In order to work with the skin, not only sewing machine for sewing leather, but also special needles, threads, glue, adhesive materials. You need to use many tools designed specifically for working with genuine leather.

The technology for sewing leather on a sewing machine is different from sewing fabrics. And first of all, the fact that sewing leather requires a special foot and special sewing needles. The main technological feature of the connection of leather parts is that the allowances of the stitched seams are not ironed out, but glued.

Many who are fond of tailoring often have to work with leather. bags self made, finishing elements of clothing details, decorations, various crafts and even leather paintings look very original and stylish.
There are many books on learning the technique of sewing leather products, lessons and master classes. We offer only a few basic simple recommendations on the technology of sewing leather on a sewing machine with your own hands.

In this video you will see how easy it is to sew leather on a class 22 or Podolsk sewing machine if you install a Teflon foot on it. If you are into sewing, please subscribe to my channel.

The thickness of the skin depends on the type of raw material used for the production of leather and the technology of leather dressing. For each product it is necessary to choose a certain type of leather. For example, leather for sewing gloves (like leather) is suitable for jewelry. It is soft, elastic and able to convey the most subtle nuance of small details of products.
It is better to sew bags from tougher leather, more rough dressing. If soft leather is used for sewing a bag, then it is imperative to use duplicate pads made of dense material to shape the bag.
If you are going to sew a fur vest with leather inserts and finishing elements, then use a dense, but soft skin. Rigid, rough skin will "pull up", and too thin can tear at the junctions.

2. How to sew leather on a sewing machine

Leather work quite a difficult task, because you need to know a lot of technological features. Know how to use a variety of tools and equipment. For example, when cutting out paired parts, it must be taken into account that the skin in the transverse direction is stretched more than in the longitudinal direction, so it is desirable to cut the product parts in one direction.
It is impossible to chip the skin with pins, it is also not recommended to sweep with threads. Needle punctures will leave marks that cannot be removed.
Soft, thin leather can be sewn on a sewing machine with a regular needle (for fabrics) No. 80 or No. 90.

For sewing thicker and rougher leather, special sewing needles with a tip shape in the form of a two-sided or four-sided blade are used. This shape of the needle blade makes it easier to pierce rough leather, leaves a less noticeable mark and prevents gaps in the stitch or thread breakage.
The stitch length on the sewing machine should be set almost to the maximum, because in places where the needle is often punctured, the skin can be torn.

3. Not every sewing machine can sew leather

To replace a zipper in a leather jacket, it is imperative to have an industrial sewing machine capable of sewing leather. Otherwise, you can break not only the needle, but the machine itself.
Before sewing leather on a sewing machine, be sure to read its instructions. If it doesn't say that you can sew leather on it, then don't even try. But you should not despair, remember your grandmother. She probably has an old Podolsk or Singer sewing machine with foot or hand drive. This machine will definitely not break, and will confidently sew leather. At least she won't feel sorry for her. Of course, the replacement of lightning will not be done very well, one might say in a handicraft way. But if you try hard, then the new zipper in the jacket will even look decent.

4. You need to cut the skin with a special shoe knife

In this video you will see the technology of sewing zippers into leather clothes. If you are fond of tailoring leather products, subscribe to our channel and you will learn a lot of useful tips.

After finishing the skin appearance items can be refreshed. Marking lines left during work can be removed with soap and water or ammonia. To restore the leather surface to its former shine, then wipe this area with a cloth moistened with petroleum jelly or glycerin.
Heavily contaminated areas on the skin can be washed with warm unboiled milk, wiped with whipped protein or half an onion.
White skin is cleaned with a mixture of milk and beaten egg white.
Patent leather should be wiped with a cloth soaked in glycerin, or cleaned with a swab soaked in milk.
Suede can be cleaned with sawdust soaked in gasoline (remaining sawdust is brushed off), or with an ink eraser, as well as fine-grained abrasive paper.
Stains from household grease are removed with gasoline or talc and a solution of oxalic acid.

9. Dyeing clothes made of genuine leather

The technology for painting leather with an aerosol can is quite simple. Aerosolized leather paint is sprayed by holding the can about 20 cm away from the area of ​​the leather product. To ensure that the paint layer lays down evenly, without streaks, do not hold the can for too long in one area. Smoothly and constantly move it along the surface to be painted.
After a ten-minute break, the next coat of paint is applied. This operation continues until the surface of the skin acquires a uniform color throughout the area. However, it should be noted that this method of painting the skin is intended only for partial "refreshment" of its surface. It is not recommended to use aerosolized leather paint for "cardinal" repainting of leather clothing.

