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What do we know about 360 degree post bed machines? Anything? Silverd

Progress on using up 35 years of scraps.

I have a coach handbag and the leather portion of the bag has list it’s sheen. It’s as if the glazing has rubbed off. I want to bring it back to its original look but I don’t know where to start. Anybody gave advice to help me?

How long should a shoulder strap be for a woman's handbag? I figured on making it two piece with a buckle. I figured on making the buckle strap shorter so as it won't sit on the shoulder. Am I on the right track? Thanks

Hello! I am an amateur handbag crafter. I currently make bags out of salvaged sails, salvaged horse tack, and cast off marine vinyl as well as waxed canvas. My work is usually a mix of fabrics. You can see samples on my Facebook page https://m.facebook.com/saphaeron/, and find me on Instagram #calypsorecreations. I would like to understand leather work much better than I do. I’d like to incorporate more leather into my designs as well. I’m currently also looking for a cylinder arm machine that can keep up with my pattern ideas, but that won’t break the bank! I currently sew on a Viking 6270 and a Sailrite LSZ-1. I push them both to the limit (or a bit beyond). I look forward to the opportunity to learn from you all!

Hi there, I love the hardware on this old leather bag I have, but have not been able to find anything similar. Antique drawer pulls were too long, Chicago screws are too small. I'm looking for this size, about 15/16" across, to use as the closure to some new handbags. Any ideas of where I might find this or something similar? It seems like all hardware companies have the same stock.

Hello there! I have a small independent handbag brand based out of Queens NYC. I need an assistant that hopefully has altelier level skills. I'm making my samples but I need help. There is some Heated edge finishing. Bags themselves are not complicated at all but my edge painting skills are not up to par yet and I also need help to produce faster. I don't want to hire a manufacturer at this time because I have been through 3 in NYC and the quality is not what I'm looking for. Please comment below anyone who is interested thank you!

After months of reading hundreds of forum topics and opinion articles, I'm finally breaking down and just asking outright. I'm looking for the "perfect" machine to be able to handle the types of handbags I make. At the moment, I do most of my construction with rivets and a non-walking foot Juki (terrible, I know) to skirt around forking out so much money for a proper machine, but the time has come. About my bags: I work primarily with 3-4 and 5-6 oz chrome and veg tanned leather. My current bag designs are simple and primarily rivet based (photos below), but I'm expanding to a line of bucket bags and backpacks that my poor tired flatbed has simply refused to sew. I would have to make drastic adjustments to the pattern that will chop up my minimalist design. A few months ago, I sold my cylinder arm Juki LS-321 (needle fed) because, aside from the needle feed mechanism not liking my seam overlaps, for the life of me - I could not get the thing to stitch straight unless I stitched as slowly as possible and held the leather tight from both the front and back. I have 6 years of rather intensive sewing experience on a flatbed, and tried to work with the LS-321 beast for a year so I don't think it was a learning curve issue, but I might be wrong. Now, my question is this: Is it possible to stitch handbags with a flatbed, or is it best to get a cylinder arm and a good flatbed platform for it? Further, what make and model do you recommend that is between $1-2k (preferably on the lower end) and has a good resource base of attachments that make production easier? I know this question has been asked a thousand times, but all of the topics I've read have had some caveat or compared craigslist ads they had found.

Hi Everyone! I have been working on my strap edges for a while now, and I'm still frustrated with the result! I still get some fraying here and there that feels rough on my shoulder. I am looking for a Filson-like supple finish, as seen in the photo below. Anyone have any tips or do you know how they achieve this result? Are these straps burnished and painted or do they use paint and an electric creaser? Thanks very much in advance for your input!

