Portable Leather Sewing Machine

[KristinT]

I'm new to leather crafting, however I wanted to give my experience with the Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1.  I wanted to make a canvas slipcover but with limited space I could not buy an industrial sewing machine so I opted for the Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1.  My first project was a sunbrella bimini top for our boat and I was so happy with it's performance.  Then I moved on to waxed canvas tote bags but the feed dogs really marked up the waxed canvas so I purchased the Leather foot for the Sailrite machine and it helped a little.  My next project was to make a leather tote bag so I went to Tandy and picked up their 3-4 oz Utility Side to start out with.  The leather foot did not markup the leather across the front of the bag and the lower feed dogs were against the inside rough side of the leather and on the inside of the bag.  However the lower feed dogs are very sharp so I do not think I'll be able to sew outside seams as successfully.  I can do some test runs and post pictures for you if you want, just let me know.

Although the Ultrafeed LSZ-1 is an awesome portable machine; however if you have the space and are going to invest in a machine to sew leather, a walking foot machine made specifically for leather might be the better choice. 

Regards, Kristin