Sometimes genuine leather needs to be sewn together on a furrier machine. In this video you will see how the furrier machine 10B works.

When installing accessories on leather clothes, there are always difficulties. Buttons and blocks bend, buttons do not hold, etc. To help you correctly install buttons, blocks on clothes with your own hands, we have prepared an article with the recommendations of the master.

How to make a belt with your own hands. How to make a hole in a belt, fasten a buckle and what tools are needed to work with leather.

Working with leather always comes with many challenges, even if you have the right sewing machine and tools. In order to facilitate some of the operations when working with leather, we offer you a few professional tricks.

Not every craftsman can replace a zipper in a leather jacket, even in an atelier. In addition to a special machine for sewing leather, you need to know the technology of working with leather, have special tools and devices. But, if the jacket costs less than the cost of repairing it, then you can try to replace the zipper with your own hands. For some tips on how to properly sew leather, you can find in this article.

Tailoring of leather and tailoring of fur is a special kind of sewing work. If a sewing industrial machine of type 22 class is used for working with leather, then sewing machines are not used for working with fur. There is a special furrier machine for this.

Working with natural leather involves the use of special needles, a foot with a roller instead of a sole and, of course, a special sewing machine capable of making high-quality stitches without gaps and thread breaks. To properly sew leather with your own hands, you also need to know what type of thread is used to sew leather.

Many special tools are used to work with leather. This is not only a shoe knife, but also a special hammer for softening seams, a punch for installing accessories, a special awl for sewing leather by hand, etc.

Adhesive fabrics are needed to stiffen certain parts and areas of clothing. However, cool fabrics and materials are used when working with genuine leather. Adhesive-glued bands leather jacket will not stretch when installing the zipper. You can also put adhesive fabric in the cuff, collar.

Hello, friends!

Genuine leather is always in trend.

But, without professional knowledge and skills, high-quality tailoring of leather products is not available to every tailor. Therefore, alternative materials are a great help for beginners and pros.

Sewing from the now popular eco-leather or other substitutes natural raw materials are more accessible and easier. Artificial leather is easily cut, sewn, glued, has a width like a regular fabric and is unpretentious in care.

Meanwhile, you need to know some of the nuances of tailoring. Otherwise, you can already at the cutting stage.

Let's look for answers to the questions: how to sew eco-leather and leatherette.

I will not inflame your attention with a review of the views faux leather. This is an extensive topic for a separate article. so as not to miss blog updates.

Purpose of publication: consider the features of eco-leather and the processing methods used when sewing things from artificial leather.

Important! Thinking about the publication, I realized that in one article I could not tell everything that I know.

Today Consider the main features of materials and recommendations for working with them.

• Recommendations for quality tailoring of things ...
• Beautiful and practical idea for a gift...

Now in sewing stores there is a huge selection of artificial leather of various textures, patterns and colors. In appearance, it is not inferior to natural leather.

Faux leather also has its advantages - acceptable price, easy care and sewing.

But despite the fact that it is easier to sew than genuine leather, there are still difficulties in this matter. You can cope with them and get beautiful products made of artificial leather, knowing some of the nuances of how to sew artificial leather. There are very few of them.

Faux leather has only a few minor problems: "sticking" under the presser foot and needle holes. Also, the seam may tear between the punctures of the sewing needle.

Since the pins will leave puncture marks, leather items should not be fastened with them or basted as usual with a needle and thread. And when you are just cutting out the details, the pattern also cannot be attached to the leather with pins so that it does not move. On the front side of the artificial leather, place the patterns and press them with some kind of load. Use a circular cutter to cut out pieces along the outline of the pattern. Of course, the skin must be placed on a wooden, glass and other surface that cannot be cut or is not a pity. In places where a good even cut is needed, use a plastic ruler.

Often to sewing machines A set of presser feet is included, which includes the feet for leather. They can be with rollers or made of Teflon. These feet are also easy to find in sewing stores.

If you don’t have special feet, you can try sewing by laying a sheet of wax paper on top of the faux leather. The skin will move well under a regular foot.

