Sewing Light Weight Leather Help

[kramhunter]

I am looking to sew a total of 3-7 ozs of leather and was wondering if a regular home sewing machine will suit my needs or do I need to be selective in my choice. Eventually I want a larger machine to make heavier duty items but right now I'm focusing on very light weight leather. Any help or advise is greatly appreciated.

Mark

[Andrew Chee]

Possibly. Depends on how firm the leather is. Also depends on the home machine. My wife's bernina could probably do it but the old cheapo Janine would not have been able to.

Andrew

[Wizcrafts]

The trick to using home (domestic) sewing machines on leather is to use thin thread, like #69 bonded nylon, with a #16 or #18 leather point needle, a Teflon or roller foot, and sew no more than about 1/8 inch of soft to medium temper leather. This would be 2 to 4 layers of soft upholstery or garment leather, or one 8 ounce belt that isn't too hard.

Once you start sewing belts with linings, you'll need to go through 3/16" of leather and suede. This is the outer limits for home machines. Anything thicker will have uneven stitch lengths, and trouble bring the knots up inside the bottom layer. It also tends to break needles as they get deflected by the hard internals that veg-tan leather contains.

Not least is the motors on home machines. They are built and geared to penetrate cloth, not leather. You'll have to hand wheel to start sewing and to resume after slowing down.

[Colt W Knight]

I have a Singer 66 that I use to sew light weight leather. Wizcrafts is pretty spot on. Right now I am sewing with #18 and #16 leather needles, a controlled feed foot( walking foot attachment) and a some nylon upholstery thread. The motor is not strong enough to sew by itself. I have to start my thread by hand, and help the treadle along. This really isn't that big on an inconvenience though. It is till better than hand stitching. In fact, I could run my machine strictly by hand, and it would be quicker and easier than hand sewing. Needles last a long time if you sew straight lines. Sewing curved lines, or trying to turn the work piece while the motor is going almost always breaks the needle.

It will sew a 6-7 oz piece of leather to a light liner or heavy felt with no problem. Sewing two pieces of 6 oz leather together is a struggle.

I have ordered a more powerful motor for this machine. I'll give a report when I have it fixed up like I like it.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Colt W Knight