Sewing Machines/tips

My hubby bought one for me for Christmas! woohoo! Haven't been able to read the manual yet. It comes with 7 different presser feet. Any one have any sewing tips that are good for sewing garment leather. My machine can sew denim so, I am assuming it can sew garment leather. Like what type of thread to use? and needles?

You'll have to use special heavy duty needles similar to your denim ones for leather. Just look in your fabric store and you can find them. Be very very sure where you are sewing as you can't rip out seams in leather. Always make sure that the good side is on top otherwise the gripping teeth that pull the fabric thru the machine can shred the leather. Polyester or polyester blend thread should work.

Are there different types of leather sewing needles? And is there usually a guide? Like a certain size needle for a specific thickness of leather etc? I just don't wanna go in there and just buy needles cause it says "leather" and not know if there is a guide to follow.

I usually buy the Singer brand that have a pack with a blue shank and a purple shank. You can probably use the blue with very thin leather but the purple are better for thicker. I just look at the back of the package and see what fabrics it recommends. NOw I'm sure if you had an actual machine for leather, then there are probably many more needles that can be used.

Man, those leather sewing machines are like $1500.00 if yer lucky! Yeah, I eyeballed those for awhile... Sigh...time to day dream about the perfect costuming studio.. Big Sigh..

Back to reality. Cough cough.
Will Singer needles fit other sewing machines? Hubby just got me a Kenmore machine. Like are those needles usually standard? Shank- is that the top part of the needle that gets held inside the machine?

Leather sewing needles usually have triangular shaped tip, and if your machine has a setting that allows it to make a stich, back one stich then up 2 stiches, it makes 3 stiches in one pass, I've heard it can be useful .... a little birdie told me The problem with some of the thicker threads is that the eye of the needle can be a bit too small, and the thread bunches up :p Also since you can't really baste stich or pin leather, sometimes glueing the seam before you sew it can help keep everything together .... or so the birdie says

Yes, the Singer needles should fit. I have a Brother machine and they fit fine. And yes, the part that goes in the machine is the shank.

Hey Zam it sounds like you got the same sewing mahine that I did. We'll have to get together and have a sewing day.

Totally man... kenmore #20 16221