When you've finished stitching, gently tear the paper along the sides of the seam and remove. Be very careful not to damage the stitching.

Now for the needles. Use denim needles (100/16). They are sharper and make smaller punctures than other needles. There are special needles for genuine leather. But for artificial leather, they are not so important.

Use a new needle for each faux leather item. Leatherette dulls needles faster than other fabrics.

The stitch can be straight or zigzag. Just do not make short stitches, but lengthen them as much as possible. The small distance between the punctures makes the seam unreliable. Faux leather will simply tear between the holes.

Since it is impossible to baste parts made of artificial leather, for the convenience of sewing, you can fasten the parts with such hair clips or even use glue. As the paw approaches the hairpin, it is removed.

Take your time when laying the line. The movement of the car is better slow. So the line will be neat and even.

Things made of leather are stylish, beautiful and extremely comfortable, especially in autumn! They have one more advantage: high-quality leather - wearable material. Even if the style is outdated or the appearance is damaged, the skin can be reanimated. In extreme cases, it will come in handy for creating other products.

Approximate consumption of leather for outerwear:

• Women's coat (fur coat) - 370-380 sq.dm.
• Women's jacket- 250-260 sq. dm.
• Men's coat - 400 sq.dm.
• Man's jacket- 270-280 sq.dm.
• Women's jacket- 250-270 sq.dm. (for Russian sizes 46-50)
  1 sq.dm = 10 sq.cm

  Before cutting
  

Skin preparation. Pieces of leather, whether old or new, should be moistened from the wrong side with a solution consisting of 20 g of table salt, 20 g of glycerin per 1 liter of water, water temperature 30-40 C.


Moisturized skin is easily restored. All irregularities, bulges, we can easily pull up. Tightened skin fix it and let it dry for several hours. You can fix it with ordinary pins on any surface, the main thing is that the area allows. Carefully! The pin leaves a mark.

Pattern: The seams on the skin cannot be torn open - there will be traces of stitches, so use only a “tested” pattern. It is better to prepare all the details of the pattern in a complete set: 2 parts of the shelf, 2 sleeves, etc. Each detail is cut out separately, and errors will be excluded.

Before opening the skin, be sure to iron it, because it shrinks.

cutting


We work around defects. You can cut either from the wrong side or from front side, but in any case, all thin places and holes should be noted on the skin.

How to decompose? The closer to the center, the stronger the skin. With this in mind, cut out the most worn parts of the future product. Stella sent me a diagram of the details of the pattern on the skin. Use matching quality leather for the front and sleeves. The thickness and nuances of coloring should not be left without attention, especially for shelves.

Follow direction. The skin is more stretched in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal direction. It is better to cut all the details along the share (along the ridge), deviations are allowed up to 10%. Don't skimp on quality.

Seam lines, markings and allowances. The contours of parts and allowances must be marked with a soft pencil or ballpoint pen, you can - finely sharpened crayon. Allowances of the same width make it easier to sew cut details. Make small allowances for the main sections: 1 -1.5 cm; 2.5 -3 cm can be used to hem the bottom; armhole, sleeves - 0.5 cm.

Cut the skin with sharp scissors or, better, with a special circular knife. With such a knife, cutting must be done on a special substrate: you can use a sheet of thick cardboard or a piece of linoleum.

Ironing

The skin is ironed from the wrong side with a moderately heated iron, without steam, through the iron. First, of course, be sure to try on an unnecessary patch.

The ironing process will facilitate “sticking” and “breaking”.
The seam allowances are opened, glued to the main product with ordinary rubber glue, and then tapped with a hammer on a marble slab (special small hammers are available for sale, but a regular one will do). You need to knock with gentle pressure so as not to pierce the skin. Thanks to this operation, the seam becomes thinner and neater.

To prevent the tip of the tuck from tearing when tapped, glue or attach a piece of material to the top of the tuck.

During the “gluing” operation, it is better to apply the glue with a brush or a wooden spatula in a thin layer, wait a couple of seconds (so that it does not stick to your fingers) and then stick it. Allow the glue to dry for an hour before stitching, otherwise the needle will get stuck and the stitching will be poor. Use rubber glue- when it dries, the seams will remain elastic.

