BettyJ

Thanks Brian. Yeah I think that would have helped too. I think I need to find different ways of dealing with this leather. My fav method of folding isn't going to work with it. I'm thinking I should try painted raw edges. Might help stop it tearing from being too thin. Next project is a laptop backpack with this stuff. Tried so hard to get the client to choose otherwise but they were adamant. *sigh*

I haven't actually. Thanks for the heads up. I've not worked with exotics. I finished the pouch. I'm not 100% thrilled with it and I'm sure I can do better in future. Those small corners were really tricky, even with the piping foot.

Thanks! I'm quite chuffed with it. Thanks for the tips, really helped. The guys I'm working with were surprised as they had experienced the same issues and had tried skiving the daylights out of it and that just didn't work. Hi @motocouture! Albany! Wow, I haven't been down there in years! Been a while since I've lived in Oz too. London for ten years now a side stop in Singapore for who knows how long. I don't know how someone who hates the humidity as much as I do landed up here! hahahaha!

Success! Thanks so much for the advice Brian! The smaller seam worked better, I changed to a point needle and tightened up my tension in both my bobbin and on my dial. After I'd stitched it, I blasted it with my hairdryer to help mould it. Results are below. I think this is the best I'm going to get so I'm going to practice a bit more before attempting the real thing. Feeling a bit more confident now.

Hi Chuckguadette It has been a bit challenging to get through the machine. It's so stiff, it's like sewing cardboard. ☹️

Hi Brian! Thanks so much for the advice, really appreciate it! Yes, it's been a bit of a tricky leather to get any kind of nice result with. It's nice to meet another Aussie on here too. I'm from Perth but currently living in Singapore. Yeah I think I went a bit nuts with the skiving on the brown leather. I'll knock it back a little on the next one. I want to make another but with piping. I'm just going to wait for my feet to arrive and then have at it. Thanks for the stitching advice, I'll go fix the tension on my machine once I'm off the computer. Still getting the hang of it as it's been so long since I've used it. I don't know that I have a point needle, I'll have to go look. Oh the heat moulding sounds like a great idea and I don't know why I didn't think to cut down and flatten the seams. I've made ballet flat shoes before and we did this with a tiny seam and then glued it down. Doh! Thanks and I will do. I've been at this now for about two weeks. It's driving me a bit mad but I know that I'll get there in the end. You don't learn without making mistakes and these last two weeks, well, let's say I've re-learned a lot of stuff I should have remembered. Ah well. Thanks again, I'll let you know how I go.

Yeah me too. I don't understand the fascination of it.

Oh I read this too. Explained why it was a different colour underneath when skived.

Tell me about it YinTx. It's just so bleh. I'm trying to talk them out of it but not having much luck. I may refuse to make it. Hi Stetson912 I have but I'm waiting on my foot. I get the feeling that it won't make much difference, to be honest. All of the piped versions I've seen are straight piped, not curved.

Update: I've tried a different construction i.e. an inset gusset after a bit of googling saffiano leather bags. It's ok but I'll need to paint away the horrid white edges that my skiving exposed. *sigh* Seriously, this stuff doesn't even smell like leather or feel like it. My husband wouldn't even touch it, said it looked awful and he couldn't understand why they wanted me to use it instead of the brown or burgundy I have at home.

Hi clever leather workers! I'd like to ask a question on how to make a stiff leather corner neatly. It's a turned construction so I really doubt I'll have much success, to be honest. I've been asked by my client to work with saffiano leather. Essentially, it's a chrome tan with a coating on it. Feels kinda plasticy and stiff, it's really not my first choice for this style of bag. Personally, I don't like saffiano leather, it doesn't feel like real leather to me. It feels cheap and nasty and plastic. No smell of leather either, which is what I love most about leather working. I have tried skiving it really thin, I've cut into the curves to make it fit into the corners better, pretty much anything I can think of and it still looks rubbish. Even my stitching just won't cooperate and look nice and even. Essentially, I want the corners to look like the brown pouch pictures. This is a gorgeous chrome tanned German leather that I picked up from the trade expo as a sample hide. I had a few small bits left from a bag I made so I though I'd use them to experiment with. I also have a hide of it in a beautiful wine colour and I'm trying to talk them around to letting me use that instead of their leather, as I doubt I'm going to get a nice finished product and I'm way too fussy to do a half measure. Does anyone have any tips on how I could make the Saffiano work? I've attached some pics of my sample pieces for your info. Thanks so much!

Oh wow, thanks so much guys. This is great to know. I'll go look into this now. I was originally thinking I'd be paying $200 or more for a foot and I wasn't sure which size or what it was that I needed. Thank you!

