Wizcrafts

You should be able to pull the top thread when you lift the tension release mechanism all the way (by pedal). Here is how I adjust my machine. First, loosen the bobbin tension until it has a smooth pull that is neither too loose nor too tight. This varies each time you change thread sizes in the bobbin! The tighter the bobbin thread, the tighter the tiop must be to pull up the knots. Back off the secondary spring until it is just barely engaging the disks. Now adjust the tension on the top disks until the knots look consistent. If you need a lot more tension to pull them higher up, use the bottom tensioner for that purpose. Finally, use the best needle size for the thread combo. If you have #138 in the bobbin and #207 on top, a #23 needle is good. If you change to #207 in the bobbin, or #277 on top, move up to a #24 needle. For #277 thread top and bottom, use a #25 needle. If the stitches suddenly change with an obvious sound, stop and look to see if the top thread has jumped out of the upper tension disks. When this happens you get a birdsnest on the bottom. Conversely, if the top thread gets wrapped around itself and doubles over the primary or secondary disks, it pulls the knots to the top and may stop the machine in its tracks after a few stitches, or may filigree the leather.

Was the leather or Biothane lifting with the needle? If so, that causes skipped stitches. Crank down the pressure screw over the outside presser foot, until the leather stays down while the needle and thread pulls out of it.

I do this on every one of my sewing machines. It is a real headache saver.

that demonstrates how to thread a similar sewing machine with a different brand name. The threading path is identical for your machine.

Pull the stitch length lever all the way down to put it into forward motion. Turn the limiter nut away from the lever to allow it to go down all the way. Pull the thread out of the needle and up through the take-up lever. Pull the hand-wheel towards you from the top (Counterclockwise) and watch the feed dog. It should move to the front with the needle and inside foot, then rise slightly above the throat plate, then move backwards, then drop down and begin this cycle again. If the motion is correct with the lever way down, move it all the way up and repeat the process. Now, the feed dog should start at the back, lift, move forward, drop and move back for the next stitch. If this happens, the machine is operating normally. Rethread the top thread through the take-up lever, then down through the formed loop, through the hole above the needle, then through the needle's eye, from left to right. Insert a piece of leather. Lower the feet if they were lifted up, until they make contact with the leather. Rotate the wheel towards you again and see if she sews at all. Report back. Time to eat dinner. BRB...

That Pfaff is a bottom only, drop feed home sewing machine.

The Juki DSC-245 series is a light duty, cylinder arm, walking foot machine. The specifications state that it is best used with no larger than #69 (T70) bonded thread, or 40/3 cotton or polyester thread. I don't know about Invincible brand thread, but I do suspect that your machine will not sew with 0.9 mm thick thread. You'll be lucky if it handles 1/3 that diameter (see thread/needle chart).

I have mentioned this before and will repeat it once again. Golf bags are best sewn on two types of long (~36") cylinder arm machines. One has standard feed, for sewing across the ends, or across the center area. The other machine has transverse feed that sews up the arm, towards the body. It is used to join the long seam that runs from top to bottom of the bag. You can either use a lockstitch or chainstitch machine for golf bags, since you don't see the inside threads. Transverse feed machines for leather bags are usually special order machines, built on demand.

Welts, or piping have a rope-like cord inside them, to give a solid pipe result. If you use 3/16 inch diameter cord, wrapped with 1/16 inch thick leather, a 1/4 inch piping foot is a perfect match. If you try to sew with a piping foot and there is no cord inside the package, the material tends to simply compress flat, or semi-rounded. You may or may not know how a piping foot works, so I'll explain it. A piping foot has a rounded radius ground into one side of the foot, with the needle hole immediately next to the end of the radius. The rounded portion rides on top of the covered piping cord. If the foot has been properly matched to the diameter of the covered cording, the needle will hit very close to one side of the covered pipe. If the foot size is to wide, the needle is too far away from the piping. If the size is too small, the needle may go into the piping, rather than next to it. If you have a walking foot machine, your piping foot is made in two parts: the narrow inside radius foot and wide outside radius foot. The needle hole is inside the inside foot, to one side of its cutout area.

Your Grandma's Singer 15-88 is a straight stitch, low foot mount machine. There are welting/piping feet available for it. I bought a 1/4 inch piping foot for my 15-91 on eBay, several years ago. It cost me about $10. The same feet are used on all of the 15 class machines.

