Machine sewing 101

[Crosara]

Hello everybody. 
id like to start off saying i really like the environment on this site and hope to get some good help along the way.

so to jump right in, i know how to stitch leather, where i struggle however, is using a machine. I have yet to buy one, but would like to learn how to use a machine for some projects. I cant seem to find guides on using a machine other than to obiously use different and unwaxed thread. 
my main question is, does one crease the leather like with hand stitching? Is back stitching necessary on the beginning of the thread run? 
I am assuming it is similar to normal sewing which i am inept at. So any advice or guidance to point me in the right direction would be much appreciated especially with my main questions as stated. 
 

thanks all

[Samalan]

crease leather like hand stitching all that depends on many different things, like what kind of leather your using, the use of what your making, the look your trying to get, back stitching is it necessary the first answer is yes can it be done without back stitching yes but it's not done unless it's a special look or reason for it. It would be best to know what it is your making "Custom Exotic work "  is not saying much people on the site would want to know things like how thick the leather your working with is and , what your making , the more info they have the more you will get back hope this helps.  

[MtlBiker]

9 hours ago, Crosara said:

I am assuming it is similar to normal sewing which i am inept at.

You're "inept" (means not good) at normal sewing?  Meaning what?  What is "normal sewing"?  Normal sewing with a machine?  Hand stitching?

As @Samalan said, it really would help others help you if we knew what you were trying to sew.  When I machine stitch leather, I don't crease first.  But I do when hand stitching.

Is there a particular machine (or type) you're considering?  Can you visit a dealer with samples of what you're wanting to sew to see what the different machines can do?

Edited September 8, 2022 by MtlBiker

[Crosara]

2 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

You're "inept" (means not good) at normal sewing?  Meaning what?  What is "normal sewing"?  Normal sewing with a machine?  Hand stitching?

As @Samalan said, it really would help others help you if we knew what you were trying to sew.  When I machine stitch leather, I don't crease first.  But I do when hand stitching.

Is there a particular machine (or type) you're considering?  Can you visit a dealer with samples of what you're wanting to sew to see what the different machines can do?

Inept at sewing fabrics with a machine. It has been a good decade since ive touched one. Im sorry last night was late when i finally got access to ask this and didnt really expand on everything i was trying to ask. I would like to expand to producing larger items quicker like duffels and backpacks, hence why a machine interests me. As to what type of machine, ive been looking at weaver supply for their intoductory machines. Seems to be a good place to find one, unless somebody here has better suggestions (im sure they do in other threads i will be perusing). 
 

 

3 hours ago, Samalan said:

crease leather like hand stitching all that depends on many different things, like what kind of leather your using, the use of what your making, the look your trying to get, back stitching is it necessary the first answer is yes can it be done without back stitching yes but it's not done unless it's a special look or reason for it. It would be best to know what it is your making "Custom Exotic work "  is not saying much people on the site would want to know things like how thick the leather your working with is and , what your making , the more info they have the more you will get back hope this helps.  

Made to order exotic leather products, hand stitched, is what i mean, but for general cowhide and the likes i would like to use a machine for making larger items quicker. Around the 4-6oz range, for machine produced items. 
i will still hand stitch more expensive leathers until i can learn a machine well enough, is my plan. 
 

thanks for the quick responses, apologies for not providing as much info as i shouldve, mightve helped you a but with your answers

[Northmount]

@Crosara Moved your post to Leather Sewing Machines.

[MtlBiker]

1 hour ago, Crosara said:

Inept at sewing fabrics with a machine. It has been a good decade since ive touched one. Im sorry last night was late when i finally got access to ask this and didnt really expand on everything i was trying to ask. I would like to expand to producing larger items quicker like duffels and backpacks, hence why a machine interests me. As to what type of machine, ive been looking at weaver supply for their intoductory machines. Seems to be a good place to find one, unless somebody here has better suggestions (im sure they do in other threads i will be perusing). 
 

 

Made to order exotic leather products, hand stitched, is what i mean, but for general cowhide and the likes i would like to use a machine for making larger items quicker. Around the 4-6oz range, for machine produced items. 
i will still hand stitch more expensive leathers until i can learn a machine well enough, is my plan. 
 

thanks for the quick responses, apologies for not providing as much info as i shouldve, mightve helped you a but with your answers

I see you're in Canada (as I am)...  My strongest suggestion is that before you try buying a machine from the States, you investigate Canadian dealers.  Especially since you don't appear to have a lot of machine experience, a GOOD (and hopefully local) dealer would be extremely valuable.  Are you near enough for a reasonable drive to a major city in Alberta?  There MUST be dealers there.

When you say 4-6oz range for the leather, you also need to factor in layers, as the backpacks and duffels you talk about surely have overlapping (maybe even triple thickness) areas.  Combined heights of your pieces might possibly be close to 1/2" thick!

