Help! With Vintage Singer 15 Sewing Machine, Thread And Needles

[Cowgirlup8807]

Good morning!

I am a beginning leatherworker and purchased a Singer 15 sewing machine a few months ago and it had been doing a fantastic job stitching leather of all thicknesses, single and double ply, up to 15 oz and as thin as 2 oz. Recently I have been having immense difficulty with two things on it.

1. The thread spacing is erratic sometimes even on leather that is exactly the same thickness the whole way, it may stem from the second problem I am having though. I have checked the thread spacing screw and it is tight and has not moved from the position it has always been in (~6-8 stitches per inch). Is this due to having too large of a needle?

2. The presser foot periodically will lift up with my leather when the needle is coming back up through the leather to go to the next stitch and will also miss locking the stitch. I have backed out and adjusted the tension on the presser foot all the way down as far as it can go. Previously this would be so tight that the leather would not even move when you tried to advance a stitch. Now it is so loose that the needle can easily pick up the leather when it is coming back through.

I am mainly making headstalls, breastcollars, halters and spur straps, using 13-15oz leather, what type of thread and size needle should I be using?

Does anyone have any experience with these machines? I would like to see if I can figure out what is going on with it before I take it in to a shop we have here in town that *might* be able to fix it. I would love to purchase a more professional machine, but money is tight right now and I am already farther than I would rather be in the hole with starting my leather business up. However if anyone has a used machine that works well still that they are looking to sell please let me know!

Thank you sooo much for any help that you can give!

Christina

[CowboyBob]

This is why HD machines for leather have a walking foot,because on your machine as you tighten the foot pressure it creates more drag & doesn't want to feed,so when you loosened it to help it feed,it'll lift causing skip stitches.Try getting some teflon tape & put it on the bottom of the foot & it'll let the leather slide through easier.This might help your feeding problem,BUT someday soon if you serious

you will an much heavier duty machne.

It also might help to oil the leather to soften it.

Edited December 6, 2013 by CowboyBob

[cdthayer]

What size needle and thread are you using?

CD in Oklahoma

[Cowgirlup8807]

This is why HD machines for leather have a walking foot,because on your machine as you tighten the foot pressure it creates more drag & doesn't want to feed,so when you loosened it to help it feed,it'll lift causing skip stitches.Try getting some teflon tape & put it on the bottom of the foot & it'll let the leather slide through easier.This might help your feeding problem,BUT someday soon if you serious

you will an much heavier duty machne.

It also might help to oil the leather to soften it.

Cowboy Bob,

Thank you, I have the presser foot tightened as far down as it can go, I had never previously loosened it until I was having problems and then retightened it as far as it could go and the leather slides through fine, it is just not tight enough. It does not hold the leather down when the presser foot is coming up. That is a very good tip with the tape if it gets too tight, I am wondering if I just need to figure out how to find the money to purchase at least a nice used heavier machine.

I will look and see what type of thread and needles I am using, I thought I had that info here but apparently I dont.

[Northmount]

Use lubricated thread, easier to pull the needle back out without lifting the leather. Hard and soft temper leather also behave differently. Your leather may have changed, different batch, different supplier?

Tom