Specialty equipment: leather buttonhole machines

[regius]

In the coat/jacket making world, to own a button hole machines seems to mean a great deal, that you are at the ultimate level of equipmentation. 
The well known Reece buttonhole machine seems to be getting old and is finicky and hard to find part, although the same company seems to be still making modern versions out of Europe. In Texas, there's a Demstron brand, machines are made in China but some jacket makers love their teardrop buttonholer, also it's the cheapest.

I want to hear if anyone uses the Dematron machine, or other keyhole/teardrop/jean button hole machines. I mean, these machinese are highly complex and not like a seing machine you can service (of course, it's possible to learn one day), but they seem to offer remote/video conference service helps.

https://www.demasewingautomation.com/products/industrial-sewing-machine/industrial-sewing-machine/keyhole-buttonhole

[Kwaaked]

Not for leather, but I looked into them for my regular clothing shop and for denim work.  In the end I opted not to buy one.  For one, I have a dedicated domestic 99 for buttonholes for regular clothing and set it up all the time, and a 201 that I can change out for denim and light leather since both are short shank machines.  I can also put it on a treadle class 15 or a Davis even feed if I need more precision/finer material.  For another, none of these machines do a button hole as well as the Singer cams do, IMO.

If I take my time and use the right needle and thread, I can get my 201 to do holes on 18-24 oz denim and can do eyelets on 2-3 oz soft leather (or garment weights).  And there are tricks you can utilize, like grading seams, will help.

As far as it being a status symbol...it depends on the shop/person.  I was more interested in a press for rivets, buttons and grommets then I was a stand alone button hole machine, but the nature of my work is more in line with adding buttons to jeans (repair and my own brand), grommets to corsets and corset back for gowns, drapery and adding rhinestones than button holes.  In the end, my shop makes a lot more money off the press (even buying dies) then I do with buttonholes.

If you can afford it and you'll get a great deal of use out of the machine, the demo I saw was wonderful for the Dematron and if money wasn't an object and I didn't have to have machines pay for themselves in the long run, I'd get one.  As it stands, I don't do the business to justify one.

 

[ButtonLady]

11 hours ago, Kwaaked said:

I was more interested in a press for rivets, buttons and grommets then I was a stand alone button hole machine...

Which press did you end up buying?

[Kwaaked]

One from Gold Star Tool, foot press with stand.  And yeah, I know there is a huge price difference between the press and the buttonhole machine. 

[ButtonLady]

One of these days... (maybe) I'll convert my Fasnap hand machine into a foot press:

https://kamsnaps.com/blogs/news/how-to-mount-your-kam-table-press-to-a-foot-kick

[Kwaaked]

The amount of grommets I use, and what I use them on the majority of the time (large items) made more sense for a stand alone foot press so I could use both hands to hold the fabric.

The dies will eat you though regardless of what brand you use. 

[ButtonLady]

4 hours ago, Kwaaked said:

The dies will eat you though regardless of what brand you use.

I see you are familiar with my addiction...

My apologies for derailing the thread.  My mother's Kenmore buttonholer made perfect gorgeous buttonholes, and I destroyed it by using a too-long needle (modern "standard" needles are too long... who knew...).  At least the repair guy said it couldn't be salvaged, but he had huge stack of work to get to and I'm not sure it's true.

[Kwaaked]

I don't know.  I use modern Organs in a 1888, 1911, 1921 treadle, a 1938 featherweight, a 1950 201...and several other machines up to the 70s and never had a problem and my attachments are everything from Singer, Greist, Ruby and Kenmore and nothing ever got damaged from use.

[ButtonLady]

9 hours ago, Kwaaked said:

I use modern Organs in a 1888, 1911, 1921 treadle, a 1938 featherweight, a 1950 201...and several other machines up to the 70s and never had a problem...

1962 Kenmore straight-stitch, probably made by White.  Unfortunately, I remember the needles were short and the last one was on the machine when it went to the (first) repair shop.  Then to the second shop to repair the damage done by the first (seriously)... and there's more but that's enough.

[chrisash]

Intrigued to find out how you get a 99 or 201 to sew buttonholes, Prey tell

[Constabulary]

1 hour ago, chrisash said:

Intrigued to find out how you get a 99 or 201 to sew buttonholes, Prey tell

with a button hole attachment like YS Star 4455 or FAMOUS or Singer 121795 and the like. I just bought one myself the other day (not received yet).

