Members Singermania Posted March 21, 2019 Members Report Posted March 21, 2019 A point on these machines, remember they are called 'shoe patchers', not 'quality leather goods sewers'....so they are designed to repair footwear either by entering the shoe and resewing broken stitches or by sewing on new elastic sides to boots. To spend hours researching these machines is really not going to be productive. If you want to make nice leather goods then you will either be disappointed with this machine or you are a very patient and talented sewer. Darren sold them at horse events for people wanting to repair summer rugs, he screwed them to a lump of wood and cleaned them up a bit..... it didn't end all that well.
Members vpd66 Posted March 21, 2019 Members Report Posted March 21, 2019 6 hours ago, Singermania said: A point on these machines, remember they are called 'shoe patchers', not 'quality leather goods sewers'....so they are designed to repair footwear either by entering the shoe and resewing broken stitches or by sewing on new elastic sides to boots. To spend hours researching these machines is really not going to be productive. If you want to make nice leather goods then you will either be disappointed with this machine or you are a very patient and talented sewer. Darren sold them at horse events for people wanting to repair summer rugs, he screwed them to a lump of wood and cleaned them up a bit..... it didn't end all that well. Do you own one or have you ever sewn with one? They actually sew really well and I consider them an excellent low dollar home hobby machine for someone that doesn't want to spend 4 figures on a sewing machine.
Members Matt S Posted March 21, 2019 Members Report Posted March 21, 2019 42 minutes ago, vpd66 said: Do you own one or have you ever sewn with one? They actually sew really well and I consider them an excellent low dollar home hobby machine for someone that doesn't want to spend 4 figures on a sewing machine. I do, as do many others on this forum, and I agree wholeheartedly with Singermania's assessment of these machines. They have their uses, especially if your circumstances don't allow you any other industrial sewing machine suitable for sewing lightweight leather. But almost any other industrial sewing machine will be better for manufacturing leathergoods. Unless being used to sew in really awkward spaces (where there is little choice) I'd rather stick to hand sewing than use one for sewing anything visible on quality goods.
Members vpd66 Posted March 21, 2019 Members Report Posted March 21, 2019 1 hour ago, Matt S said: I do, as do many others on this forum, and I agree wholeheartedly with Singermania's assessment of these machines. They have their uses, especially if your circumstances don't allow you any other industrial sewing machine suitable for sewing lightweight leather. But almost any other industrial sewing machine will be better for manufacturing leathergoods. Unless being used to sew in really awkward spaces (where there is little choice) I'd rather stick to hand sewing than use one for sewing anything visible on quality goods. Hmmm, maybe I have the only one that works? I'm quite impressed with mine. It's the only machine I have that can back stitch and hit the same holes right on the money even at 7 stitches per inch. I also have a Singer 111w155 and I like my patcher much better. It won't replace the Singer but it is my go to machine. I like the fact that I can totally disassemble my patcher with a handful of tools in about 15 minutes. It's just so simple and I have less then $150 in it!
Members Yankee63 Posted March 21, 2019 Members Report Posted March 21, 2019 (edited) My chinese patcher puts a good stitch through very thick leather. The stitching looks only as good as you have it adjusted for. Yes, you have to adjust tension big deal. The only down side to the machine is the stand it comes with. So if my patcher can sew a nice stitch then that is all I need it for. I do not need a big name brand leather sewing machine, I just need a leather sewing machine. I am quite happy with mine, that is all that matters. I could have spent my money on just a sewing machine, but instead I bought a nice knife grinder and polisher and a cut off saw/ vertical band saw AND a sewing machine that will do the job. Sewing leather is not what I wish to be limited to. Doug Edited March 21, 2019 by Yankee63
Members Matt S Posted March 21, 2019 Members Report Posted March 21, 2019 1 hour ago, vpd66 said: Hmmm, maybe I have the only one that works? I'm quite impressed with mine. It's the only machine I have that can back stitch and hit the same holes right on the money even at 7 stitches per inch. I also have a Singer 111w155 and I like my patcher much better. It won't replace the Singer but it is my go to machine. I like the fact that I can totally disassemble my patcher with a handful of tools in about 15 minutes. It's just so simple and I have less then $150 in it! I'm glad you like your machine -- if it weren't the small matter of a few thousand miles between us I'd happily swap you a second Chinese patcher for your Singer Mine works fine, it's just a limited design. If your Singer isn't backstitching into the same holes it probably needs a tweak. 1 hour ago, Yankee63 said: My chinese patcher puts a good stitch through very thick leather. The stitching looks only as good as you have it adjusted for. Yes, you have to adjust tension big deal. The only down side to the machine is the stand it comes with. So if my patcher can sew a nice stitch then that is all I need it for. I do not need a big name brand leather sewing machine, I just need a leather sewing machine. I am quite happy with mine, that is all that matters. I could have spent my money on just a sewing machine, but instead I bought a nice knife grinder and polisher and a cut off saw/ vertical band saw AND a sewing machine that will do the job. Sewing leather is not what I wish to be limited to. Doug Hey that's great Doug. I'm really pleased you've got it working as you want. What adjustments did you make to your machine?
Members Singermania Posted March 21, 2019 Members Report Posted March 21, 2019 (edited) 7 hours ago, vpd66 said: Do you own one or have you ever sewn with one? They actually sew really well and I consider them an excellent low dollar home hobby machine for someone that doesn't want to spend 4 figures on a sewing machine. As I said above, I have three of them and yes have sewn on them, we used to give them away with our more expensive machines. Also as I have said in the past, they surprisingly do sew quite well, though not thru very thick leather which is in excess of half an inch. , Edited March 21, 2019 by Singermania
mikesc Posted March 21, 2019 Report Posted March 21, 2019 (edited) Darren is presently and for the foreseeable future 'gone to ground'. I enjoyed / appreciated Darren's contributions here, I hope that his situation improves, and that he will be back... Edited March 21, 2019 by mikesc "Don't you know that women are the only works of Art" .. ( Don Henley and "some French painter in a field" )
Members Singermania Posted March 22, 2019 Members Report Posted March 22, 2019 13 minutes ago, mikesc said: I enjoyed / appreciated Darren's contributions here, I hope that his situation improves, and that he will be back... Darren and I are friends, though he is not answering communication at present. He admitted himself that he messed up pretty badly and we and others have been trying to help those that did not receive machines, did not get machines that worked, did not get machines back that were in for service, did not get their full orders and so on. I'm guessing you will not see him here or anywhere else until the creditors disappear. It is an awkward situation, a lot of accusations and threats have been made. As a veteran of many years in business and a couple of recessions I know it can happen to anyone. With regards the Chinese Patcher, I did not mean to make anyone feel insecure about owning one (I have 3), I was intending only to point out they are designed for repair work, not quality leather work. They do punch above their weight, a reasonable stitch can be had, though the needle will only take quite thin thread. Darren emailed me a manual a while back as we were giving the patchers away with more expensive machines and I wanted to compare his manual with what I had written for ours, however I have searched and so far cant find it.
Members Yankee63 Posted March 22, 2019 Members Report Posted March 22, 2019 5 hours ago, Matt S said: I'm glad you like your machine -- if it weren't the small matter of a few thousand miles between us I'd happily swap you a second Chinese patcher for your Singer Mine works fine, it's just a limited design. If your Singer isn't backstitching into the same holes it probably needs a tweak. Hey that's great Doug. I'm really pleased you've got it working as you want. What adjustments did you make to your machine? All I had to do was adjust the thread tension. I padded the foot to remove presser foot trails and adjusted the tension on the foot. Simple, basic stuff. Doug
Recommended Posts