Frida Report post Posted October 4, 2009 Hello everyone! I've been sewing with regular fabrics on a machine forever and I've done some handsewing with leather, now I want to sew leather on the machine too. In particular I would like to be able to use linen thread on the machine too, but there are some things I've been wondering about. When handsewing you first make a stitch groove, is that used when machine sewing too? You always vax the thread when handsewing, what do you do when machine sewing? What about the size of the thread? Anything else that's good to now when using linen thread? Frida Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CampbellRandall Report post Posted October 5, 2009 Hello everyone! I've been sewing with regular fabrics on a machine forever and I've done some handsewing with leather, now I want to sew leather on the machine too. In particular I would like to be able to use linen thread on the machine too, but there are some things I've been wondering about. When handsewing you first make a stitch groove, is that used when machine sewing too? You always vax the thread when handsewing, what do you do when machine sewing? What about the size of the thread? Anything else that's good to now when using linen thread? Frida Frida: It really depends on your machine. Linen is typically more difficult to sew with a traditional single needle machine when compared with synthetic thread. When sewing with linen, it needs to be waxed to bind the thread together. Most heavy stitchers have a wax pot for this purpose. What kind of machine do you have? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frida Report post Posted October 6, 2009 (edited) I have two older Pfaffs, 141 and 335. Neither of them have wax pots. Can waxing the linen thread become a problem if I want to sew with unwaxed thread later? Is it only the top thread that is waxed, not the bobbin thread? Edited October 6, 2009 by Frida Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CampbellRandall Report post Posted October 7, 2009 I have two older Pfaffs, 141 and 335. Neither of them have wax pots. Can waxing the linen thread become a problem if I want to sew with unwaxed thread later? Is it only the top thread that is waxed, not the bobbin thread? I would not used pre-waxed linen in these machines - too messy. Linen in general is questionable for a lighter duty machine like these. You can try sewing with it dry, but will likely come apart or get "fuzzy". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer Report post Posted October 7, 2009 I have two older Pfaffs, 141 and 335. Neither of them have wax pots. Can waxing the linen thread become a problem if I want to sew with unwaxed thread later? Is it only the top thread that is waxed, not the bobbin thread? Frida, ring Jerndahls i Kumla, dom kanske har maskintråd av lin. Vilken grovlek o färg behöver du? Jag ska kolla om jag har nåt stående som jag inte använder. Syr allt med nylon numer. / Knut Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frida Report post Posted October 9, 2009 Tack Knut, ska kolla vad dom har. Får nog experimentera lite med olika trådar för att se vad som kan funka. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TTcustom Report post Posted October 9, 2009 Frida, ring Jerndahls i Kumla, dom kanske har maskintråd av lin. Vilken grovlek o färg behöver du? Jag ska kolla om jag har nåt stående som jag inte använder. Syr allt med nylon numer. / Knut Knut, is nylon better to use than the polyester - cotton blend I am now using? Just curious since you use the nylon. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer Report post Posted October 9, 2009 Knut, is nylon better to use than the polyester - cotton blend I am now using? Just curious since you use the nylon. I have used polyester-cotton blend thread long ago, but I have found that the cotton wears fast and isn´t very suitable in the long run used in saddlery and tack. I have got rid of my all supply of poly/cotton blend thread . Now I use Barbours bonded nylon both for hand sewing and in my machines, as it gives a strong , durable stitch and it runs smootly in the machines, and without fraying like the poly-cotton thread. For handstitching I use the same nylon machine thread waxed with a rosin/ beeswax/mutton tallow mixture, a sticky wax that really sticks to the thread. 2 x rosin, 1 x beeswax, 1 x mutton tallow ( all by weight) is the recepie. / Knut Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mooshi Report post Posted October 14, 2009 To sew leather I use Nylon for the top and bobbin thread. I get the spools from my local Tandy Leather Company. Mooshi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
