manyala Report post Posted February 24, 2015 Hi all, I've been making utility style festival belts with garment weight leathers and the sewing has been pretty straight forward. Recently my son asked me to make him a small backpack. Without having a clue as to what I was doing, I used a 3-5 oz oil tanned skin and it came out pretty nicely as long as one likes the "rustic" look . Translates to didn't really do anything to finish the edges which I think I will do next time now that I've experienced working with this weight - which I really enjoyed. There's a lot of material out there for hand stitching but not so much for machine stitched work. I was wondering if it makes sense to groove a line where I'm going to stitch? I think even with the machine stitching it would be prettier if the stitches were somewhat recessed. Do people do this? Are there any tricks of the trade for this sort of machine work? Any and all tips for working with this leather weight on a sewing machine is greatly appreciated! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catskin Report post Posted March 4, 2015 In my opinion grooving leather that thin is just asking it to tear, if you have your machine set right it should pull the stitches down flush or below the surface unless the leather is really hard or your machine is to light for the job. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverwingit Report post Posted March 22, 2015 You will have great difficulty finishing the edges of oil-tanned leather. Try vegetable-tanned next time. Michelle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
biglew Report post Posted March 22, 2015 leather is a bit light for grooving. I usually use a mallet or upholstery hammer to tap down the thread at the stitch line Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
