Members dyetube Posted March 23 Members Report Posted March 23 Just wanted to introduce myself and ask a question. My name is Mac and I'm brand new to leather working. I really think could be a fun hobby for me! I'm currently making a cover for the tank on my motorcycle. It's pretty simple as all I'm putting on it are some conches. I've been practicing my hand stitching but I'm not doing a super great job yet (I'll keep practicing!). My question is, I'm using a 0.8 Thread and would like to use my sewing machine to stitch the cover but I can't seem to find a machine needle large enough. I bought some singer leather needles on Amazon, but the largest one looks way too small. Can anyone point me to the correct machine needle? Thanks! Quote
CFM chuck123wapati Posted March 24 CFM Report Posted March 24 Hey Mac!!! No, it won't work lol. leather sewing machines cost a ton o money. Home-style machines won't cut it and there are no needles that size for them. Now what is giving you fits with the hand sewing maybe we can make that easier and a bit more fun for you. Quote
Members Darren8306 Posted March 24 Members Report Posted March 24 15 hours ago, dyetube said: Just wanted to introduce myself and ask a question. My name is Mac and I'm brand new to leather working. I really think could be a fun hobby for me! I'm currently making a cover for the tank on my motorcycle. It's pretty simple as all I'm putting on it are some conches. I've been practicing my hand stitching but I'm not doing a super great job yet (I'll keep practicing!). My question is, I'm using a 0.8 Thread and would like to use my sewing machine to stitch the cover but I can't seem to find a machine needle large enough. I bought some singer leather needles on Amazon, but the largest one looks way too small. Can anyone point me to the correct machine needle? Thanks! I took a different approach, since a decent leather sewing machine is a couple thousand bucks. What I decided to do, was to practice a lot of hand stitching, until I was 'adequate', then revisit the question of whether I needed a machine. In the time since, I've found a hand-driven cheap sewing machine online, for around a hundred bucks. However, now that I can sew adequately by hand, I don't want to spend even a hundred bucks. I like the quality, and the practice of hand sewing. You might too, but in my opinion, it takes a lot of practice. Probably more without in-person instruction. I suggest making a bunch of test things out of scrap. Once you like your handsewing results, a machine would be a choice. Quote
Members AEBL Posted Monday at 08:25 PM Members Report Posted Monday at 08:25 PM Hand stitching took me a while to get mediocre at. I watched a bunch of videos, and the more I watch, the more I realize that I have a lot to learn. One of the earliest videos I was watching was by JH Leather (linked below), it was great, but the one I really wanted to link for you I couldn't find easily was by Nigel Armitage (who occasionally is on here under the nickname Dangerous Beans). He's got awesome videos also. Anyhow, the first video that helped me really get it: Quote
Members dikman Posted Tuesday at 10:35 PM Members Report Posted Tuesday at 10:35 PM Hand stitching isn't difficult, once you master the basics, and is superior to machine stitching - the downside is the time it takes. The trickiest part is getting the stitch line neat and straight. As for your machine, it's what Chuck said, 0.8mm is big even for an industrial machine so there's no way a domestic machine could handle it. When I first started making holsters I used my domestic machine without thread to punch the holes (single layer only), this gave me even straight lines and then when I glued the layers together I used the awl to enlarge the holes and hand stitch. Quote
Northmount Posted Wednesday at 01:27 AM Report Posted Wednesday at 01:27 AM Moved this topic to sewing leather. Quote
Members BlackDragon Posted Wednesday at 05:18 PM Members Report Posted Wednesday at 05:18 PM Welcome to the forums! JH has good leather videos but if you want to get more in depth I'd go with Armitage Leather. He lays out the what and why you do things. Quote
Members AEBL Posted yesterday at 02:41 AM Members Report Posted yesterday at 02:41 AM Yeah - that's the video I was looking for. Quote
Members JDFred Posted yesterday at 03:39 AM Members Report Posted yesterday at 03:39 AM I like to use a straight edge or wing dividers to scribe a line then use stitching chisels to punch the holes. It gets a pretty good result on my stitch lines. Quote
Members PastorBob Posted 15 hours ago Members Report Posted 15 hours ago 10 hours ago, JDFred said: I like to use a straight edge or wing dividers to scribe a line then use stitching chisels to punch the holes. It gets a pretty good result on my stitch lines. or a stitch groover. So you can bury the stitching below the surface of the leather and keep it from getting snagged. Quote
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