I'm relatively inexperienced compared to others here, but based on what you've said so far, my suggestion would be that a cylinder arm machine would probably be more useful to you than a flatbed.  Plus there are flatbed attachments available for many of the cylinder arm machines so you'd get the best of both worlds.  The question then becomes which strength of machine would be most appropriate.

There's an outstanding thread here (I'll try to find it) about what kind of machine you need for sewing leather.

Of course your budget will also be a factor... I'm assuming you are considering buying a new machine instead of used?

 

[kgg]

12 hours ago, Crosara said:

I cant seem to find guides on using a machine other than to obiously use different and unwaxed thread. 

What I would say for the 4 - 6 oz leather you are using any of the upholstery class machines which will sew up to about 3/8" thick with thread sizes up to V138 and maybe V207. But I do recommend the machines you choose is a compound feed (needle/presser foot/feed dog). A lot is going to depend on whether, for your stuff, a flatbed or cylinder bed machine would be best suited. Another factor is your budget which will help determine if it is going to be a brand name like Juki, PFAFF, Alder or a clone machine.

If you want to use threads above V207 or the thickness of the layers are above 3/8" then you are into the 441 class machines like Cowboy CB 243 (flatbed) or CB2500 (cylinder bed) or the one arm bandits like Tippman Boss, Cowboy Outlaw or Weaver Cub.

1 hour ago, Crosara said:

As to what type of machine, ive been looking at weaver supply for their intoductory machines.

Why not buy or at least checkout industrial sewing dealers like A and B in Alberta / Manson in British Columbia /Japan Sewing in Ontario and save the import/broker/rate of exchange costs particularly if you are buying a clone machine. Even Tandy has decent clone machines.

I would recommend going to a industrial sewing machine dealer in Alberta and test drive some brand name and clone machines (new or used) and with your stuff before buying one blindly.

Buy Once, Cry Once

kgg

[Samalan]

2 hours ago, Crosara said:

Inept at sewing fabrics with a machine. It has been a good decade since ive touched one. Im sorry last night was late when i finally got access to ask this and didnt really expand on everything i was trying to ask. I would like to expand to producing larger items quicker like duffels and backpacks, hence why a machine interests me. As to what type of machine, ive been looking at weaver supply for their intoductory machines. Seems to be a good place to find one, unless somebody here has better suggestions (im sure they do in other threads i will be perusing). 
 

 

Made to order exotic leather products, hand stitched, is what i mean, but for general cowhide and the likes i would like to use a machine for making larger items quicker. Around the 4-6oz range, for machine produced items. 
i will still hand stitch more expensive leathers until i can learn a machine well enough, is my plan. 
 

thanks for the quick responses, apologies for not providing as much info as i shouldve, mightve helped you a but with your answers

It would still be nice to know what your making with the so called "general cowhide" for the larger items, and it would be nice to know just what Exotic things your making with Exotic leather, anyway have fun LOL just to let you know some folks on this site could think the term "Exotic Leather Products" means BDSM gear it's kind of like "forget about it" has a lot of different  meanings. 

[Crosara]

On 9/8/2022 at 11:07 AM, MtlBiker said:

I see you're in Canada (as I am)...  My strongest suggestion is that before you try buying a machine from the States, you investigate Canadian dealers.  Especially since you don't appear to have a lot of machine experience, a GOOD (and hopefully local) dealer would be extremely valuable.  Are you near enough for a reasonable drive to a major city in Alberta?  There MUST be dealers there.

When you say 4-6oz range for the leather, you also need to factor in layers, as the backpacks and duffels you talk about surely have overlapping (maybe even triple thickness) areas.  Combined heights of your pieces might possibly be close to 1/2" thick!

I'm relatively inexperienced compared to others here, but based on what you've said so far, my suggestion would be that a cylinder arm machine would probably be more useful to you than a flatbed.  Plus there are flatbed attachments available for many of the cylinder arm machines so you'd get the best of both worlds.  The question then becomes which strength of machine would be most appropriate.

There's an outstanding thread here (I'll try to find it) about what kind of machine you need for sewing leather.

Of course your budget will also be a factor... I'm assuming you are considering buying a new machine instead of used?

 

It seems somewhat difficult to find a used one and then also have it be reliable. Used cars i know what to look for, a used machine i have no idea. More peace of mond to go new. Im not that far from calgary so it may be worth a look, definitely worth it to find a canadian dealer either way. 
yes i was thinking of going cylinder arm. And if you could find that thread that would be much appreciated. 
yes as for the thickness i know probably 1/2” is tge capacity ill need for as you said the triple seams on these larger items. 
 

