I want to make a big ass leather bag but I can't be assed to do iron pricking and saddle stitching and I wondering how easy are these things to use. Is it just a case of not being a retard as you feed in the leather? I want to make shit like Gladstones because of how overpriced some of them are.
>>2958466>just a case of not being a retardNot entirely there's a bit of painful well that was obvious in heinsight moments too but that is based on my experience with cotton etc in machinesGet some leather to practice on, check tutorial videos and check the sewing general >>2936243
>>2958472Thanks anon
>>2958466from what i have seen, poking holes than sewing is the way to go, removal of material not like cotton sewing where you are moving material out of the way.
>>2958466Honestly man as someone who does leatherwork, there are a ton of resources out there and I would recommend checking the leathercraft reddit & discord. You’ll want an industrial machine with a walking foot, they’re pretty spendy but not terribly difficult to use. I found mine for 700$ on fb marketplace Picrel a bag I made
You dont necessarily NEED a dedicated machine for this. Most older ones from the 80's and earlier have enough power to go through 4 or even 6 layers of rigid leather.
>>2958475I have heard saddle stitch is a lot better than machine lock stitch. I am just concerned tough about the speed that comes with hand stitch and from what I have seen it takes a very long time for hand stitch bag projects. >>2958886Damn that's pretty neat. How long do you think it took to do that start to finish?>>2958916Yeah from what I have seen online there are some half decent old hardcase machines that can do leather. I am just cautious as my mother works with textiles and she has always ran into issues with non-dedicated machines for leather work
I haven't worked with real leather only vinyl so I won't tell you exactly what machine to get for the job, but I will tell you if you have never done any sewing, don't start with a used industrial machine. If you have never sewn before I'd start with an older cast iron singer, not a fixer upper, just one that runs so you can get right to it. Any OG singer should have no problem with thinner leather or vinyl for practice. There's more to sewing than just the stitches, and it would suck buying a $700 used industrial walking foot just to learn you hate pattern drafting and fabric/leather cutting. I've seen it happen too many times with tactical gear that someone buys a $800 used industrial and then learns they can't wrap their head around even making a basic pouch.Industrial machines aren't necessarily hard to use but some will have more tricks than you know what to do with, can be annoying to thread, or only run at zero or mach fuck. Especially annoying with leather because you're making actual holes in the material so it's not an easy undo like woven fabric. But if you've ran a domestic machine before an industrial shouldn't be an issue as long as it runs on 120v and isn't some twin needle giga function Frankenstein. Make things as accessible for yourself as possible starting out because frigging around with tertiary aspects is a frustrating uphill climb
Not leather but has similar properties...Has anyone worked with aluminum-foam sheets? is it possible to cut and sew them?