"LüMNé" by Imadlak Hello Leatherworkers, I'd like to share with you the first bag that I made for my Wife. This project too has been in the making for a few years, as every time I would decide to start I would realize I was unsure as to exactly how. I had the vision to create her something unique and chic - with a special touch that seems to be still missing out there (which could be because of a lack in demand, I haven't gone too far in investigating): a bag that lights-up. From this was born the "LüMNé" which stands for "Light Up My Night éditions" (with the "ü" in the anagram conveniently written with the umlaut to show a different pronounciation ). Inspiration: my Wife's desires (sturdy, thick handles, no shoulder strap), Michael Kors Selma, Louis Vuitton Speedy 35 Materials: Body: Croco Patent Cow Skin (chrome-tanned @ unitedleather.com) Body & Handle reinforcement: Crazy Horse Cow Skin - brown (veg-tanned @ unitedleather.com) Lining: Diamond Pink Lambskin (chrome-tanned @ fashionleather.com) Lining Base: Hair-on White Toscana Lambskin (chrome-tanned @ fashionleather.com) Zippers: Gunmetal & Palladium Coated RiRi zippers Hardware: all Natural brass hardware made from solid brass (@ buckleguy.com) Pocket Lining: Habotai Silk Light-Up inside: Pink high Brigthness GloWire strips powered by 9V (@ glowire.com) Features: H-25cm x W-33cm x L-15cm Natural Brass feet to protect bottom 2-Zip top closure Inside Zipper pocket + 2 Pockets for Cell phone and misc. Light-up inside when bag zipper is open Design-process: Firstly I downloaded some pics online from various sources of the bags that inspired mine, and used my measurement needs with the help of Google SketchUp to scale the bag down and take measurements I used those measurements to make the cut patterns for the bag and the various pieces it is made of (about 30pcs + fabric lining + hardware) Using a handy tool for Sketchup, I printed out to-scale patterns for the pieces that were too complex to draw with a pencil and ruler I made the first mock-up out of paper, then another of fabric to make sure all the pieces fit together. Even with the mockups, I needed to make a few adjustments along the way because of the leather's thickness Some thoughts and lessons: - Bag Handle too thick: This is one comment I keep on getting from people who see the bag - and I too believe I should make it thinner next time, but my Wifey says she likes it BECAUSE of its thickness and is more comfortable on her arm. So customer's word is the one I'll go with - The Bag's edge is too thick: I thought about skiving to feather the thick vegtan between the 2 layers of Patent Croc, but somehow forgot about it and thought I could make it look smooth with a lot of edge dye. Although this is a flaw only I have noticed, it is something I will change in the next one. - Vegtan as stiffener: Im pretty sure it's not only a huge waste of good leather (and money $$$) to use the nice vegtan to give the bag some sturdiness, but it also adds a lot of weight to it. I have tried interfacing, craft foam and even thin cardboard but none of them gave the same feel. Any suggestions? - The Lighting "mechanism": this being also my first work with electronics, I'm curious to see how long the switch will survive (a piece that I salvaged from an old CD player). Also, I did my best to make the battery pack as small as possible, it currently takes up about 1cm x 5cm x 4cm. - The Habotai Silk as pocket lining: It really is a nice and soft fabric, but definitely not suitable for a handbag's pocket lining. It already shows signs if warping. Lesson learned. - The Diamond Pink leather: It is pretty and reflects the pink glow of the light, but it is not very durable, on the close-ups you will see that some of the glitter has already rubbed off. - The 2x zippers instead of 1: It makes it a bit more hassle to open the bag, next time I'll definitely need to purchase the right size zipper AFTER making my plans - The thick handles: Not only did they turn out to be a bit too thick, it was also a pain to figure out a way to attach them to the bag and keep them in place (the resistance of the flexing is pretty strong). Also, the place where the D-rings are attached to the handle, I could not get that fold as pretty and elegant as I imagined... that will be something to practice. - The Sewing: we only have an old Singer machine, and although I tried, the Patent and Diamond leather did not pass easily (even with a walking foot) so I had to sew the whole bag by hand... which would explain why it took me a month to finish... Here you can barely see the switch that is activated by fully opening the zipper Close-up of handle attached to the bag and the bag's edges: requires some more attention to make it smoother and more elegant Once again, my biggest reward was the look on my Wife's face when I gave her the bag... and she's already submitted requests for more Thank you for viewing and please leave your comments and feedback below! Gergo p.s.: a huge shout-out and thank you to my Wife, Janint, for taking the pictures - if you're interested in her work you'll find much more @ Imadlak Photography

Hi Everyone... Here is a belt bag I just made for client on Etsy. It is tooled, dyed and sewn my hand...

Hey guys, I'm looking to pick up some tips on making rolled handles. I've just watched an awesome video on how to hand sew them, but I'm hoping to do it on my machine since my hand stitching skills aren't very good and I don't have a clamp yet. The major issue I'm having is that my leather is wrinkling quite a lot when I bend it. I've been using 4oz veg tan with a vinyl tubing core. I'm using a zipper foot so I can get my stitching as close to the tubing as possible, but it still seems to be a bit loose and I think that may be contributing to the wrinkles. I have tried conditioning it, which helps a little, but I'm still not 100% happy. I was wondering if a welting/cording foot would deal with that by allowing me to sew even closer to the tubing. Has anyone tried a welting foot, and if so, could you get the stitches really close to the cording? Does it seem like that would help me? Or am I better off just biting the bullet and hand stitching? Also- I've been glueing the leather together, but then when I go to burnish the cut edge I seem to get a lot of glue coming onto my edge, making it sticky and hard to slick down. Is there any way to prevent this? I'm using an eco-friendly water-based glue.. Any tips are appreciated! Thanks!

