Corners Look Awful. What I Am Doing Wrong?

[Dwight]

bydeniss, . . . I somehow got farther along in your picture album and saw some of your other work.

You do really beautiful work, . . . keep it up, . . . a pleasure just to see that level of accomplishment.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Northmount]

Thank you for the advice. I will trythat, I also start to believe my machine can't handle the thickness of the thread..

Check your machine specs and look at needle and thread size charts. Make sure your tension is adjusted right, then go make some more practise corners.

Tom

[bydeniss]

Check your machine specs and look at needle and thread size charts.

My sewing machine is an old Juki DNU 241H. I recently bought it and I could only found over internet a manual which is not very detailed. It states that it can sew with maximum 24 size needle and the standard would be size 23. Size 23 needle was just good for thread size 10/3 but you could see my corners... and adjusting the tension was a headache. On the same seam there are stitched where it seems like the bobbin thread is tight/top thread is too loose THEN there are some stiches ok, and there are some stiches which looks the opposite way (boobin thread loose or top thread too tight). I can't understand why on the same seam the tension varries .

[bydeniss]

You do really beautiful work, . . . keep it up, . . . a pleasure just to see that level of accomplishment.

May God bless,

Dwight

Thank you Dwight. I was introduced to leatherwork in Turkey. After that everything was/is self teaching...

[Wizcrafts]

This is just a guess, but it looks to me like the thread is too thick for the wallets. That's why the knots are hard to control. Your machine is designed to sew with up to #138 bonded nylon or bonded polyester. Your designation 10/3 looks like #277 thickness to me.

No matter what thread you choose to sew with, if knots vary in position as you sew, tighten the bobbin spring for a stronger pull, then add more top tension to bring the knots to the middle of the material.

Move down one needle size for the current thread.

Further, clean any thread link from the thread path, including the upper disks and around the bobbin case, shuttle, and shuttle race.

Oil the machine liberally, then place a paper towel under the feet to absorb to run-off from the presser and needle bars.

[orangedesperado]

It can be tricky to adjust the thread tension, when you are first getting to know your industrial machine. Here are the variables that will affect your stitching:

- Thread fibre (nylon, polyester, linen, etc.)

- Thread size (in Canada industrial cones of nylon thread used for leather/upholstery are numbered ie # 33, 46, 69, etc.)

- Needle size

- Needle point (leather point, regular point, ball point)

- Upper tension

- Lower tension

- Type and texture of the leather you are sewing

It looks to me like your upper tension is too tight, and your lower tension may be slightly loose. An easy way to check this is by using different colors of thread. Ideally the stitches on both sides should look identical with no thread peeking out from below, and should be nicely embedded in the leather without seeming too tight/hard to the touch. You may have to play around with adjusting both the upper and lower tension to work together as they should. Check your needle that the point is not hooked. Check that the needle is inserted correctly (long groove faces left). Check that there is no debris in the upper or lower tension spring. Check that your upper thread is feeding smoothly. Make sure your machine is well lubricated. I always do a test run on whatever I am sewing. Thin garment leather needs a different thread and tension than hard belt leather, for example.

And definitely keep the needle in more than 1/2 way when you are pivoting the corner.