Best used sewing machines for leather?
 

I'm planning to sew some pieced leather pillows and recover some couch cushions with a medium-weight leather. I have a few, old, domestic Singers that might do the job, but they're not walking foot machines and I worry that they might not be strong enough. Does anyone have experience sewing on "leather machines?" If so, which machines can you recommend for the home sewer?

Thanks,

C

I don’t know about a machine but there are leather needles to use in your sewing machine.

I used my Juki TL2200qvp mini (straight stitch machine) to sew my husband a genuine leather golf putter cover and it worked great. It easily sewed through two layers of leather, pellon flex-foam and lining material. I used a Schmetz leather needle and lots of wonderclips to keep my little pieces together while sewing.

My grandmother had her mother's Singer Treadle machine that the man across the street would borrow when he was sewing leather. I was never able to watch him do it, but I was fascinated that he could use it for that.

I’ve sewn leather with my 1956 Singer 99K, with my Viking Designer one, my Bernina and with my $98 Walmart Brother machine. All have done fine. You need a Leather needle and strong thread.

Wow, your taking on coving couch cushions with leather. Us quilter's are amazing. I'm going to try slipcover's as soon as the renovations are complete on my house.

Any basic heavy vintage home machine should sew through leather just fine. For the last 30 years or so I've been sewing on a vintage Remington (post-war Japanese machine similar to Morse) that originally belonged to a friend's Grandmother. It does upholstery/leather just lovely, like a dream even -- no problems with the crotch seams from denim. I have a vintage Pfaff in a cabinet that belonged to another friend's Mom. It sews silk and fancy fabrics like a dream, and does fine with the heavy stuff too. Never could really get a quality quilt stitch out of it though, but it was fine for piecing. I'd think my 301 would do fine with leather too, but since it's not in a stand I think it might get pushed around a bit too much.

This past August a friend gifted me with her used but lovely modern machine. I've got to admit, I love the self-threader and the foot lift knee peddle and the automatic thread cutter. But I still have mad respect for my vintage beauties.

My mother used to recover aircraft cushions. She used her Singer 201 and it did the job. I just gave it to my granddaughter last Christmas. I also have a vintage Kenmore 158 that will sew through almost anything. Most any vintage machine should work.

A leather needle, and a modern teflon foot for your shank machine might help.
My grandmother recovered her furniture, probably fake leather, but same idea using her singer treadle.
My good friend sewed canvas boat cushions with her featherweight. The right tools for the right fabrics!

What weight thread I wonder? Jeans thread? Button thread, surely not in a machine?
I wonder if 40 weight machine quilting thread would work?

For sure, leather needles.

I have been contemplating some leather sewing ....
and have been wondering if it really matters so much about the actual machine vs.
having the right needles?

What weight of leather are you using? If it's fairly light, any machine should be okay as long as you use a leather needle and appropriate thread. The heavier the leather, the more difficult it will be.

Thanks everyone. I'm now convinced to go ahead and try using one of my older Singers for the job. The cushions are a simple, square shape, so it shouldn't be too difficult. I'm looking into purchasing a teflon foot, or possibly just using my walking foot to help the machine sew smoothly and evenly. The leather is insanely expensive, so I don't want to screw this up. :( That being said, a new couch is probably 3-4 times as much, so I guess that I'm, "saving money." ;)

~ C

I think that there's special thread just for leather. I'll definitely get some leather needles.

~ C

My neighbors have a very busy business just repairing leather clothing, and sewing patches on leather. They almost exclusively use Singer treadles. I did convince them to try a "newer" (than their treadle, LOL), vintage electric Singer because it had reverse on it...it worked but they went right back to their treadles!

when my kids were doing 4H horse shows, I made leather chaps on my old all metal Deluxe machine--use a leather needle. This was fairly heavy leather so I also used a bit longer stitch length. Worked fine, even putting in heavy duty zippers. I know have an old (50's) industrial Consew--it's a beast--goes forward/reverse but can sew anything.

My old stand by 401A goes through leather like butter.

I can sew through 3 layers of leather with any of my vintage sewing machines. Singer 301A, 401A, I have more but these are real workhorses. Just make sure you use a needle for leather.

As long as you are using apparel weight leather, a vintage machine with a leather needle is fine. My DH is a leather worker. I started him with a 1960’s white machine that I didn’t care about. It worked ok, but I eventually found an industrial pre WWI needle feed machine on Craigslist for $300. It does a nicer stitch, and longer stitch, but I would only recommend the industrial if you are going to do leather work regularly.

I have my Mom's Singer 201 and it's fantastic. Sews through almost anything. It's a real workhorse of a machine. A couple of hints for sewing leather. Like someone else suggested, be sure to get a leather needle. Second, use a longer stitch. If it's too short, it becomes like a perforation and the leather pulls apart.

If your layers are very thick, you may run into the issue of presser foot lift. Some newer machines may sew through the leather with the correct needle, but the presser foot won't lift high enough to get thick layers under it. I have run into this issue when hemming jeans also.

Also, stitch a bit slowly so your needle has time to clear the leather between stitches.

edit: My sis swears that putting a bit of regular scotch tape on the bottom of her presser foot makes it slick like the teflon feet. She says it works great on her vinyl projects.