A couple of days ago I posted some new designs where I've used goats skin (suede) and fabric. I've also used some nice Italian leather for the handle, stained it and then hole punched it across the top. The inside is lined with 100% silk. Here's how it turned out... (on to the red one now) :-)) https://kymberlysteel.wordpress.com

I'm just working on some new designs which I've called Geom Bags. I'm using fabric and goats skin (suede) for these. They will be about 34cmX25cm and lined with silk. Really hope they turn out!! I'll post the final bags once they are ready... hopefully in a few days. I'm always waiting for something to arrive in the mail haha... glue... or bag hardware... interfacing... never ends. :-)) https://kymberlysteel.wordpress.com

Hi everyone! I'm having some trouble with my right-angle edge binder, which I'm using with my Juki DNU-1541. I've been trying to sew 2oz binding leather onto 4 or 5 oz leather, and it periodically fails to catch the binding leather on the back side (it's wrapping more around the front than the back). I was unable to put in the feed dog that came with the binder set- I can't get the original feed dog unscrewed.. I had assumed it wouldn't make a big difference because the feed dogs look very similar, but could this explain my problem? Or perhaps the mouth of the binder isn't wide enough? I'd love some tips on how to fix this! Thanks!

This is one of my lastest creations

This article appeared in the "Purse Blog." I'm including it because perhaps we should consider reason #6 when we price our products. Do you all think it is true? http://www.purseblog.com/listicles/8-reasons-spending-1000-bag-worth.html?all=1

Here's a photo of a bag I just finished. The bucket is all one piece and handsewn. I'm new to leatherworking, so my edges and my sewing are ok (i'm also my own worst critic), but I want it to be better. Any suggestions on working with such a soft, stretchy leather in regards to edge burnishing and/or skiving? Plus, what to seal and finish this leather with? I would love to maintain the lighter color (I know it will darken over time) and seal from water.

Hello, I am looking for someone who can cut & sew duplicates of a wallet concept I have already had a 1st sample & patterns made. This is NOT a tooling leather wallet. We use calfskin & other lightweight leathers. Also there are tucked edged & would be concidered a "designer" wallet, even though it doesnt seem like it. The elments used are: Leather Elastic Bonded leather My company is a 100% domestic manufactured. Looking for sampling contactors & someone who can do production domesticly. Thanks for ANY & ALL help! -Rye

Hi gang, I started [trying to] sew leather handbags about 6 months ago and have been lurking here ever since to get a better feel for industrial machines and which one I need. I feel like I already know you all! I live in the southwest, not exactly a hotbed for used walking foot, cylinder arm machines... So I've been keeping my eye out for a Pfaff 335/Consew 227 head to have shipped here, for my local sew-n-vac guy ("Joe") to put on a table with a servo, hoping to get it all done for under a grand - I'm a little skittish about investing any more than that before I know what I'm doing and where my business is going to go. I figure anything I buy will be near impossible to resell around here if I change my mind. For what it's worth I'm sewing up to 4 layers of ~2oz leather, nothing too burly, plus some occasional upholstery fabrics and sunbrella. I have an older domestic Bernina that is great for anything lighter. But then! Joe comes into a Brother LS3-C53 (I think it's a C53B), which he'll install and purty up for me for $1500. It is one sexy beast. Older but very lightly used. A bit more machine than I was looking for or need, but I'd have the advantage of buying something I've met in person, from someone local. I've googled pretty thoroughly and haven't been able to find a manual on it or any specs, although I know it's in the same general class as Pfaff 345 / Consew 227. My questions: - What are its specs? (clearance, bobbin, needle/thread size range)? Joe says "it will work for what you want to do", ok I know that, but I want details. - What will it be like finding finding parts, feet? Is it interchangeable with other makes? - Anything else I should ask? I've looked around and think this is a great price, but spending $500 more than I budgeted is a big deal for me, especially if this is heavier duty than I need. I really don't mind sewing on a clunker til I know what I'm doing. Thanks so much for any thoughts. Hopefully I'll have finished work to brag about soon! -joy

I'm looking for a sewing machine that is good for sewing leather uppers and handbags. I was thinking about buying a post machine but I'm not sure if this would good for handbags. I used to use a Pfaff post for my shoe uppers but there may be something better out there that I'm not aware of. I'm based in the UK and I would preferably like to buy a used machine. Does anyone have any advice for me? Thanks.

www.theprestigeshop.com I am Colombian, My name is Maria... I have been really close to the Leather Industry since I was 4. ( I am know 29 ). My parents own a Leather Goods Company in Colombia, so I decided to bring some of their products here to the states. I work doing some keychains, its my hobby while I work as a spanish teacher. Please let me know what do you think since I am pretty new on this business here in the states ?? Thanks, Maria One more time