Sewing external bag seams?

[LeatherinCornwall]

I've been making leather satchels, backpacks and messenger bags, and it seems people are turned off by standard inside-flipped seams (sew and flip inside-out) when they see my external seam work.  I've been doing those hand sewn, but it's so time consuming. I've bought a Juki 441 clone for my leather work, and am trying to figure out the best way, and best presser foot/needle plate combo to make the best, straightest visible seams possible.  Youtube search yield nothing, I gather that people can't do it well enough, or they'd post a video. I know I can't exactly duplicate the look of straight hand-sewn work, but want to get close. Any thoughts on experience with this?  Any help is most appreciated.

[Rockoboy]

I am not an expert, but I think anything handsewn is done by hand, and there is no good way to duplicate that handsewn appearance with a machine. IMHO.

[LeatherinCornwall]

Sure, I realize that. But I just want a fighting chance to make stitches appear straight and even across an external seam.  Doesn't have to look exactly like hand sewn.

[LiftPig]

A machine designed for stitching shoe soles would probably do the trick.  They're made to get into tight corners.  I've never used one though so I could be talking out the wrong orifice.  

[LeatherinCornwall]

55 minutes ago, LiftPig said:

A machine designed for stitching shoe soles would probably do the trick.  They're made to get into tight corners.  I've never used one though so I could be talking out the wrong orifice.  

I did buy the raised needle plate for doing harnesses, etc. I imagine that's along the lines of what you're thinking.  I did try that, however it requires removal of the feed dog, which then makes stitch length unreliable.

Edited January 30, 2020 by LeatherinCornwall

[Tugadude]

Someone posted about this similar issue just the other day.  They wanted to somehow make their machine stitching look closer to saddle stitching.

Apparently the main issue is the backside appearance.  I will say that some of the machine-stitched leather articles I've seen leave a lot to be desired when it comes to the bottom stitching.  I do not use a machine so I cannot follow some of the technical stuff, but hopefully others who do have machines can help.

[LeatherinCornwall]

Yeah, thanks I saw that post. I don;t mind the back side look. If tension is set correctly, it looks fine to me.  I just want reliable straight sewing on the edge.

It's sounding more and more like I'm off in the weeds here.

Edited January 30, 2020 by LeatherinCornwall

[RockyAussie]

Some info in this post I did awhile back may help you.

Some pictures of your work may help with suggestions.

[Dwight]

This may not be what you are looking for, . . . BUT................

Every now and then, I run into a situation where it must be hand sewn, . . . either by design, . . . or by some "special" choice.

I have a couple options, . . . and one I like is to take my handy dandy Tippmann Boss, . . . remove the thread, . . . and let it punch the holes for me.

Then I glue it together with a needle aligning everything up at each end, . . . then I grab my saddle needles, . . . and "hand sew" the thing.

I get the benefit of not having to punch every hole, . . . the look of saddle stitching, . . . and the strength of saddle stitching.

Yer darn tootin it costs the customer more when he gets that, . . . but I have not had a complaint yet.

May God bless,

Dwight

[LeatherinCornwall]

12 hours ago, Dwight said:

This may not be what you are looking for, . . . BUT................

Every now and then, I run into a situation where it must be hand sewn, . . . either by design, . . . or by some "special" choice.

I have a couple options, . . . and one I like is to take my handy dandy Tippmann Boss, . . . remove the thread, . . . and let it punch the holes for me.

Then I glue it together with a needle aligning everything up at each end, . . . then I grab my saddle needles, . . . and "hand sew" the thing.

I get the benefit of not having to punch every hole, . . . the look of saddle stitching, . . . and the strength of saddle stitching.

Yer darn tootin it costs the customer more when he gets that, . . . but I have not had a complaint yet.

May God bless,

Dwight

Dwight, thanks for the reply.  I guess getting the holes in the right place is the whole issue for me. The stitching looks fine if the machine is set right and done super straight.  You actually have to look closely to tell them apart. But only if I can get a straight line of holes punched with the machine in the first place.   Have been practicing, seems that if I scribe a typical edge groove, as is done for hand stitching, it gives a good line for the needle to follow, and sewn at super slow speed, seems to work out well.  Unless the bobbin empties...or tension goes haywire due to an errant snag somewhere, lol....