Singer 15-91

[BradB]

Will a singer 15-91 sew leather? If so how what thickness could you sew with it?

[Art]

Brad,

The 15-91 and the 201 were a home or homestead class of machines that will sew heavy denim and leather loops and suspenders. So we are talking 4-6 oz max occasionally. These little machines were plenty heavy construction wise for the duty they traditionally performed. I have a 201 (well HAD one) and it is fine for the wife's quilting and she took it away from me for her use exclusively, "Don't try to sew any leather on that thing, use your own machines.", were her exact words with expletives deleted. Well, it WAS my machine. Seriously, those models use a gear drive motor that is not very heavy duty and there is no way to improve it. When you can find them, they are usually $40-$60 used for the motor and drive. There are many good machines that are up to the task, but buy an industrial one. If an ad says "industrial strength" or "for leather" it is usually just a home sewing machine and probably not up to the job.

Art

Will a singer 15-91 sew leather? If so how what thickness could you sew with it?

[BradB]

Brad,

The 15-91 and the 201 were a home or homestead class of machines that will sew heavy denim and leather loops and suspenders. So we are talking 4-6 oz max occasionally. These little machines were plenty heavy construction wise for the duty they traditionally performed. I have a 201 (well HAD one) and it is fine for the wife's quilting and she took it away from me for her use exclusively, "Don't try to sew any leather on that thing, use your own machines.", were her exact words with expletives deleted. Well, it WAS my machine. Seriously, those models use a gear drive motor that is not very heavy duty and there is no way to improve it. When you can find them, they are usually $40-$60 used for the motor and drive. There are many good machines that are up to the task, but buy an industrial one. If an ad says "industrial strength" or "for leather" it is usually just a home sewing machine and probably not up to the job.

Art

Thanks Art!

[Bree]

I have one.

It is all metal construction... no cheap plastic gears. The pot motor is small but you can flywheel through seams easily enough. It's a tough little machine. I think you can sew maybe 1/4-5/16" of leather with it without any trouble. My feeling is that with a little extra care you can sew some fairly heavy duty material just about all day long with the 15-91. It's not an industrial machine but it is pretty darn close in many ways.