what type of needle to sew leather to

[OLDNSLOW]

wax coated canvas, I have been thinking about trying my hand at some tote bag type purses but not sure if a leather point type needle would work.  I would be joining leather to canvas and just not sure which needle would be best for that type of work.  I currently only have the leather point on hand so Y'all lemme get some info from u fellers or ladies.

Thanks in Advance

Ron

O n S

[OLDNSLOW]

17 views and no comments, I figured someone would no for sure.

[electrathon]

You will need needles with a point to sew canvas.  No pre-punched holes in the fabric, 

[DJole]

I've never actually done this, but thinking about the task brings a couple solutions to my mind:

You might use glove needles, which are sharp and diamond pointed. But they tend to be rather dainty, so they may not be what you want. It depends on your leather thickness and type: thick tooling leather isn't what these needles are for. They are for soft, thin leather.
Or perhaps sailmaker's needles will be ideal for this, since they are designed to sew canvas sails. Google the term, and you can see what they look like and where to buy some. 

[Sonydaze]

I think using a fabric needle (pointed) will be necessary to keep the canvas from fraying. Pointed needles work okay on leather if it isn't too hard.

[zuludog]

Some things to consider

Normally for leather you would use a saddler's awl or a stitching chisel, followed by sewing with a round - tipped harness needle. That would be OK on the leather, but as a saddler's awl is in effect a very small chisel it would cut through the fibres of the canvas which would lead to its fraying

I assume the canvas is fairly thick & heavy - 6 to 8 oz?  You would normally use a heavy duty pointed needle for that, but then that type of needle would be hard work in leather

Glovers needles are designed to sew very thin leather, typically used to make gloves, hence the name. They are pointed and have a triangular cross section, so combine the function of an awl & needle together. But they are quite thin and I doubt if they would sew a double thickness of leather & canvas

So it looks as though you need to pierce the leather, and penetrate the canvas by parting the fibres without cutting them

I suggest doing a saddle stitch but with a round/scratch awl, followed by sewing with a harness needle. But just make a few holes at a time then follow quite quickly with sewing, before the holes in the canvas have had time to close up

I've used this technique when sewing heavy canvas & webbing together in various combinations; it's a bit slow, but it works

[JLSleather]

I'm no 'sewing guy', but if'n it was me I'd try the spear point needles (NOT what foks round these parts call 'leather needles').  As always, use the smallest needle you can get away with.

But you already GOTsum 'leather needles', so try it out, just with a scrap and no thread.  You should be able to tell if it's tearing the fabric.

 

[zuludog]

13 hours ago, OLDNSLOW said:

17 views and no comments, I figured someone would no for sure.

Don't be so impatient!

It's only about 6 hours from your initial post to that one. People have jobs, family life, and other things as well as leatherwork. Plus, this is an international forum, allow for the time differences

I've noticed that it can take about 48 hours to get a good selection of replies on here

[Northmount]

Leather point and glovers needles will cut the canvas threads instead of just piercing the canvas.  Leads to fraying and a weakened product.  You should be using round point needles (typical for fabrics) whether by hand or by machine.

Tom

[Diyer]

Years ago I used to make a saddle carrying bag for a high end bespoke English saddler. The bags were a heavy duty canvas, with leather piping, and leather handles. I used normal round point needles, and had to "help" my sewing machine do the 3mm thick leather on the handles.I cannot now remwmber the sewing machine- I know it was a Singer walking foot of a similar class to my current Seiko STW 8B.The work used to make the machine go out of sync. but it got done. I would not use any sort of cutting point on canvas. With the leather, if it is thick, you can make life easier by cutting a stitchline in first.This also helps with longevity, as the stitches are recessed.

[OLDNSLOW]

Well alrighty then I guess I shook up one from across the pond,  thanks for the replies they all help I should have thought about it a little more but wanted to check with those that have done it.  As for the leather it will be a light weight leather, the canvas will probably out weigh the leather and I am going to be using a cobra 4 to do this project.