Hi all Wow it's been a long time since I've been on here! I plan on rectifying that mistake and being on here a lot more. So much knowledge! I'm hoping for some advice before I make an expensive mistake and order the wrong foot. I'm on the hunt for a piping foot for my lovely old Juki DSC 245-4 machine. Essentially, I've been sent a catalogue and the foot that looks like what I want is the cut out tail for piping foot. But, I'm not sure if the piping foot would be better. I've attached an image for ease of reference. I believe that the cut out foot would give more flexibility in the size of piping than the other foot. As I don't know what size piping I will always be sewing, this may be an issue. I'm hoping someone on here could help share their wisdom on this. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Thanks very much to everyone for their comments. I really do appreciate all the different viewpoints. And also the information about the seller. I'll make sure I bargain. It's so difficult to know who to buy from when it comes to ordering off the internet. I've got a fantastic domestic sewing machine supplier but am totally stumped when it comes to industrial machines. Since I posted, I've spoken to one of the sewing machine engineers at Braithwaites. He was very sweet and helpful. It was nice to talk to him because the last time I called, I got the whole sales spiel from someone there and it was just too intimidating to a newbie leatherworker. This nice gentleman offered to set up a machine for me with a servo motor so I can try it out as well as the standard Highlead. Just have to make the trip up to Manchester from London which I don't think I can do this year unfortunately. I do think that it would be good to go try these machines out and decide then and there if I'm satisfied with it. Saying that, I'm still keeping my eyes peeled for a second hand Seiko or Adler as I am familiar with those machines and admire the old build quality. I guess I just have to be patient and wait. It's a big purchase and I don't want to waste my money. Thanks again everyone. Seeya Betty

Thanks Matt. It really is. I'm quite impressed, to be honest. I didn't think I'd ever find anything like this and that I'd have to figure out a lot of leather working things by myself. I'll post some pics soon. Currently all I have are dodgy iphone photos. Seeya Betty

Hi all Thanks so much for all the info on this site. I've already learned so much from the pinned posts about leather sewing machines. Really great resource there. Unfortunately, I still need a bit of advice so I thought I would post on here. I'm looking into buying my first industrial leather sewing machine. I'm very excited! The machine I'm currently looking at is the Highlead GC2698-1 with a compound feed walking foot and a narrow cylinder arm. I don't require the binder feature on this machine. The supplier I'm looking at is Braithwaites in Manchester (http://www.highlead....ead-GC2698.html). They appear to be the Highlead contact in the UK and I've had a few quotes from them. Essentially, I want this machine for light to mid-weight leather. I don't plan on sewing anything incredibly thick on it (i.e. no thicker than 0.5mm), nor do I plan on using too thick a thread or needle. I want it for making ladies leather handbags and clutches, thin belts and straps. It won't be getting a lot of use daily as, unfortunately, I will only be able to sew after work or on the weekends. It just has to survive light to moderate use, not a production style environment. My reasons for looking at the Highlead machine are partly that it fits within my budget and partly that because it will be new, I will have a guarantee and someone who can service it for me if anything goes wrong. Since I'm still a novice user of industrial machines, I think I will need the free support that this machine will give me. I would love an Adler or Seiko but for a machine that will see such a light amount of use, I just can't really justify the cost right now. Maybe one day, when I'm rich from selling my handbags, I'll splash out and treat myself. So, what I really need to know from you all, is if anyone has used these machines and what they think of them? I've not used one before and I am curious as to how reliable they are and how they sew the leather I've mentioned above. I guess I just don't want to spend all that money on a Highlead only to discover that, really, I should have just bitten the bullet and bought a brand new Seiko or Adler because they are better mechanically. I know you get what you pay for but for what I'm paying for the Highlead, will it be adequate? Thanks in advance for your help on this. It's been a difficult decision to make (read: it's taken me months just to narrow it down to this one machine!) Seeya Betty

Hi Bill Nice to meet you! Thanks for the link. Your friend makes lovely bags. They are very unique. Hopefully I'll put some pics up soon. Once my two little veg tan bags are done, I'll put up some images. Seeya Betty

Hi I'm Betty I joined a little while ago but have been too shy to say hi. Would like to say that this is a truly awesome resource. I've done many google searches regarding leather sewing machines and this forum has been the most helpful. Just a little background on myself, I've only just started working with leather in January/February this year. I'm currently learning how to make leather handbags and accessories from my teacher, Anthony Vrahimis, up in Upper Holloway in London. It's been so amazing and I'm totally hooked. I'm an Aussie and I currently live in London with my partner and two cats. We've been here for the last seven years and have enjoyed every minute. London is an awesome city, I really enjoy it here. On to the leather working, well, so far, I've made one bag all by myself (of which I am very proud), a leather toiletries bag (which was part of our machining class) and I cut out and glued pieces for another bag. Because I hadn't done a machining course at that stage, my teacher sewed it together for me. I'm currently working on two little bags at the moment, one for me and one for my mum. These are both being made all by myself but under my teacher's guidance. He's currently teaching us different bag construction techniques and lining techniques. There is so much to learn but with every bag, something sticks and I keep getting "aha!" moments more and more frequently. I am having an absolutely fantastic time. I've also done a pattern drafting course with him which has been so worthwhile. I can now create patterns for bags where I previously had no idea how they were made. The only thing that kills me is that I can only do this on Saturdays as I work during the week. If I could spend my days surrounded by leather with the sounds of a sewing machine in the background, I can honestly say, I'd be a very happy woman. I hope everyone has a lovely day and I'll definitely be snooping around the forums, gathering knowledge and information that everyone here has so kindly provided. May even put a pic or two up of my bags when I can talk my partner into helping me photograph them properly. Seeya Betty