Binding attachment from China.

[Wizcrafts]

To use leather as edge binding, it should be as slippery as possible so it flows through the binder attachment. Glazed pigskin lining leather that Tandy Leather sells in the US and Canada comes to mind. It is very thin, usually under 2 ounces thickness, strong (I use it for wallet interiors and holster linings), and slippery on both sides. It would probably work well in a double-fold binder.

Sometimes, getting leather to work in a folder attachment just doesn't work out as you hoped for. Here's a Plan B for you.

I have a buddy nearby who makes high-end holsters, rifle slings, guitar straps and tooled belts.  He manually installs thin lambskin edge binding on many of his projects by laying it flat on the outside, grain side against the outside edge of the project (grain to grain). He uses 1/4 inch wide double-sided leather tape to hold the lining to the project, along the very top. He bends and folds the lamb ski to follow the contours of the project, then sews it on just below the bottom of the double-sided basting tape. This ensures that the needle just misses the 1/4 inch sticky tape. After he has sewn the edge strip onto the project's from side, he applies another strip of tape to the visible bottom edge of the lining material, then pulls it up and over the top edge of the project. He pulls it tightly over the top and presses it down to the inside of the project. The edging on the back should hang below the stitch line done on the front side. The tape should hold it in place. Once he is satisfied with how the edging lays on both sides, he takes it back to his sewing machine and sew through the front side, just under the double-folded edge. This captures the longer piece that is folded over to the inside. He cuts the width of the edge leather so that is folds nicely and tightly on the front and hangs just far enough down on the back for the needle to capture it. A typical binding from him would have about 1/4 inch folded over on the front and 3/8 inch protruding on the back side. Sometimes, he uses precision scissors to trim the back side after it's sewn on.

When the sewing is finished, the edges are double-folded on the outside and single folded on the back. The grain side is all the customer sees on either side.

The above method may be unconventional, but his customers like it and haven't complained about it getting in the way, or coming apart. I believe that he uses about 2 ounce thickness lambskins as edge bindings. He doesn't need a binder at all. He uses his left toe presser foot on his Cobra Class 4 stitcher, with a #23 needle running either #138 or #207 bonded nylon thread. His machine has been modded with a narrow feed dog, with a smaller than stock hole, and matching throat plate to prevent soft leather from getting pushed down into the bottom feed parts.

If you want to try using his system to apply lambskin edging, purchase quality skins that are as long as possible. Aim for about 1.5 minimum to 2 ounces maximum thickness. I buy the double-sided basting tape from Wawak.com. Other companies may carry a different brand that has a greater or lesser holding strength.

Note, if you will be sewing through double-sided basting tape, use titanium coated needles with as large an eye as possible. Keep a small glass jar filled with Goof-Off nearby and use a small wool dauber to dip in into the liquid solvent. Rub the wet dauber over the needle every now and then to dissolve and remove any adhesive residue from the tape. Failure to clean the needle will result in the top thread sticking in the needle's rib and eye, leading to skipped stitches and ratted top thread.

[toxo]

3 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

Note, if you will be sewing through double-sided basting tape, use titanium coated needles with as large an eye as possible. Keep a small glass jar filled with Goof-Off nearby and use a small wool dauber to dip in into the liquid solvent. Rub the wet dauber over the needle every now and then to dissolve and remove any adhesive residue from the tape. Failure to clean the needle will result in the top thread sticking in the needle's rib and eye, leading to skipped stitches and ratted top thread.

It always amazes me when you guys take the time to educate us lower mortals and I thank you for it but what you describe is above my pay grade. I'm about to sell my flatbed because I have no room for it. I have no room for anything. I came from a 4bed house in London to a 2 bed bungalow in Kent. One of those bedrooms is my "shop"

I have one 341 machine and I'm hoping that eventually I can fashion something that won't take much to change from normal sewing to a basic binder. If I have to change out a couple bits then so be it but this is still not much more than a hobby and I'm loving it but without a brand and the supermarkets selling handbags for £15/20 there's not much chance of making any money and that's fine as long as I'm enjoying it.

Back to the binder, the leather that I used is 0.8mm and actually fed through easily. I have lots of that kind of leather in many colours so I'm hoping I can use it. Don't know if it will go through a double folder, we'll see. I will be buying some ready made stuff to see what works and what doesn't.

After thinking about my problem above there's one more thing to try that should've been obvious, the vertical axis. If I lean the folder out slightly and re-adjust surely that will even out the amount on each side?? We'll surely find out.

Thanks again guys for all your help as always.

[friquant]

6 hours ago, toxo said:

After thinking about my problem above there's one more thing to try that should've been obvious, the vertical axis.

I spent a day with a binder on my pfaff-545 and could not get the bottom and top sides to be even. I conjectured that to get them even the entrance runway (the zig zag of wire) would need to be horizontal, whereas mine was canted upwards to clear the flatbed.

My best plan at the time was to stitch from the wrong side of the fabric, since the bottom of the binder always had less coverage than the top. That way the stitches on the right side of the fabric could be close and tidy to the edge of the binding.

I bought two binding attachments with my JL 341, but have not used them. When I ordered them they were specific about asking what kind of tape I wanted to use---both its width and its thickness.

[Wizcrafts]

Way back in the late 1980s, I had a job setting up a sewing operation that required applying edge binding to the items being sewn. I started out with an over-the-counter folder and some bias tape in 3 foot lengths from a store. The results were a disaster! I called my industrial sewing machines dealer and he recommended that I contact a guy who custom built folders and other sewing machine attachments.I got together with that fellow, showing him a sample of the material I was working with. He designed and built a double folder attachment that fitted onto or across the bed of the Juki LU-563 that I was going to use. 

The folder was made to double fold bias tape that was sold on huge rolls. It was 1.25 inches wide and I believe was polyester material. The roll sat on top of a platter that was mounted onto the right-rear end of the table. The platter rotated freely under adjustable spring tension. I set it to prevent the roll from free-wheeling when I sewed fast. This setup worked flawlessly. The edges were about 5/16 inch down from the top and were sewn a little over 1/16 inch above their bottom folded edge. The material being covered measured about 1/16 inch thick along the edges. It was an orange honeycomb material that I made into safety vests worn by road workers when they were on the job on highways and byways. I also 2" wide sewed yellow Reflexite strips across the front and back, plus sewed a patch on the back identifying who they worked for. This eventually morphed into reflective vests for transit works and Police officers.

The bottom line here is that if you need to sew edge binding onto goods for sale, go the extra mile and have one made or modified to work with your preferred edge tape and sewing machine. A fully matched set of parts will work more reliably than miscellaneous parts from hither and thence, made by sum yung gui hung lo.