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1.3-1.5mm Italian cowhide upholstery leather. I have 3 full cowhides available, one in Navy, turquoise and hot pink, didn’t use them like I thought I would. Each vary in size, but around 50-55 sq ft total. Selling by the square foot at $5 per square foot. High quality and not cheap leather, stored inside in rolls.

Leather Shop, based in Greece since 1955. We sell high quality leather in the best price! You can visit our website or email us ( leathercosmosgr@gmail.com) for more information or questions. www.leathercosmos.com

Ok people, I have a customer that wants a battery belt made with the same leather as the seat I'm making for his motorcycle. I'm using upholstery leather for the seat and a belt to match. I'm thinking of using the core from veg tan and sewing an upholstery cover over it. Upholstery leather is about 2mm. What do you think?

Hi all, I have a Juki Manufactured Econosew Walking Foot Industrial Sewing Machine with a Servo-Speed Motor. I've only had it a few months and I'm finding the tension to be very difficult to get correct. I have zero experience with industrial machines, especially for leather, so I've been having to figure it out as I go. I live pretty remotely so there's no one near who can come over and show me the ropes. I've spent hours and hours and hours adjusting the top and bottom tensions and I have yet to get it perfect. I discussed this with my mother in law who is a sewing machine genius (but sadly lives across the country) and she suggested that it could be the wrong needle and thread size for the weight of leather I use. Prior to getting the machine I researched here on the forum for needle and thread size for leather and was told to use needle size 22/140 and lubricated nylon thread size 138. However, I think the error is that those are for thicker and heavier leathers. I primarily need the machine for lightweight soft leathers and suedes. Think upholstery weight and sometimes even garment weight. Should I use a smaller needle? Different thread? The lubricated thread I got from http://www.tolindsewmach.com/ seems too slippery for what I sew and also too thin. I'd like thicker thread for the aesthetic. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Tired of spending hours and getting nowhere.

When buying leather hides several customers aren't aware that the raw material used to produce leather has a large impact on the price. Cattle farms are located all over the world and are used primarily slaughtered for beef but certain countries and continents have different methods of raising cattle. The two most popular leather supplying continents are Europe and South America. Cattle farming is a huge business in South America as the terrain and countries are great locations for raising cows. The terrain and open fields make for excellent grazing and offer plenty of room for several hundred cows to be raised. These are good conditions for breeding cattle but one thing to remember when purchasing raw material from South America are the natural characteristics that are included. Most hides that come from South America will include insect bites, healed scars and brands. Insect bites are most commonly caused by ticks, being out in a large field or wooded area makes for an easy target. Healed scars can be caused by the animal brushing up against a fence line to ease an itch. Brands are a pretty common thing in the leather industry and are used to mark the cattle to signify the ranch that owns the cow. Brahma cows are the most popular breed that are found in South America, these are large cows that feature a hump on their neck. These type of hides will feature a hole in the neck area that is pictured in this blog post. These leather hides are considered a good value and are usually purchased in large volume by furniture and shoe makers. European cowhide is considered to be the nicest raw material selection. These cows are raised in much better conditions than those in South America. European hides are typically extremely clean and will feature little to no natural characteristics. Most these hides are collected and sent to Italy where tanneries are considered to be the best. Typically made into aniline leathers that will look and feel more natural than pigmented products. Neck wrinkles are sometimes visible in European leathers and only guarantee the quality and authenticity of the leather. Healed scars can also be present in European raw material but are not as common as South American raw materials. The big difference between these raw materials is the price. Typically European raw material is more expensive and used for upholstery leather; but is a lot easier to cut and work with because it won't have as many natural characteristics. If you are a trained leather cutter then it might be worth the savings to purchase South American leathers because you are familiar with the product and the characteristics that come with it.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that brown is still the most commonly used color in upholstery leather, but since we are a leather supplier we have realized that several other colors of leather have grown in sales over the last year. We researched our color sales and found that red and burgundy colors have sold extremely well in the last year and have accounted for 12% of our sales. Gray accounted for 8% while another 5% of sales were in blue, and various neutral shades making up 26% of the total. Color and texture define a living space and create a sense of emotion, it's easier to accomplish that by not relying on brown all the time. Different shades of red, blue and gray were among our top selling colors in 2014 and with the global color authority - Pantone naming the 2015 color of the year as Marsala we don't see the red and burgundy sales slowing down anytime soon. Brown is still the classic and traditional leather for upholstery and will continue to sell well as the year goes on, there are so many shades of brown the possibilities are endless. If red, blue and burgundy is not your cup of tea there is always the neutral colors as an option. Neutral colors are guaranteed go always have a place in the market as tan, beige and taupe are always a crowd favorite. You can use these type of colors as accents on furniture, saddles or any type of leathercraft that needs a burst of color. Also available in other color options are decorative embossed leathers, these leather will provide exotic flair to any boring application. You can find colorful decorative leathers in a number of prints such as: crocodile, alligator and floral. Give your work the extra flair that will make it become a conversation piece and everyone asking "how did you do that!?". We have over 100 color and patterns and Carroll Leather and would love to start serving the Leatherworker.net community, we will only post useful information to help educate this forum on leather trends knowledge of leather. Thank you for the opportunity to become apart of the forum and blog as our goal is to network with our customers and provide a better understanding of the leather industry. If you have any questions or have interest in requesting samples please contact us by email or private message within the forum.

We are Carroll Leather, a wholesale leather supplier with over 40 years experience buying and selling leather hides. We carry hundreds of patterns and colors that feature unique tanning and finishing. We primarily carry upholstery weight leather that is suitable for furniture, handbags, garments and crafts. We would love to become a leather supplier to everyone on this forum, please visit our website at www.carrollleather.com to view our products and request samples.

Hi there. I've been reading through a lot of the forums discussing various machines and what they're used for . . . and to be honest (and perfectly blunt) I'm so NEW to leather working (and sewing) most of it is just Greek to me. Can you help? I'm very eager to learn. Here's my story: I make leather book covers and simple leather bags from scrap upholstery leather. Totally self-taught. I use a home machine (Brother SE 400) which has served me well for the past 5 or so years. Recently I've begun creating flat-bottom bags that require my machine to sew through about 4 layers of thin leather . . . and my machine is none too happy. I'd also like to branch out and start to use thicker leathers, but that's never been an option with this machine. I'd also like to sew zippers without the fear of dying..but I'm not sure that will ever happen. What I'm looking for: I have about $1,200 to spend (including shipping, handling and all additional things). I'm looking for a new machine. Maybe a 'starter' machine. That's easy to use/learn for a newbie. That will sew thin upholstery leather (let's say four layers of 1.1mm) but also give me the chance to try something thicker for strapping or wallets. Does this exist? Brand names you trust? Where do you buy them? Online? How much does shipping usually run for these large heavy machines? (All the technical talk of bobbin and thread size have my brain wobbling around in my head - I know I need a walking foot machine, but that's really all I know.) Your help is so much appreciated. Thanks! talia

I will be building New yankee workshop's cigar chair. How can I order a whole hide of upholstery leather brown and know that I'm getting a quality product? This will be my first leather project ever.