Piggy squeals

[Danotriglide]

Hi everybody,

Newbie here trying to sew pigskin. Singer 6700C machine with polyester upholstery thread and “leather sewing needles”. Thin pigskin about same thickness as poster paper. Problem is the thread starts shredding kind of and bunches up right before it goes thru the eye. It tries to lift the presser foot when the needle goes upstroke. Eventually it will choke if I keep going.

 

Thanks,

Dano

[AlZilla]

More foot pressure might help the lifting.

Does it sew cloth without shredding?

How about the thread and needle size?

[kgg]

7 minutes ago, Danotriglide said:

Newbie here trying to sew pigskin. Singer 6700C machine with polyester upholstery thread and “leather sewing needles”. Thin pigskin about same thickness as poster paper. Problem is the thread starts shredding kind of and bunches up right before it goes thru the eye. It tries to lift the presser foot when the needle goes upstroke. Eventually it will choke if I keep going.

What size of thread are you trying to use??? The max size of needle ( #18 / 110 ) in the manual indicates it could handle maybe V69.

Even through the machine could handle the same thickness of fabric when you are dealing with any type of leather or thickness the machine is going to struggle. In a nut shell this is the Wrong machine that was made / designed for fabric. 

kgg

[Danotriglide]

Hers some pics, changing needle to 100/16 to try. Thread is nylon upholstery thread. I’m not sure of size there’s some numbers on spool. Sews fabric perfectly.

Edited 4 hours ago by Danotriglide

[Danotriglide]

Changing needle seemed to work! 

[Danotriglide]

But now it’s doing this, took off walking foot but this is just two scraps.

[Northmount]

3 hours ago, Danotriglide said:

Newbie here trying to sew pigskin.

I moved your post to Leather Sewing Machines

[AlZilla]

To me, that shredding still looks like the needle is too small for the thread. If that thread came from a regular fabric store, I wouldn't think it's bigger than v69. According to this handy chart it wants a 16 OR 18 needle. Maybe an 18 will solve the shredding.

How about trying some smaller thread with your size 16 needle on some scrap? It might prove the concept.

 

[Wizcrafts]

4 hours ago, Danotriglide said:

Hi everybody,

Newbie here trying to sew pigskin. Singer 6700C machine with polyester upholstery thread and “leather sewing needles”. Thin pigskin about same thickness as poster paper. Problem is the thread starts shredding kind of and bunches up right before it goes thru the eye. It tries to lift the presser foot when the needle goes upstroke. Eventually it will choke if I keep going.

 

Thanks,

Dano

The largest needle commonly available for domestic sewing machines is a #18/110. I once found some #20 needles for an old iron body Singer from yesteryear. Those machines held up much better than the plastic body machines of today. I mentioned this because most so-called Upholstery thread is #69 bonded nylon. This size is normally sewn using a #18 (Metric 110) needle. Leather point needles work best on leather, as opposed to round points.

You should be able to get a decent stitch using #69 thread with a #18 needle by balancing the bobbin vs top tension and enough foot pressure to keep the leather from lifting with the ascending needle. But, if you plan to sew leather on a regular basis, buy an iron body walking foot machine that's mounted on a 20 x 48 inch industrial k-legs frame and table and powered by a 3/4 HP servo motor. 

[Danotriglide]

Thanks everybody! With the thread I have and a 110-18 needle it’s working good! I’m traveling slow but somewhat erratic on this practice piece. Will check the chart! 
 

Thanks! 
Dano