question about the sewing machine I have

[Jarl]

Hello everyone! I have been reading the posts here for a week or so now trying to absorb some of the information available here since I am a novice at leatherwork. I enjoy the work and I have been making things whenever I get the chance for about 3 years now. My ferrier who does reproduction Rev. war cavalry work taught me some basics beyond what I already knew and I have been working with that trying to improve for awhile now. At any rate I had a question about the sewing machine I have access to. I was wondering what I would have to do to set it up for stitching leather. My grandfather is a tailor who owns a few factories and all he could suggest was a teflon foot. So I decided to ask where people would know alot more about the topic I want to know. The machine is a Necchi Single Needle machine (The picture below is the best i could find of it....seems it was imported from italy years ago by my grandfather.)

So anyone know what I can do? Or should i just give up and go buy something....

Thanks!

[Hilly]

Hi Jarl.

I'm going to put my neck out here and say that unless you have an industrial walking foot machine, or one designed to sew heavy leather, you probably won't be able to sew anything but the very thinnest of leathers. A machine that was intended for tailoring is able to handle fabrics, but does not have the power needed to punch through heavy leather . The industrial machines have very powerful motors and are able to sew as much as 3/4 inch thick leathers .

As far as sewing machine feet go, all I ever use is a regular foot, a welt foot, and a zipper foot on my industrial machine. I personally don't see a need for teflon foot, as the walking foot on the machine works differently than a regular sewing machine.

If you still have questions, I'm sure someone in the sewing machine forum can answer them better than I.

Edited December 14, 2007 by Hilly

[Regis]

Jarl,

First, welcome to the forum. Looks like a nice machine. Definately a leather needle and you probably can fine a walking foot to fit your machine and that will help a lot. I can not tell you how thick of leather you can sew but, with a leather needle and walking foot, probably 2 layers of 3/4oz at least and you can do a lot with that. You'll have more difficulty with very soft leather (e.g. lamb) than you will with veg tanned.

Best of luch and looking forward to seeing some of your work.

[broncobuster]

that machine you could just do thin leather like regis said. you could do chaps parts of moccasins. vests most stuff out of upholstry leather or thinner. being that its not a walking foot secret is adjusting height of your presssure foot so it allows the material to go through and getting a universal or leather needle. I suggest using a nylon or polyester thread also.another trick i do is glue the stiching area together first so it doesnt buckle or wrinkle. just do along the very edge plus gives it extra holding ability.play with it with different types of leather you will figure what it can n cant do.

[Jarl]

Thanks for the replies! I will take everything into consideration and see what I can do with it. Since it is an industrial machine I think I will just have to experiment and see what happens. I just need to hunt down some leather needles now.

[Randyc]

Jarl,

Any home machine and light industrial strength sewing machines can be set up to sew leather but, I wouldn't try to stitch vegatable tanned knife sheaths or holsters on these machines. I've been able to stitch 8 oz. vegatable tan leather with a 2 oz pigskin liner with no problems on home machines. Over stressing a machine will result in broken needles and possibly throwing the machine out of time. I guess it all depends on what you want to stitch. Keep in mind that your older home machines are stronger then the plastic machines made today. As before mentioned by other forum members,use leather needles of the correct size to go along with a good quality nylon or poly thread. A roller foot is available for some of the older machines. The roller foot works much better on leather then most other feet. Hope this helps,

Randy

[Michael Sheldon]

Find yourself a shop that deals in industrial machines. They will likely have a wide assortment of needles, including multiple options in leather needles. And if your machine hasn't been serviced in a while, it may be worth having it done. That way, if there's any problems, you know it's your fault, not the machine's.

[Canuck]

I have a pfaff 463 with the same computer motor set-up as in that picture. I can top stitch 8 oz latigo leather no problem. joining the two pieces that thick is a challenge feed wise. AS mentioned before sewing garment leather not too bad. Teflon foot might help. You will be limited to thread size, 69-90 max

If you have the same set-up as in the photo, if you back pedal the needle will come up and if it's equiped with the thread cutter it will nip the threads for you as well. You can easily go one stitch at a time.

[JohnsCustomLeather]

Jarl,

I have to agree with the one other post. In order to sew leather you should have an industrial Walking foot machine. I have been servicing and repairng machines for many years with my father. The other thing I have to reccommend is a safety clutch. These are a must when sewing leather. I have seen many hooks and gears tore up due to not having one. You would probably be able to sew very light leather approx. 3/4 oz with out trouble, but you need leather point needles. Try Toledo sewing machine sales,I tink that is the name, or weaver. As I said just be careful with that machine and remember to listen to the machine when sewing, they will make different sounds when you approach their limits.

I sew anywhere up to 1 1/2 inch with harness machines and down to 2/3 oz with a walking foot.

As one of the others said Leather does not take any special foot, we use standard feet on ours.

John