No real expertise here, but I have used my newer Singer 7466 to sew deer hyde for making pillows and did not use leather needles. My only suggestion would be, not to get in a hurry, go slow with it. I also used polyneon embroidery thread. I do not believe leather is forgiving, and the fewer the needle holes, the better. Possibly use a longer stitch length, smaller needle size, and avoid the decorative stitching? My thought would maybe be to practice your needs/wants on a sample piece first and see how the leather reacts.