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Handstitched

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Everything posted by Handstitched

  1. Sell it to me, I love curries What size pappadums would you need for eating a lounge suite? Sorry. @Tc1388 I think @battlemunky is right, may not just be the leather. Is it possible to at least remove the leather covers from the foam cushions and give them an airing? Any zips or press studs ? Or even perhaps take the whole thing outside and give it an airing, on a fine day of course ? Fresh air does wonders for clothing,linen etc. just wondering if the same principal would work on leather lounge suites? Obviously the previous owner loved curries, either that , it was once in the waiting area of a curry takeaway. HS
  2. I have learnt over the years that ' what goes into leather , stays in leather ' , literally . Its like trying to put the 'Jeanie' back into the bottle. Its more costly and time consuming trying to correct the ' slight deviation from the original plans' than it is by simply re-making them . I have also tried cursing and swearing and throwing it across the workshop .........but it doesn't work and doesn't make it any cheaper HS
  3. @Retswerb Going off topic here, but that reminds me of TV comedy' spoof' of a cooking show with Richard Grant in the UK. I heard the term ' Air Dried Water ' . That had me in stitches But keeping on topic, I only use ' (dehydrated) water' and the moisture in dyes , and some 'elbow grease' to burnish my edges. HS
  4. Yep, same here, must be a ' standard thing' to supply that bit, can't say I've ever used it ever since I've had the machine, its also in the drawer. My machine sews 99.9% leather, and .1% other materials like heavy webbing, heavy bits 'n' bobs on horse rugs etc. My Seiko STW & Pfaff 60 quite happily sews the rest. HS
  5. G'Day , Heres an example of what the 441 clones can do. I just wanted to know if it could do what the ad in the magazine said it could do, and sure as eggs, it did . However, I did go slowly .I have never had a job that required that thickness, but its nice to know I got what I paid for There was a ' chunk' of leather of that thickness under the foot when I unpacked the machine. The leather is x5 layers of 4mm veg tan, the thread is 277 M10 , needle 180/24. Heavy duty tool belts & dog collars etc. about 5mm in thickness are some of the items I sew . The thickest I've sewn on my machine is around 10mm. As for the thinner stuff, I have a Seiko STW ,mostly used for horse rug repairs, but will quite easily go through 2-3mm leather . Having more than one machine does help. HS
  6. I look like that ( 3rd pic) after paying $$$$$ for a shoulder of harness leather , and I was told by my supplier that it would have gone up again by the time I buy my next one. Not too many tanneries left in Oz , sadly, so some has to come from O/S, Italy in fact. But it is good leather. HS
  7. Can't say I've seen too many pneumatic sewing machines. It would get pretty noisy I'm guessing ? HS
  8. The same thing has happened to me using ' old leather ' thats been hanging around a bit too long in my workshop, using up scraps, odds & ends of leather etc. that may have dried out a bit. A good dose of oil does help. @Windrider welcome to the forum btw , we're all pretty normal around here HS
  9. If someone had specs, can one be made with a 3D printer? Just a thought HS
  10. Not sure if this will help or not, but have a look at the pic. HS
  11. @Oldiesfan I think it sews boots, and other 'awkward' stitches. I'm kinda envious now HS
  12. G'Day, @DirtyDusty I use classic roo lacing all the time, both 3mm & 4.7mm . I know its the other side of the universe for you, , but I get mine from ' Birdsall Leather' NSW Australia . If I need a bit of extra shine, I sometimes just add a little seal 'n' shine ' to the finished project, but I find its shiny enough , but glazed is nice too https://www.birdsall-leather.com.au/Kangaroo-Lacing/Classic/3mm/pl.php?resetbrand=1 (NSW is in lockdown atm, so shipping may take longer than usual, for us anyway ) HS
  13. That is just....beeeeautiful ...*sobsniff*. So what sort of leather/ production would this machine have sewn in its day? They had no idea what they were selling. HS
  14. Just glad I didn't continue pursuing piping feet for my machine. The leather, for the cushions, originally made in 1984, , is no longer available anyway, found out this arvo. O'h well ...moving on... HS
  15. I agree, I'm starting to lose my grip. @Klara"I have never felt any need to somehow fasten the needles to the stitching pony" . I just use myself as a pin cushion, I stick the needles into my T shirt , ...I may feel a bit of a prick ...nothing new. HS