[chrisash]

Have had a 201 for a few years and never had reason to make button holes but must say amazed at that attachment which i never new existed and also found one for pattern stitches as well from the 50's, it says a lot of how clever those guys at singer were in the past.

Still keep the 201 as it sounds like poetry in motion when used and no wonder they called it the Rolls Royce of machines back then

[Kwaaked]

I learned to sew on my Mom's 201 and got it when she died.  If I'm in a hurry, it's the machine I go to in my shop for alterations and it sews better then my industrial Consew.

[ButtonLady]

On 5/19/2021 at 10:31 PM, Kwaaked said:

...the nature of my work is more in line with adding buttons to jeans (repair and my own brand), grommets to corsets and corset back for gowns, drapery and adding rhinestones....

Kwaaked, I'm getting even more off-topic here, but... what kind(s) of rhinestones are you setting with your dies? —pronged spots? —rivets?

I'm working on a die adapter for the Osborne machine because I *really* want to set rhinestones with it.  There's a fine line between "determined" and "stupidly stubborn" and I crossed it a while ago, but anyway...

I'm also crazy-impressed that you designed a jeans pattern and make corsets.  I've made a few costume-y corsets (with zip tie boning) for fun, but the "authentic" one with spiral boning nearly killed me.

[Wizcrafts]

Next thing ya know, you guys and gals will start talking about Feed Off The Arm machines for designer jeans!

[ButtonLady]

2 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

Next thing ya know, you guys and gals will start talking about Feed Off The Arm machines for designer jeans!

I watched just ONE "Feed Off the Arm" video on YouTube... and now it's two hours later.

[Wizcrafts]

9 hours ago, ButtonLady said:

I watched just ONE "Feed Off the Arm" video on YouTube... and now it's two hours later.

They are fascinating machines. We had a recent topic about sewing denim jeans and one of the members shared a video on YouTube showing the operator combining layers while feeding off the arm. Maybe that's the video you watched.

[Kwaaked]

10 hours ago, ButtonLady said:

Kwaaked, I'm getting even more off-topic here, but... what kind(s) of rhinestones are you setting with your dies? —pronged spots? —rivets?

I'm working on a die adapter for the Osborne machine because I *really* want to set rhinestones with it.  There's a fine line between "determined" and "stupidly stubborn" and I crossed it a while ago, but anyway...

I'm also crazy-impressed that you designed a jeans pattern and make corsets.  I've made a few costume-y corsets (with zip tie boning) for fun, but the "authentic" one with spiral boning nearly killed me.

Prong rivet that can be sewn as well. Most of my work is bridal and so I use hotfix. You know the Swarovski issue so I've gone the Percosia route. 

Nothing to be impressed about. I've spent a while learning my craft both in design and alterations...and a lot of sewing things to learn. Jeans came about from my dad wanting an authentic Levi from the 1880s and my pattern developed from there. Corsets... I've been out of the dungeon for years it's not a huge deal to me now. 

I am a huge believer in making my life/work easier which is why I have such a variety of things. 

[ButtonLady]

8 hours ago, Kwaaked said:

Prong rivet that can be sewn as well.

I can't even imagine what that looks like.  Sounds like an unholy union of hardware!

PS:  Sent you a PM

[Kwaaked]

The aren't dainty like normal hot fix or glue ons. Largish base, even for the small stones. Very much like the set ins in Western purses you find or on Ed Hardy jeans/purses. Gold Star carries the ones I use. 

I typically use them for heavier duty applications that get washed or have some stress to them: jeans, drag queen costumes, corsets, backpacks, denim shirts, jackets.  I've added some to leather that I didn't make and use them on veils and fake Chanel jackets I do make for weight. Lot of ways they can be used. 

[ButtonLady]

16 minutes ago, Kwaaked said:

Gold Star carries the ones I use. 

Do you mean these?

[Kwaaked]

Yup. Those are the ones. 

[ButtonLady]

Okay, so not so unholy...

[Kwaaked]

Not too bad. Just a bit more fiddly then rivets or snaps because of the size. About the same as an eyelet cam for fussy. 

[regius]

On 5/22/2021 at 11:21 AM, Kwaaked said:

I learned to sew on my Mom's 201 and got it when she died.  If I'm in a hurry, it's the machine I go to in my shop for alterations and it sews better then my industrial Consew.

May I ask what the "201" and your other machine, refer to? sorry for the ignorance.