Can a binding attachment do this?

[LederMaschinist]

I'm planning on making some work mats, and would like to bind the edges.  The top layer of the mat will be a 5/6oz layer of oil tanned leather. The bottom layer of the mat will be dense 1/8" foam rubber, to provide padding and prevent slipping around.  To prevent the foam rubber from delaminating at the edges with use and to also provide a small rim around the edge of the mat, I'd like to bind the edges with a strip of 5/6oz leather strap made from the same leather as the top surface.   Ideally I'd like the stitches to go through all 4 layers (top binding, work surface, foam rubber, bottom binding).

I made some attempts at doing this without an attachment, and because everything was sort of "squishy" it was very difficult to get a uniform edge.  The other possibility Is I simply fold the top layer of leather under and glue it to the bottom of the foam rubber and then stitch.  I played with that a bit, but still had some difficulty due to the squishyness.  I'm pretty sure there attachments to handle the leather binding strip, but the introduction of the foam rubber layer and the thickness of the binding strap are what is leading me to question the feasibility.

The machine I plan to do this on is a Singer 144w long arm walking foot machine.  It's my only walking foot machine.

[Mark842]

There really aren't any binding attachments that will allow 5-6 oz leather slide through them. I gave up years ago trying to use a binding attachment with 2-3oz. I've since learned how to do it with a binder. Just lay the leather strip face down on the matt edge (face to face). Stitch them together however far from the edge you want the binding to go. After stitching this line fold the strip your using for binding back and around the edge. I use a quality double sided sticky tape to hold it in place and stitch right through the hole thing all the way around the edge.

 

[Constabulary]

The thinner the material the better it usually works for binding edges. There was a special binding attachment for leather strips for the Adler 4 / 5 and Singer 45K but I think its tricky to work with. I have attached a picture from an old Adler manual. I remember LW member JIMI (pretty sure he will jump in ere soon) has shown this a while ago but I have to look for his post.

Or how about thin faux leather strips for binding edges?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/624163856/38-12-34-oder-1-double-folded-vegan?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=faux+leather+strip&ref=sr_gallery-1-2

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neotrims-Faux-Leather-Leatherette-25mm-2-5yards/dp/B01DPTXW7U

MacCulloch & Wallis has a wide rangeof edge binding materials:

https://www.macculloch-wallis.co.uk/c/750/bindings-leather-trims?p=1&q=750&sz=96&me=sz

 

 

Edited July 18, 2019 by Constabulary

[jimi]

As Folker said, the attachment is tricky to use (at least for me) as the bottom guide is on the foot and it slides around now and again. But more to the point you cannot use it on your walking foot machine as it was made for a drop foot lockstich machine. I think the clones of the Adler 205 have large binding attachments available for them, you might be able to fit one on your machine.

 

[LederMaschinist]

Thanks for the replies.  After seeing them, I'm kind of glad I didn't try a binding attachment.  It sounds like a "maybe" solution that would take a lot of fussing to get to work properly.  If I were going to be making a hundred of these mats, I would probably reconsider.

 

22 hours ago, Mark842 said:

 Just lay the leather strip face down on the matt edge (face to face). Stitch them together however far from the edge you want the binding to go. After stitching this line fold the strip your using for binding back and around the edge. I use a quality double sided sticky tape to hold it in place and stitch right through the hole thing all the way around the edge.

 

I did some test pieces last night, and this method worked fairly well.  On the first attempt I used cement along the edge to hold the pieces face to face before running the first stitch line, and ended up with something that looked pretty decent, if somewhat bulkier than I expected.  I didn't have any double sided tape, but one of the keys to good appearance was to keep everything straight, and to cement all the interior surfaces of the folds and wrap.

On the second attempt, I realized I didnt need a strip at all, which is nice, because I don't have to hack apart my hides to cut long strips out of them.  The outer edge can simply be folded over, grain to grain, stitched through close to the edge, and then folded back over and under, and then a line of stitching run parallel to the folded edge which holds the edge of the leather in place on the bottom, and gives a nice looking stitch detail on the top.  With this 5oz leather and 1/8" of padding, it requires about 1.75" material width to complete the folds and wrap.  I found the bulk was significantly reduced and the appearance further enhanced by skiving the 1.75" at the edge down to about 1/2 thickness before any folding.  I'll see about posting some pictures this evening, as I think the method really turned out pretty nice.

Now I just have to figure out how to do corners and radiuses.

[Mark842]

39 minutes ago, LederMaschinist said:

Thanks for the replies.  After seeing them, I'm kind of glad I didn't try a binding attachment.  It sounds like a "maybe" solution that would take a lot of fussing to get to work properly.  If I were going to be making a hundred of these mats, I would probably reconsider.