 

On 9/8/2022 at 11:23 AM, kgg said:

What I would say for the 4 - 6 oz leather you are using any of the upholstery class machines which will sew up to about 3/8" thick with thread sizes up to V138 and maybe V207. But I do recommend the machines you choose is a compound feed (needle/presser foot/feed dog). A lot is going to depend on whether, for your stuff, a flatbed or cylinder bed machine would be best suited. Another factor is your budget which will help determine if it is going to be a brand name like Juki, PFAFF, Alder or a clone machine.

If you want to use threads above V207 or the thickness of the layers are above 3/8" then you are into the 441 class machines like Cowboy CB 243 (flatbed) or CB2500 (cylinder bed) or the one arm bandits like Tippman Boss, Cowboy Outlaw or Weaver Cub.

Why not buy or at least checkout industrial sewing dealers like A and B in Alberta / Manson in British Columbia /Japan Sewing in Ontario and save the import/broker/rate of exchange costs particularly if you are buying a clone machine. Even Tandy has decent clone machines.

I would recommend going to a industrial sewing machine dealer in Alberta and test drive some brand name and clone machines (new or used) and with your stuff before buying one blindly.

Buy Once, Cry Once

kgg

thanks for the recommendations on brands and dealers. Thats what i was looking for. Also stating tandy is decent for entry level, thats good to hear. Would be nice to save on the exchange and probably heavy canadian duties. I have learned many times buy once cry once is the right mindset, too many cheap tools ive got in my line of work and have learned better you do generally get what you pay for. My price range isnt gonna be $7k off the bat, maybe a $2k range im seeing good entry level ones. 

 

On 9/8/2022 at 11:45 AM, Samalan said:

It would still be nice to know what your making with the so called "general cowhide" for the larger items, and it would be nice to know just what Exotic things your making with Exotic leather, anyway have fun LOL just to let you know some folks on this site could think the term "Exotic Leather Products" means BDSM gear it's kind of like "forget about it" has a lot of different  meanings. 

I did say bigger bags, and projects of that magnitude. I would assume a majority of people here think exotic skins when i say that (which is what i am talking about) but i dont disagree some people think of left field projects like that lol. 
generally just small goods like wallets, purses, clutches etc. dont plan to machine sew small items or exotic skin items….yet

[MtlBiker]

1 hour ago, Crosara said:

yes i was thinking of going cylinder arm. And if you could find that thread that would be much appreciated. 
yes as for the thickness i know probably 1/2” is tge capacity ill need for as you said the triple seams on these larger items.

I would also suggest you get a machine with servo motor (absolutely!) and a speed reducer.  Both those came included on my Techsew 2750 Pro, and they make a world of difference.  With leather especially, it really helps to be able to stitch at very low speed when needed, and that's what the speed reducer does.  And if you haven't heard it before, remember that there really is not ONE machine that will do everything for you.  That's why so many of us have several machines.  And I'm drooling now about one day getting a post bed machine.  It never ends!    A machine comparable to the 2750 seems like it might be a good first machine starting point for you.  But again, if you can find a good local dealer, it would make a world of difference.

[kgg]

3 hours ago, Crosara said:

maybe a $2k range im seeing good entry level ones.

In Ontario the price range of $2000 CA will get you a really good used Juki LS-341 possibly Juki LS-1341 or a few hundred less then that of a new clone. Most of the clones like the Kobe LS 1341 and Techsew 2750 are clones of the older Juki LS-341 but the price can vary a great deal so shop around preferably from a local dealer. If you find something you are interested in new or used I'm sure someone here can give you an opinion about it. 

 

2 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

It never ends! 

Your as bad as me.

kgg

[Crosara]

1 hour ago, kgg said:

In Ontario the price range of $2000 CA will get you a really good used Juki LS-341 possibly Juki LS-1341 or a few hundred less then that of a new clone. Most of the clones like the Kobe LS 1341 and Techsew 2750 are clones of the older Juki LS-341 but the price can vary a great deal so shop around preferably from a local dealer. 

3 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

I would also suggest you get a machine with servo motor (absolutely!) and a speed reducer.  Both those came included on my Techsew 2750 Pro, and they make a world of difference. if you can find a good local dealer, it would make a world of difference.

 

Thank you both. Seems like youre both all for looking local if possible. I appreciate the suggestions as well, and will look into it. 
absewing seems to be good. I will update when i have questions about one i am eyeing up. 

[kgg]

1 hour ago, Crosara said:

Seems like youre both all for looking local if possible.

Buying, new or used, from a local or fairly local dealer can have it's advantages should something go wrong down the road and you can test drive it with your stuff before you purchase it. If it is a used machine bought from a dealer chances are it has been gone through and should be in good working condition. If you decide to buy a used machine Juki would be my choice as parts and accessories are readily available and fairly inexpensive as compared to PFAFF or Alder