You've always wanted to sew leather, but you've always been nervous. After all, leather's always had a reputation as a difficult material forvery experienced sewers only. You've also been told that leather is difficult to work with and you need special tools and a special sewing machine specifically for leather. All that is is wrong. Leather is easy and fun,and not much more difficult that other special fabrics. Like other specialty fabrics, you need to know a few tips and tricks. I've been sewing with leather for a while now, and I was surprised at how easy it was to handle.
Leather is different from woven fabric. Leather is a natural material, being the skin of an animal, usually cow, sometimes deer, elk or pig. The skin comes in an animal shape, rather than on a roll or a bolt. Leather has no grain lines, so it's easy to fit pattern peices onto the skin's odd dimensions. Leather is treated by tanning, to make it soft pliable and to preserve the skin from rotting. There are several methods of tanning,the main types are vegetable tanning, chemical tanning and chrome tanning. Chrome and vegetable are the traditional methods, while chemical tanning is quite new. Chemical tanning imparts many different finishes to leather, from silky soft to smooth and shiny to heavy and stiff. Chemical tanning has given us the so-called washable leathers and suedes, making leather more accessible as an everyday garment material than ever before.
We will focus on the softest of garment leathers to learn leather sewing. Soft garment leather is thin and pliable and sews up in most household machines, just like a regular fabric. The only special item you really need for garment leather is a leather sewing machine needle, and that's all.
Your success or failure in your first leather project hinges on your choice of leather. Choose soft pliable leathers that are fabric-thin. The best test; take the leather in your hand. Squeeze it like you're crumpling paper. If it crumples up and bounces back, it's thin and pliable enough to sew in your home machine. If it doesn't crumple easily, it's too stiff. Don't even try if it can't be folded! You want leather that behaves like fabric, not like corrugated cardboard. Good choises are Nappa, garment weight top grain cow, cow suede, elk, deer suede, top grain deer, and fine kid leather. All are considered garment weight leathers. A common leather NOT suitable for beginners is pig suede. It's the suede where you can see little pin holes or pores where the bristles were atttached. Many beginners commonly buy pig suede because it's inexpensive and comes in a stunning array of colours, but in my experience, it's very stiff and tough to sew, even if it seems buttery soft. Leave the pig suede until you have a bit of experience in leather work. Avoid luggage and handbag weight leather. Also avoid thick vegetable tanned leather, that's for shoe and boot soles and saddles.
Leather needs a strong and flexible thread that won't react with the chemicals used in tanning. I reccomend long staple polyester thread, such as Mettler or Gutterman. It's easy to find and works well. Cottons often rot and fall apart in leather as time goes on. Nylon thread is another good thread for sewing leather. Don't use nonofilament or invisible thread as this will cut through the leather. Don't use thread labelled "Serger thread" It's too fuzzy and will abrade too easily. And finally, never use cheap, five for a dollar spools of thread, these will fall apart in your machine and fall apart in your finished project.
Never use pins on leather! Ever! They leave permanent holes in the leather. Use weights to hold down pattern peices. Or, use painter's lo-tack tape, it doesn't leave a sticky residue and holds the pattern down long enough for it to be traced and marked. Use a ball point pen and trace around the pattern peices just a bit away from the pattern. Then you cut just inside the ballpoint pen lines. Draw the pattern markings on the leather on the wrong side using either a pencil, or a ballpoint pen. Don't press too hard or the marks will show up on the right side of the leather. Chalk and fading pens also work when marking leather. Never use a tracing wheel with sharp points. It will perforate the leather and when the seam is sewn they will be weak could tear if there is any stress on the seam.
So far it seems easy, doesn't it? But as you sit at your machine, about to place the leather under the presser foot, you're feeling just a bit apprehensive. Can the machine take it? Can the needle take it? It's okay, I felt the same way! Here are a few tips to make sewing leather the first time less stressful. Loosen the needle tension. Sew slowly at first. Use a longer stitch length, 2.5 mm minimum. Use a proper leather needle, with a cutting point. This leather needle is essential! To begin, ensure the threads are pulled under the presser foot and to the back of the machine. Stitch in place for a couple stitches to lock the stitches, then sew at the proper length. To turn curves and corners, stop the machine with the needle down in the work, and pivot. Don't force curves by pushing or pulling, this will stretch the leather. Take your time, there's no speed limit! At the end of the seam, sew in place for a few stitches, raise the foot pull the work back and snip the threads. That's it!
If the leather seems to stick under the foot, loosen the pressure of the presser foor if you have that option. If you don't then stitch over tissue paper and rip the paper away after sewing. A different option, and the one I use, is to place a layer of Solvy stablizer in between the leather and the foot, it provides just enough slip 'n grip in the right proportion, it tears away easier than tissue paper, and any leftover whiskers can be sponged away with a slightly damp cloth.
