Leather film or barrier

[Angiemarie]

I have been painting the suede side of my very soft, thin leather with washable school glue as a barrier to prevent sticking under the presser foot of my straight sewer machine. After sewing I then wash the leather under water to remove the glue and dry.

Is there another method or product that would be easier to apply and remove? If I don’t use the barrier of glue I have trouble with the feed and stitch length. I have tried sewing with a teflon foot, on tissue paper etc. As I sew small pieces and very close to the edge of the leather some methods are quite cumbersome.

[AlZilla]

How about painters tape or something like it on the presser foot?  Might be a middle ground between Teflon and glue.

[fredk]

Have you tried a roller foot?

[Angiemarie]

1 hour ago, fredk said:

Have you tried a roller foot?

Yes, tried roller feet, painter’s  and magic tape on the bottom of presser foot. Currently have magic tape on the needle plate which helps a little. I am using a domestic machine as the leather is only 0.3mm thick. Would love to purchase an industrial walking foot but think the size of the presser walking foot and the thread may be too large.

[Angiemarie]

1 hour ago, AlZilla said:

How about painters tape or something like it on the presser foot?  Might be a middle ground between Teflon and glue.

Thanks for your suggestion - have tried both painters and magic tapes with limited success 😳

[AlZilla]

It sounds like an industrial would just be too big for you. 

Depending on how committed you are to solving it, a Davis Vertical Feed would probably do it. Walking foot, needle feed and no feed dogs. Quilters love them.

I know of no modern equivalent. I have one of these in my stash and it's pretty cool. Go to 1:30 to see it in action.

 

[kgg]

14 hours ago, Angiemarie said:

I am using a domestic machine as the leather is only 0.3mm thick.

The .3mm thickness is really thin leather. The .3mm would sort equate to about 3/4 oz in leather which is about the thickness of three sheets of regular copier paper. I suspect the problem is mainly do to the leather thickness. With such thin leather it will lend itself to stretching which will throw consistent stitch lengths off and the leather probably is being sucked / forced down ever so slightly into the needle hole of the feed dog as well as along the outside edges of the feed dog in the space between the feed dog and the needle plate opening.

I have seen this type of problem with my Juki DNU-1541S when I am sewing thin flexible items as it has a large needle opening in the feed dog and just loves to suck things down that hole. 

I have used regular weight copier paper placed on the feed dog side of the items with some success in the past. 

A couple of questions. Which domestic machine are you using, what thread size are you using and what size of needle?  

kgg

[Angiemarie]

22 hours ago, AlZilla said:

It sounds like an industrial would just be too big for you. 

Depending on how committed you are to solving it, a Davis Vertical Feed would probably do it. Walking foot, needle feed and no feed dogs. Quilters love them.

I know of no modern equivalent. I have one of these in my stash and it's pretty cool. Go to 1:30 to see it in action.

 

Agree that an industrial would be overkill for my needs. That was an amazing video to watch and learn of a different type of machine. Its quite a mechanical engineering marvel!  I don't like my chances of finding one here in Australia but who knows?

Interesting that the person sews off on and off to a scrap fabric at the beginning and ending of each seam. I wonder if that's because it has ne feed dogs? 

Thanks again

[Angiemarie]

18 hours ago, kgg said:

The .3mm thickness is really thin leather. The .3mm would sort equate to about 3/4 oz in leather which is about the thickness of three sheets of regular copier paper. I suspect the problem is mainly do to the leather thickness. With such thin leather it will lend itself to stretching which will throw consistent stitch lengths off and the leather probably is being sucked / forced down ever so slightly into the needle hole of the feed dog as well as along the outside edges of the feed dog in the space between the feed dog and the needle plate opening.

I have seen this type of problem with my Juki DNU-1541S when I am sewing thin flexible items as it has a large needle opening in the feed dog and just loves to suck things down that hole. 

I have used regular weight copier paper placed on the feed dog side of the items with some success in the past. 

A couple of questions. Which domestic machine are you using, what thread size are you using and what size of needle?  

kgg

Yes the leather is extremely thin and buttery soft but perfect for what I make. I  agree with you that the qualities of the leather I love are also its problems. I am looking at trying a needleplate that has a hole only like the vintage singers. It still leaves the feed dog problem but maybe I could remove them and tape over the holes. Worth a try!

I use standard Gutermann polyester thread and have tried all styles of machine needles, including leather usually size 80 or 90. I did previously use a heavy twisted silk thread from Germany which was excellent but is not produced anymore

My list of  several domestic machines include vintage (1980's) Pfaff and Husqvarna's, Singer featherweights, 201 and 99k, a new Brother embroidery/sewing and currently a Bernina 1260 which sews well apart from the sticky drag of the leather. I did mount a industrial wheel presser foot to the Singers which worked ok and was able to sew but still have the issue of the unsupported edge of the seam flapping around a little and the motors were a bit weak. I have thought about adding a servo motor to the Singer but that might be tricky to mount and sew slow enough.

Ideally, I would love to try a wheel feed antique Singer but they are very hard to come by here , or even the machine in the video above...

I have amassed quite a collection of domestic machines over the years in my search

[AlZilla]

1 hour ago, Angiemarie said:

Interesting that the person sews off on and off to a scrap fabric at the beginning and ending of each seam. I wonder if that's because it has ne feed dogs? 

No, that's a quilter. They'll sew long runs of little pieces together like that in their construction process. She'll cut them apart later and sew them to other pieces, so no need to lock their stitches.

The Davis machines were fairly popular a hundred+ years ago, so who knows.

EDIT: the plate you refer to above is a straight stitch plate. I hadn't thought of that and it reminded me - Have you played with the also often overlooked presser foot pressure?