I feed the thread down, through the steel loop guide over the bottom disks, then around the disks twice, then back up through the guide, then to the thread check spring, etc.

I guess a 1/8 inch left or right side edge guide foot set would be nice.

Absolutely! Right now, it is converted into a roller foot machine. But, with a few minutes of screwdriver turning, it reverts to a normal presser foot/feed dog machine.

I'm currently using two turns around the bottom disks.

Those spring guide feet are available in right side, left side and varying distances from the needle. They are very useful for times when a swing-away edge guide won't work. There is also a foot with a spring or piece of steel guide on the front center. It is used to install blind zippers. As far as I know, they are only available for straight stitch machines, not walking foot.

Less bottom tension, more top tension, or a larger needle size.

I wonder how a Hiroshe hook and a Juki take-up lever would hold up with Kevlar thread.

What make and model is the machine?

I am pretty certain that your Landis sole stitcher requires right twist thread. This is the opposite of what modern leather sewing machines use. I would use either 6 or 7 cord, Barbour's Irish Linen thread, which you can buy from the Campbell-Bosworth company. The ancient Singer 29-4 can sew with up to 3 cord linen, or #69 to #92 bonded nylon or polyester thread. I use #69 nylon for motorcycle vest patches and #92 for zippers.

Have a new outer presser foot made with the design on the bottom outside edge. It should emboss that pattern as you sew. You would need a lot of foot pressure and probably wet leather edges to do this.

My CB4500 came with the accessories package that includes a flat slotted throat plate. I removed the feed dog and installed the flat plate. I have to compensate for the changes in stitch length, using the stitch length lever. I find that it is more difficult to get the reverse stitches to hit the same holes as before, so I feather the stitch lever a bit to compensate. I also found that the higher the pressure on the feet, the smaller the stitches tend to become. Reducing the bobbin thread tension helps a bit, by reducing the bottom drag. I think it would be really nice if somebody could make and market a Teflon throat plate with a narrow slot. I must confirm that the bottom looks much nicer without the humongous feed dog that shipped with the machine and all other 441 clones I have seen. The results are very close to my Union Lockstitch machine, which has needle feed, a jumping foot and a narrow slotted throat plate. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any sewing machine dealer who has a narrow feed dog and matching throat plate, or Teflon slotted throat plate available for a Juki 441 or clone. I think that if a dealer on this forum was able to get these parts made, he could sell a shit load of them here.

Make sure you are using the best size needle for the thread on top and bottom. This would be a #25 leather point for #277 thread, or a #24 with 277 on top and 207 in the bobbin. Make sure the thread pulls without binding, especially in the bobbin. Next, back off the pressure on the foot until the adjuster pops out. Test the presser bar to ensure that it moves up and down freely. Then screw the adjuster back on just enough to stay in its threaded hole. Try sewing a stitch or two. If the leather lifts with the needle, add more pressure. Do this until the leather no longer lifts with the needle. Make sure there is no corrosion, dye or oil on the bottom of the presser feet. The feed dog should only protrude about 1mm above the top of the slot in the throat plate. If there are still deep marks on top, check for sharp edges on the outer foot. If you have to screw the adjuster all the way down, you may be sewing into rawhide inside the leather.

I believe I once had a Singer post machine just like yours and I think it used system DBx1 (1738) needles.

Before anybody buys a sewing machine thinking it will sew up to 1/2 inch, see what needle system and thickness of presser feet it uses. If it uses system 190 (Pfaff needles, the (inside) foot would probably have to be less than 1/8 inch thick, with the alternating foot lift set to minimum. Or else, you would have to remove the thread guide from the bottom of the needle bar. A machine equipped with the regular system 135x16 needles will not sew 1/2 inch, unless you remove the feet. You don't really get into a 1/2 inch capable machine unless it uses systems 214 (328) or 794 (7x3) needles, or longer. The 45k/GA1 type machines use system 214/328 and the 441 clones and Adler 204 and 205 use system 7x3/794.

As JJ mentioned, the stitch length changes when you sew without the feed dog. What many don't expect is that the reverse stitches no longer match the forward stitches, at the old settings of the feet. I find that it is possible to dink with the point in rotation where the needle and inside foot makes contact with the leather, to almost balance out the differences. This is iffy at best, so I usually just watch where the needle is about to hit in reverse and pull down a little on the stitch lever to compensate if too long (reverse is usually longer w/o feeders).