Your machine should go through up to four layers of leather with ease, six layers will make it complain. This is why many leather garments are made with overlapped seams, to control the bulk.
Leather can be pressed with an iron. Commercial shops do it all the time. Use a dry iron and a heavy press cloth, such as cotton flannel. Use a low temperature. Test first to find the proper heat and the proper amount of pressure on the iron. Press from the wrong side, never the right side. Always press suede on a velvet pressing board or needle board. Use a low temperture and as little pressure as possible. Too much and the suede will turn hard and shiny and nothing will revive it, other than sandpaper, and that will thin out and weaken the suede.
There are a few methods of heatless pressing. One method uses a heavy rubber mallet on a hard surface, pounding the seam into place. This works well for heavy luggage and vegetable tanned leathers but can damage softer garment leather. Another method uses leather cement to glue seam allowances down. This precludes any further ftting of a garment, it also prevents any repairs from being made in case there are broken threads in the seam. Light hammering with a rubber mallet on a soft padded surface is all that's needed for some seams and stitched details.
For a first project I have a patterns for a couple small items. I call them "dangles", based on small pouches that are found in several different cultures. They are the same basic shape, the variation comes in the sizes that can be made. My favourite size is the medium size. There is also the larger change pouch, and the smallest is the key fob which has no pouch. These patterns also incorperate several other techniques and hardware often used in leathercraft; grommets, rivets, decorative nailheads, snap fasteners, applique, and the making of thongs. No, not the racy underwear or flip-flop shoes, in leathercraft thong is the term used for long string-like strips of leather used as a fringe, as a decoration or to lace two peices of leather together.
The first project I reccomend is the medium sized pouch. It is easily made, there's no pressing as it's sewn from the right side and therefore not turned right side out, it can be tied to a knapsack strap, a pursestrap, a belt loop, or whatever. It holds a couple coins, bus ticket, subway token...whatever. There are beads and feathers attached to a small fringe, these can be left off, or you can add more. You can decorate the flap however you want. It takes only a scrap of leather, places like Michael's sell 3x8 patches of soft leather and this will fit on one of those pathces. Most of the supplies are available at Michael's or any fabric store notions counter.
Trace around the main peice and the pouch as instructed and cut out. Be sure that the cut lines are smooth with no little hacks, points, or zig zags. A smooth cut looks most professional, so take the time to do this step correctly. Use a very sharp pair of shears or an exacto knife on a sturdy cutting board. I'm not a fan of rotary cutters, they sometimes leave nicks, besides, these peices are too small for a rotary cutters.
Hammer the top part of the snap fastener to the flap of the main peice. Hammer the bottom part onto the pouch peice. The directions will be on the snap fastener package. Hammer firmly on a very hard and sturdy surface. Decorate the flap with a few nailheads. I show a simple circle around the snap, you can do whatever you want!
Next, place the pouch on the main peice, wrong side of pouch on right side of main peice. Stitch the pouch down, the stitching line is one eighth of an inch from the edge of the leather. Add a second row of stitching if you want, and one eighth from the first line, it's not needed but it looks nice, espescially when done in a contrasting thread. Attatch eyelets/grommets to the flap, going in from the right side. Hammer in five eyelets into the pouch where marked. Thread a thong into each of the eyelets and tie in a knot. Place a dot of glue in the knot and let dry. The knot will never come undone.
Thread a couple beads onto the thong and tie a knot looseley. Insert the shaft of a feather into the knot and tighten the knot. Slide the beads down so they are over the shaft of the feather. Do this as many times as you want. Tie the little pouch where you need a bit of pizzazz, and you're done!
The key fob is almost the same, but pouchless, the flap is folded over and stitched down. Be sure you place your spilt ring in the fold area before stitching! The larger pouch offers more room for variation in decoration. Use your own imagination.
I've been told these are African, Canadian First Nations, Polynesian, Hawwain...I don't know what they are but they are fun and adaptable to a variety of decorative styles. I've used elk scraps, silver beads and turquiose on; one inspired by a cross between southwest and uptown hippy. The top grain cow in dark brown had an old west feel, and I combined that with pheasant feathers and gold nailheads. The pink suede is pure nineteen sixties hippy and the navy blue suede with silver stitching is meant to have an uptown saturday afternoon denim feel. I use natural items such as real stones, real leather and real feathers because they provide a richness of texture and a natural quality to the work that doesn't come from synthetics. And when garments are made, leather breathes and feels better, synthetic leather is hot, sweaty and horible feeling next to the skin. Only real leather looks and feels like real leather.