You can successfully do leather projects with your home sewing machine!
But, you need to let go of the idea of being perfect with stitching in the leather projects.
Some of the home sewing machines do a good job overall; you will be satisfied with the result.
The problem is they are not designed to stitch through heavy leathers like the industrial sewing machines. So, the point is, you can do it, and the result will be good enough, just not perfect.
Although, if you desire to make the project perfect, you can hand sew. But, that will be considerably hard on your hands. Let’s stitch some leather now!
Supplies
The details on the supplies will be lengthier in this case. Because sewing is fine, what is more, important is leathers require different kinds of tools while you are using a home sewing machine. You should be cognizant with the accessories more here rather than learning how to sewing leather materials. Still, we will cover a little with the sewing process. But, let’s get to the tools first-
Needle
There’s a specific kind of needle for stitching through the leather. The difference between normal needles and the leather needle is that there’s an extra hook on them. The hook helps the needle to slit through leathers and pull the thread back on the top of the leather. They are overall bigger in size (100/16) to stitch through the thicker materials.
Thread
You will also need to collect heavy-duty all-purpose thread or simply, leather thread. These threads are again, thicker than the regular kind of thread.
Clips Not Pins
Next, you need to wonder clips or binder clips. They are necessary because when you stitch, there will be holes in the leather materials, and you can’t clearly pin leathers. Hence, you need these wonder clips.
Presser Foot
Then, you will need a different presser foot. That’s a rolling presser foot. Some people use other foots too. But, you don’t want to experiment with the main leather product. We recommend this presser foot because the normal presser foot will get stuck on the leather in the sewing process, as the leather surface is not as smooth as the fabric surface. Therefore, a rolling presser will slide over the leather easily.
Point Turner
This is invaluable for sewing leather with a home machine. You will have to press through the leather hard while stitching. In order to that, you will need to take your finger as close as possible to the needle.
That way, there’s a good possibility of stitching through your finger! Ouch! That will not feel good, and you don’t want that to happen, do you? To feed the leather properly, do buy a point-turner and protect your finger from getting stitched.
Rotary Cutter, Ruler, and Cutting Board
We strongly suggest you use a ruler and rotary cutter to shape the leather. Because again, leather is a heavy material and a rotary cutter is the best tool instead of a pair of scissors. It renders you nicer edges for a leather project. Also, you should cut by placing a ruler on the leather on a cutting board; that way, you won’t have to worry about cutting the leather in a straight line.
Let’s Take It To The Machine
Step 1
Cut the leather for your project and bring it to the sewing machine. You need to add the presser foot to your machine and adjust the presser foot pressure by setting it high. For the leather, you need the most pressure that it can provide.
Step 2
Select the longest stitching length in the stitching categories. Longer stitching length will help to finish the stitching process faster. Also, there will be fewer holes on the leather, and overall, the product will look better with this stitch setting.
Step 3
When you put the leather pieces under the needle, you should hand crank the machine slowly at the beginning. This way, you can check if the leather is actually feeding through.
Step 4
If the leather pieces are not feeding through, you need to pick up the presser foot and manually feed it until you get your presser foot sitting flat, and it’s entirely on the leather.
Step 5
You start with the actual sewing now. But we recommend you go slowly.
Tips
We want to provide some more tips about dealing with leather.
Price & Shapes
The important thing to know about full leather is they will always come in odd shapes because they are from animals. They don’t do any sizing in real leathers. Also, you have to buy this kind of leather with square feet. Real leather is always more expensive than the yardage of full leather.
Fixing Leather
You can fix a full leather surface with that small defect on it. You can tug the leather to separate the top layer from the leather. When it’s separated, you can collect the top layer from the leather and put it in a spot that you need to cover. Simple leather glue will work in this process, and you won’t be able to tell the difference. This tip is mainly for fixing small areas, not bigger areas.
Setting The Presser Foot
Sometimes in the process of stitching, you will get an uneven surface. And that will cause your stitch to go in the zigzag line. For example, if you are sewing a pocket on leather, you will get an empty side after placing the pocket under the needle.
But, in the case of stitching leathers, you need the presser foot to be sited flat. To get the presser foot sit flat on the leather surface, you can simply use a scrap of leather to match it with the other side.
Unless you use this trick, you are most likely to end with bad stitches, and whatever that you are making leathers will not look good. So, do the best you can to make it closer to perfect.
Now, you can carry on doing the project. We wish you all the best to become successful in this leather project with our guide and tips.