Consew 205 rb-1 for garment making

[Hinch]

Hello and thanks for the add. I have the opportunity to purchase a Consew 205 rb-1 for $650. The machine appears in very good condition and the seller says he has installed a speed reducer. I'm primarily interested in making leather jackets with a couple layers of 3-4 oz chrome tanned at most. I understand the 205 is not a compound feed but is that really necessary for lighter weight projects? I would also like to use the machine for heavy denim projects, with 18-21 oz fabric. Is it worth picking up or should I hold out for a 206 or similar? Thanks for any input!

[nejcek74]

It's very much a question of garment construction. Jeans trousers and jackets can mean crossing flat felled seam with 16 layers of heavy denim. That's a lot. Classic approach was a chain stitch machine with a heavy puller. A triple feed machine works well, albeit a little bit slower. But people manage to do it also with old tailor's sewing machines, a hammer and careful construction, i.e. avoiding crossing flat felled seams.

My leather garments were always kind of basic so I had less problems with them than with denim trousers.

Edited 1 hour ago by nejcek74

[Hinch]

Yeah I've made a couple denim jackets with my singer 15-91 and while it did ok, it definitely didn't love some of the flat felled seams. And that was 14 oz denim. But like I said, my primary interest is leather jackets which to my understanding don't really utilize flat felled seams. If it couldn't handle the heavy denim I could live with that provided it was good with leather.