dirtclod

You all ready have the best foot to use for all round work IMO. If you want to see the needle go into the leather on your first stitch raise the foot a little turn the hand wheel to get the needle right where you want it and follow the line you have already made with your dividers. You can use your finger to guide the piece your sewing if you don't have a guide. To learn to sew i would take a scrap piece and mark lines on it with a ink pen and follow the lines. That should get you pretty comfortable sewing and following a line sewing free hand and you don't have worry if you get off of the line.

I put the welt the full length of the sheath.

It doesn't cost anything to call, Bobbins, needles and feet generally don't cost alot. They sell a lot of machines and supplies to people that are into sewing their things just as a hobby. But do what ever you want to.

Give Bob a call at toledo sewing machine he can fix you with bobbins, needles and feet I'm sure. He has a add at the top of the page.

Nice Job !!

Type in how to make welt on goggle. Theirs a ton of infomation.

The Aerostitch is pretty quite best i remember. But the compressor is loud and will run after you sew maybe 5 to 10 inches and keep running after you get done sewing till it builds up enough pressure to shut off. I had a 20 gallon compressor ( bigger than what they said it needed ) and i sent the one i had back. Then i bought a Ferdco Pro 2000 and have had it for the last 20 plus years.

You need to flip the pictures so their upright.

I've took a bunch of them out over the years. What i do is tap the peen end to get a flat spot. Then take a punch and make a dimple in the rivet and drill it till the washer comes off / loose and then knock the rivet out. I have read where others say they grind the peened end smooth and then knock the rivet out. Never tried that though.

Ask if they will trade the standard one with you for a left toe foot. I have left and right toes for my machine and very seldom use or need the right toe foot. I would get polyester thread to, it sews better IMHO than nylon. Get a few extra bobbins so you can a couple of bobbins and colored bobbins ready to go if you use two or more different colors of thread.

I think you did a fine job espically for the first time making them!

You need to check and make sure you can different feet for the machine because the one in the picture is way to big for sewing close to anything.

I have one machine with a open center toe and i don't like it ! You have to be real carefull when you take something out from under the foot, if your not you stand a good chance of bending or breaking the needle. The only way around bending or breaking the needle is to pull some slack from the upper thread path. As far what type of feet i would get a left toe foot and maybe a right toe foot so you can sew close to things. Like others have said if the toes are to long you can file them down to a length that works for you. I had to do that on one set of feet that i have the toe was way to long on the center toe and the outside toe.

1 Trace pattern, 2 cut out 3 check fit, 4 stitch grove if you use one, 5 mark stitches, 6 make stiching holes (if you going to drill them) or make them with a awl 7 stitch ( if your dyeing do that before you stitch), 8 sand edges after it's togeather, 9 burnish, 10 put finish on, 11 set back and admire / see what needs to be better next time 12 sell it, give it away or keep it so you see how much you have improved in a couple of months

You can ask for patterns no problem there. The only thing is it's like RavenAus said, people that have invested a day a week a few months labor and materials getting a pattern to where it works and are selling things that they make from that pattern may not just hand them out to anybody that ask for that pattern. I know i don't ! Doing this type of work is how i make a living. Hang in there keep trying and you can make a pattern that will work and you can give it away if you want to.

Glad you got it figured out. Somewhere along the line the tire that drives the winder will blowout / break and your bobbin won't wind then either. But it's a easy fix all you need to do is take the plate off on the winder and slip a new tire on takes 5 minutes maybe to fix. But you will need a tire.

I like it, you did a nice job !!

What classes did you take ?

Finding leatherworker.net !!! I've been doing leather work full time for 30 years and i find new ways of doing things on here.

Keystone sewing machies in Philly. Not sure thats any were close to you though.

I think the classes making clothes will help more than you think. You will get a chance to learn to sew plus learn different types of seams. Alot of things that you think woun't be of any use can easiley be adopted to leather. I always watch Project Runway show here in the States not because i want to make clothes but to see how other people do things and the tools they use like Vary Form Curves ( i would be lost without them, i've been using the curves for 10 or 15 years ) and any other tool that i can adapt to leather work. The thread i would use is size 69 or 138 thread. I like polyester the best but also use nylon to. You maybe able to get away with using round point needles to sew you leather sense it's no to thick. Leather needles have a sharp cutting point. Tools a ruler, sissors, something to mark with, seam ripper and more that i can't think of right now. A triple feed machine would be the best. Juki, Singer older ( black or gray industrail ) ones not the household machines, Consew, Paff and the Chinise knock offs. Call the sewing machine folks at the top of the pages they may have a used one if you don't want to buy new a machine. I look for a machine with at least 3/8 inch foot lift 1/2 would be better. Wiz have a sticky telling about the different types of machines in the sewing forum i think is where it is. Oh i would get servo motor if the machine doesn't come with one. The clutch motors take some time to learn how to use because their so fast. Maybe that helps a little.

I think before I bought that I would call the dealers and see you could get a 441 clone without a motor. That way can power it how ever you want. I remember somebody posted a picture of a foot powered machine. The peddles were made like a old pedal car.

Buy a side of leather it will be cheaper than buying by the foot.

If you said where you live maybe somebody knows somebody that wants to sell.

I guess i'm missing something here. Why do you need to build a table for your machine ? When all you need to do is build a table any size you want the same height as the table you have. I've seen tons of pictures of upholstery shop set ups and that what they do.