Singer Old Model For Leatherwork?

[sheridanman]

hi guys

i have been in a rut and have no choice but to use a sewing machine for stitching especially the cloth lining i am going to use on wallet projects. i have been making wallets biker style but the thing is most complaints and feedbacks i got are the wallets are nice and all but its just too thick. i have redesigned the card slots to become thinner but still its just not thin enough even after using 1mm leather. after redesigning how pockets are assembled i have come to a conclusion that in order to achieve the thin look like fine leather men's billfold i have to use cloth backing or lining.

my mom gave me her old Singer disc-o-matic II sewing machine. it looks ok but how can i also use it for leather for fine stitching besides sewing cloth lining? i googled for needles that will work for all type of leathers and i came up with campbell-randall, but the thing is most of their needle inventory for leather are for different brand of machines, no singer brand. can anyone pls. point me to where i can buy needles for sewing leather that will work with my old singer, and what size of needle and matching thread size for leather that have folded edge about 1.5 to 2 mm folded edge thickness. thanks in advance!

[TwinOaks]

Due to the type of feeding that machine has (feed dogs only, right?), I don't think you have enough machine. I tried it with an old singer 66, and the results were frustrating and worse. The old (and new) sewing machines just don't have enough ooomph to handle much of the type sewing you want to do. I was recently using a Viking 6440 with the built in low gear to sew two layers of soft chap, and ran into stitch length problems, skipping, bird nests, etc. It's just the wrong machine for the job. Go to the Sewing Machine subforum and read the very first 'pinned' thread. That should give you some ideas of what you need.

Since you'll likely keep using the old singer anyway, you can look at Hobby Lobby, Jo Anne's, Michael's, and Hancock Fabrics for suitable needles.

[sheridanman]

thanks mike. i figured this singer would work for leather also coz i have this cheapo chin made portable mini sewing machine. the one you buy out f tv shopping channels. it was on sale at that time so i thought i'd teach my self some basics using the machine for small fabric repairs. and last night i tried it bravely to sew just stitches on a 1/8 inch leather belt with its stock fabric needle and it did sew quite well. the problem is after a while the machine starts to complain after long slow runs. i tried a skived down genuine ostrich skin about 1/8 thick folded after i hand skived the edges and it did stitch it up to decently. again it stopped as the needle keeps getting stuck. so i figured if i have a bigger home machine with the right needle i can stitch these types of leather since its thin even when its folded at the edge. so i went to our storage room and found my mom's old singer and asked her if its working she called and said it does it only needs a needle. since i dont have access to a needle last night around midnight. i figured i find me a leather needle and concluded in a way that if my cheapo mini machine can do it on a 1/8 leather why not try this old disc o matic since i will be making small porjects jsut cloth lining and just the leather folded edges.

i really appreciate the reply will search online more suppliers. thanks again!