leather project.