sewing gusset corners with a machine

[Doug C]

I have been having a terrible time holding the gusset in place as I sew around the radius of the corner. I am sewing a radius of about 1 1/2 " and I always am pushing the gusset back from the edge and then totally miss stitching the underside. I am using a Artisan 4000 R. I know it would probably help some if I had a sturrip plate. Any tips or tricks you can use to make this work without a sturrip plate. I guess if I have too I can hand sew the gusset in, but there must be another way I'm not getting.

Doug

[Luke Hatley]

Glue.. Barge or Masters works for me to hold the pcs together

sometimes i have even stapled the gusset into place before sewing.

[bruce johnson]

Doug,

The stirrup plate is the answer. The raised plate and rounded top shorten the radius up a lot. The narrow side to the left of the slot in the plate means that you are not pushing the gusset material in from the edge. I used to handsew the corners, but once I got the stirrup plate when I still had the Boss, it made all the difference. I wouldn't fight it for the time or frustration factor again. In fact that is the reason I hung onto the Boss. I didn't have a stirrup plate for the Adler 205 that replaced the Boss. Once I got the Ferdco, I sold them both.

[barra]

Something else you can try is to temporarily hold it all in place with a few small gauge blued cut tacks. Before the foot of the machine gets too near the tack, pull it out with a pair of pliers or side cutters (watch the eyes). Alternatively if time is not a major issue you can tie a few strategically place tack ties. Tie the knot over the edge of all layers of leather and when the job is done the tack ties can be cut off.

Barra

[Doug C]

Thanks for the tips, I have a sturrip plate ordered from Artisan but they are on back ordered for 90 days.

Doug

[esantoro]

I have a stirrup plate. But my 441 seems to miss a lot of stitches with it when I stitch the middle seam, which is two gussets coming together against a flat panel. Now I use the flat slotted plate with a special left side toe. I use the material guide stitch down each side stopping about an inch before the bottom corner, leaving enough thread to hand stitch the remaining inch and a half or so around the gusset corner and back stitching the same distance. I put on the stirrup plate to punch the holes around the corner.

The blanket foot with protruding feed dog makes all this more difficult.

Ed

[Bob]

I've had a wreck here a few times too, but not any more. The pattern I used had a short radius. I found it better to make the curve longer. I have never glued anything here, often the material used won't stick well with glue anyway. So I made the curve longer and used shoe tacks. I use a walking foot machine "Pro 2000" and pull the tacks out as I go around the corners, tacks about 1 - 1.5 inches apart. I've never had a stirrup plate, so I can't comment on that whether it would help or not.

I have been doing it in this fashion for some time now with success.

Sew the top piece to the gusset first, then trim the exess off on the bench, you won't have to nail or tack this step, just hold it in place and sew it. Trim the edge after and finish the edges.

Then line up and nail that to the backing piece and top stitch. Put the first two nails "Clinch tacks, nailed into your rock" in the two top corners first, then work your way down to the corners making sure that they are even, pulling the gusset out to meet the backing and nailing it down. It helps me if I pull and stretch the leather here, only in the bottom corners. Sew it and trim the excess off on the bench. This is how I do it and it works.

[esantoro]

I have a stirrup plate. But my 441 seems to miss a lot of stitches with it when I stitch the middle seam, which is two gussets coming together against a flat panel. Now I use the flat slotted plate with a special left side toe. I use the material guide stitch down each side stopping about an inch before the bottom corner, leaving enough thread to hand stitch the remaining inch and a half or so around the gusset corner and back stitching the same distance. I put on the stirrup plate to punch the holes around the corner.

The blanket foot with protruding feed dog makes all this more difficult.

Ed

I should add that I don't need the stirrup plate at all when I'm stitching only one gusset to a flat panel.

Ed

[esantoro]

I'm curious to find out if my problem with skipped stitches is due to my machine or my stirrup plate. Is anyone willing to swap stirrup plates for a maximum of two days? You take mine for two days and see how well it works on your Artisan machine, and I take your Artisan stirrup plate for two days and see how well it works on my machine, which is a 441 clone but not from artisan.

I'll cover all postage costs.

Ed

[dbarleather]

I agree with Luke. I also use barge to tack my leather together prior to sewing. One thing I have learned, is if I let the glue set up over night, it is much easier to sew.