 

I did some test pieces last night, and this method worked fairly well.  On the first attempt I used cement along the edge to hold the pieces face to face before running the first stitch line, and ended up with something that looked pretty decent, if somewhat bulkier than I expected.  I didn't have any double sided tape, but one of the keys to good appearance was to keep everything straight, and to cement all the interior surfaces of the folds and wrap.

On the second attempt, I realized I didnt need a strip at all, which is nice, because I don't have to hack apart my hides to cut long strips out of them.  The outer edge can simply be folded over, grain to grain, stitched through close to the edge, and then folded back over and under, and then a line of stitching run parallel to the folded edge which holds the edge of the leather in place on the bottom, and gives a nice looking stitch detail on the top.  With this 5oz leather and 1/8" of padding, it requires about 1.75" material width to complete the folds and wrap.  I found the bulk was significantly reduced and the appearance further enhanced by skiving the 1.75" at the edge down to about 1/2 thickness before any folding.  I'll see about posting some pictures this evening, as I think the method really turned out pretty nice.

Now I just have to figure out how to do corners and radiuses.

Yep, I've done it the way your saying also. The only reason I didn't mention it is because I've never been able to figure out how to get a neat corner or tight radius for a corner as you have found. On a good note, like anything else the more you do this the easier it gets. If it were me, thread is relatively inexpensive. I would run a stitch line that will be under the binding to hold the foam to the matt leather. Then a good double sided sticky tape will work for holding the binding. Don't bother with Tandy's, it ain't strong enough. I get mine from Makers Supply.

[Wizcrafts]

I buy double sided Venture "Leather" Tape from Wawak.com. It is aggressive and available in 1/4", 1/2", 3/4" and 1" widths x 60 yards length. I strongly recommend it.

[LederMaschinist]

36 minutes ago, Mark842 said:

 I would run a stitch line that will be under the binding to hold the foam to the matt leather.

I didn't describe it in the post, but I agree.  Both stitch lines, the one inside the binding, and the one parallel to it went through both leather and foam.

Since thread is cheap, and leather is expensive, I have found that EVA craft foam that you can get at just about any craft store, is a good stand in for leather when trying something new.  I get it in 1/16" and just double it up to simulate thicker leather if need be.  Using the proper thickness, it will give you an accurate picture of the required dimensions.  It also behaves much like a soft oil tanned leather in the way it stretches.

[LederMaschinist]

Here are a few of my tests.  I think I've decided to do the easiest method, that is an entirely different method.  I had some 3/16" nylon cord that I used to create my raised lip. I need to get some piping feet for any of these methods, as they'll allow me to tuck the visible stitching in closer.  That would help the most with the cord method because the stitchline preserves the alignment and keeps everything tight.  My current gigantic, deeply serrated foot were pretty rough on the lip, but the marks did mostly rub out.

I'm open to any tips or suggestions.

1/2" grid on the cutting mat.  Posting from phone, I hope the pictures aren't huge.

Not bad, leather was skived to half thickness:

Here's an attempt at a curve.  Ignore the #69 thread, that was an afterthought. Not too bad, a little practice and this could be tidied up:

Backside:

And here's the sample with the cord.  It's much easier, which means a better finished result, I think.  Top, back, and cross section:

 

 

Edited July 20, 2019 by LederMaschinist

[RockyAussie]

Try not putting in the cut slots on the french edge method. Takes some practice to not do the first stitch too tight in the corners but where it seems like it is buckling down from the tightness, after the second stitching is done it will normally flatten out fine. Your second method looks good on the straight but I can't say how it will go on the curves.

[wlg1908]

On 7/19/2019 at 10:10 PM, LederMaschinist said:

Here are a few of my tests.  I think I've decided to do the easiest method, that is an entirely different method.  I had some 3/16" nylon cord that I used to create my raised lip. I need to get some piping feet for any of these methods, as they'll allow me to tuck the visible stitching in closer.  That would help the most with the cord method because the stitchline preserves the alignment and keeps everything tight.  My current gigantic, deeply serrated foot were pretty rough on the lip, but the marks did mostly rub out.

I'm open to any tips or suggestions.

1/2" grid on the cutting mat.  Posting from phone, I hope the pictures aren't huge.

Not bad, leather was skived to half thickness:

Here's an attempt at a curve.  Ignore the #69 thread, that was an afterthought. Not too bad, a little practice and this could be tidied up:

Backside:

And here's the sample with the cord.  It's much easier, which means a better finished result, I think.  Top, back, and cross section:

 

 

I just figured out how to do piping without a piping foot.  I wish I had a camera to show you but, I just used my right single foot on my machine (CowBoy 4500) an it turned out great. The way I did it, there is no visible stitching. I went to store an looked at factory piping on bags and my way looks just as good. Very happy with the outcome.