KushielsTart

I ended up with the Juki, mainly because my local dealer had one. I love it so far

Hi everyone - I've read completely through the guide to choosing a sewing machine, and have it narrowed down to the consew 206RB and the Juki 1541s, and now I'm stuck. They are both around the same price (although I found a dealer in Dallas who has a Juki clone called a Typical GC0605A for about $300 less). I make fashion style body harnesses, corsets, belts, and some garments. So far I've been sewing on a Janome MC6600, which does ok most of the time with very light leather, but gives up over thicker seams and occasionally just decides it doesn't want to sew something that its been working on all day with no problem. I generally don't sew anything more than single 5-8oz pieces or multiple pieces around 10 ounces total, and I figure if I really need to, then I can hand stitch pieces heavier than that. For the heavy pieces its usually not being attached to anything, but is decorative edge stitching. Which machine do you think sounds more appropriate? I would be upgrading to the servo motor for either. Thanks so much for any advice.

Awesome! I'll see you there.

Thanks guys, that helps!

Hey guys- I went to a class at Tech Shop last weekend on laser cutting. I have some ideas drawn up for pieces I want to make, and one I have a few digitized and ready to goi plan on joining to get them all done. However, the test piece that I did in class still smells like, well, charred flesh. Any of you out there have experience with how long the smell takes to fade so the pieces can be sold? Or some technique to fade the smell faster?

Wow, the craftsmanship is amazing!

For this one I'm using plastic boning, which I don't usually do, but this corset isn't meant to be cinched too tight so it shouldn't be a big deal. I will be using a steel busk though.

It's made from a free pattern on burdastyle. You will just have to sew the lining completely separate from the leather exterior unlike how the directions state, and put them together last. http://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store/patterns/jacci-jayes-corset-pattern

Hi guys! I'm just getting around to introducing myself (at least I'm pretty sure I haven't done it before) after reading here and there for about a year. First off I'd like to thank you all for the informative posts and lots of inspiring pictures! I have always loved leather, the smell, feel, and sound, which is kind of funny because I'm not a meat eater. My first leather project was 2 years ago when I was inspired by some really awesome formed masks and I decided to make my own. I taught myself some tooling and painting techniques and made some pretty cool masks. However, I'm a makeup artist and hair stylist and I had a really hard time covering gorgeous makeup with masks, so about a year ago I started getting more adventurous and complicated and making harnesses, chest pieces, belts, and jewelry. I'm finding that I prefer construction and hardware in my pieces over tooling most of the time, although I admire all the hard wok that goes into it. I lean a little bit towards the avant garde and/or fetish looking pieces. Ive most recently been making leather corsets. I also got some gorgeous skins to make myself a pair of bad-ass pants. :D I've always wanted a really nicely made pair but couldn't spare the $1000 that the good ones go for. I look forward to seeing all the nice stuff you guys make!

This is a corset in progress. I've sewn a couple of traditional corsets, and this one is a bit of an engineering feat for me, in deciding which order things have to be done in since its not your traditional method of construction. I almost have the leather exterior done. I have a heavy cotton lining in black and white houndstooth, and it contains the bones and is waiting on a busk. I will stitch the lining to the exterior, and add a wide leather bias binding to the edges once the buckles are completed. This piece and the one I posted before this are going to be costume pieces for this years carnaval. I have one more corset to do, which will be a longer under bust piece out of heavier leather and using all rivet construction. Any tips for a riveted corset??

I first started dabbling in leather work two years ago when I decided to make some masks for Carnaval, and then last year I got more serious about it and started making jewelry and body pieces. I've lurked around and read posts here and there over the last year, so I thought it was high time to start posting some of my own pieces. And thank you all for the little nuggets of wisdom I gleaned. I'm starting to get a lot better, and I'm pretty proud of this piece. The attached pouch is the first ever one I've done, and it taught me a lot of lessons. I didn't have a pattern or tutorial, and it was an interesting experience. I now know that leather binding needs to be pretty wide, with a wider seam allowance than in standard fabric, and the more seams the better for flexibility. I'll probably end up redoing it.

The tooling is gorgeous!