  16. Yep, same here. My machine is 55 years old, has a few scratches etc. similar to the singer , but not enough to warrant a re-paint. The only thing I did to it was clean & service it, oil it etc. paint the logo, and cleaned up the brass plate and clean up the shiny bits HS
  17. Bet that was awkward? The scar on my thumb is faintly visible, even after all these years. HS
  18. G'Day, @IslandMoose I love it the way it is , looks great, lovely patina I'd be just giving it some much needed TLC , and thats it. HS
  19. @Klara My wood working skills are , well...... crap. In woodworking class in high school way back when I was a wee lad, I nearly cut my thumb off. I think the universe was trying to tell me something @fredk The top one is like my ponies that I still use. I have 3 sizes with different size jaws. One I bought when I started leather, the others I made with a few off cuts of wood. HS
  20. It did take some getting use to, but I use it a lot mainly on large or awkward stitching jobs. I got it at a farm clearing auction /sale not far from me ,( love those) . I'd like to make a slotted block/foot thingy for the narrow bit down the bottom to sit in as it does slide about sometimes, apart from that , it works fine. I gave it a good clean up as it was covered in a gazillion years of gunk @plinkercases thats a great example . I hear ya about the thread getting caught. Thats one good thing about my saddlers clamp, the thread doesn't get caught.
  21. I have a ' traditional' saddlers clamp about gazillion years old, , plus a few small home made ponies , but nothing as fancy as yours , just the regular ' T' shaped jobs, with a bolt & wing nut, but they all do the job just fine. . I just put a few pieces of scrap split pieces on the jaws. But I really must change them every so often as they do get a bit dirty over time, wax etc. don't want that spoiling anything. But I do love the fine examples shown on here, I quite like them HS
  22. I've been saving my old credit cards, old drivers licences etc. they make good templates. I also have piece of ' credit card shaped' perspex with a handle, approx 3-4mm thick, that I use 'open up' the slots straight after I have finished making a wallet etc. The cards slip in just perfectly Just a thought . HS * "There's probably more science supporting wearing garlic....." Eat enough garlic, people stay well away from you, good for social distancing I thought.........pickled chili's are worse
  23. No, not at all. Every day is a new day to learn something new , and age is no barrier I think we'd love to see your work in the future. Its a long story , but I'll keep it short. I'm in my mid 50's now, and I started leather a bit over 16 years ago. Work was a bit thin where I live in the Central Wheatbelt Western Australia, I had a few odd jobs, but I ended up working as a 'rousy in a shearing shed. The long days and lots of heavy work with sheep ........and a painful hospital operation, took its toll physically . So I tried my hand at leather. Never looked back. I've learnt so much , and I'm still learning. I wish you the very best HS
  24. @Constabulary I've got it sussed, have a look . Using some scrap upholstery leather, I managed to sew a ' simulated' piping ( nylon cord) , and you can see the clearance of the presser foot in the 2nd pic . Learn something new every day. I'll be using 3-4 mm piping. My Pfaff 60 was able to sew 4 layers , but it struggled a tiny bit, 2 layers sews just fine, and it's a LH zipper foot I have, not a RH. It may have been " passable" . I still have the original twin needle feet. O'h well , fingers crossed. HS
  25. @FirebrandPaul I have purchased leather from ebay ( Australia ) once before . I had been curious about this particular company in the east for some time. The only way to satisfy my curiosity was to buy a side, only to be very disappointed. While it was the 4mm thickness as advertised,a good size, length , natural , "veg tan" , but it wasn't what I expected. The colour wasn't right, more like a ' dull light olive...ish' . I cut some belt lengths, that was sort of ok. As for dying, well, OMG !! , you've seen water soak quickly into the sand at the beach before your eyes, , it was exactly the same as that. I ended up using 2-3 times as much dye . 'Curiosity killed the cat', as the saying goes. I used what I could, but never again. Theres a saying here in Oz, " no point in complaining, 'cos no bugger listens" I'll stick to my regular supplier, where I can pick and choose my leather , they look after me, its a long 2-3 hr drive, but worth it. HS
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