Be very careful! Rubber glue comes off well from the front side of the skin, but from the inside, and even more so from velor - you can’t peel it off! Keep it in a tightly closed jar (thickens when exposed to air). If the glue has thickened, dissolve it with a little acetone.
You can buy rubber glue at any shoe store.

pad

It is better to use a special adhesive interlining for the skin, which is ironed with a moderately heated iron without steam. The skin remains soft and supple over the entire area. It is possible to glue not the entire surface, but only the seams, but if there are thin places on the skin that are difficult to get around, they should be strengthened with adhesive interlining. The belt is glued completely.


Leather sewing

The details of the cut made of leather are not swept away, but chipped off by allowances or connected with ordinary paper clips. For sweeping, they also use double-sided tape for the skin and an adhesive stick for the skin.

The skin is grinded down machine stitching with large stitches about 3mm long, the fine stitch perforates the leather too much and the seams are torn. Thin leather can be sewn like fabric with a regular #80 needle, turning the details. However, allowances to lie smoothly, glue or attach.

Stitches on thick skin performed with a special needle for the skin with a trihedral point. The number of the needle depends on the thickness of the skin. They scribble it "in the open". One piece has a seam allowance and the other does not. On the wrong side of the part, which is cut out without an allowance, with a pencil, you need to outline the width of the allowance of another part. Glue the parts from the wrong side one on top of the other with rubber glue and then grind.

Edges don't fray clean, but set one on top of the other (we are talking about sewing from thick leather). To do this, the details are cut out first with seam allowances.

The edge of the upper part (collar, side) is wrapped and glued to the bottom. The lower part is glued onto the allowance with the upper wrong side, then attached from the side of the upper (wrapped) part. The protruding part of the allowance is cut close to the stitches of the line.

Do not glue the bottom hem to the full height, but leave the top 1-1.5 cm open.

If the sewing machine does not feed the leather well or sews uneven stitches , try possible options solutions:

• use a Teflon or roller foot;
• use split. Tap with a hammer at the seam on a small metal bar, and the thickness will noticeably decrease;
• iron a narrow strip of gasket over the seam line;
• you can lay a line on top of tissue paper;
• or dampen the seam with soapy water.

  If you are stitching:

• Under one half of the foot, you can put a straight strip of cardboard so that finishing stitch did not grab the cardboard.
• For coated leather only. The place of stitching can be lubricated with oil (vegetable or machine). This cannot be done on aniline skin - a cloudy trace will remain.

History of one bag. Such a detailed MK)

All kinds of handbags are my passion, says Brina.
The starting point was a second-hand jacket: an outdated style and a lot of excellent leather.
The book "Encyclopedia. Leather" Technique, techniques, products was a great help. Elena Cherkizova. "AST-press book" 2004. There are a lot of useful information and various subtleties that I have not seen in other sources ..

At the first stage, it is worth deciding on the dimensions and geometry "in practice". E. Cherkizova advises taking thin paper for this, which can be folded several times.

The second very important stage is the construction of the pattern. All lines should be as smooth as possible, it is quite difficult to make any "points" in the seams on the skin.

Cardboard templates make it easier to work, especially if the product has complex curves. I want to draw your attention to the flexible pattern. This wonderful little thing helped me a lot in my work - you can "shape" the curve and "edit" it, achieving the perfect result.

The leather can be ironed on the wrong side with a fairly hot iron. If you really need to iron on the front, you can put a piece of leather on top as an iron: smooth side to smooth side. The texture and shape will be preserved.

The skin can be starched with a spray from a balloon from the wrong side, ironed through a cloth or paper.

There is a special adhesive tape for leather, similar to double-sided tape. Using this tape, it is very easy to connect any parts, for example, a valve.

Almost all seams need to be tapped. The skin becomes thinner, takes the desired shape and is much easier to sew.

As a sealant, I used material for packaging household appliances. It resembles smooth foam, something between foam rubber and isolon. Then all the parts are connected with adhesive tape and stitched.

Regilin was laid along the lightning line. Without it, in the unbuttoned form, a smooth and beautiful bend cannot be obtained. I glued the regilin, and for additional fixation I sewed it manually with a seam "over the edge". I think this method is quite acceptable for home conditions.

From the book of E. Cherkizova, I learned about a wonderful method that facilitates the implementation hand seam. The skin is pierced with a fairly large medical needle (from a syringe). A needle with a thread tip is inserted into the hole of a medical needle, and the reverse stroke of this needle pulls the needle with thread very easily.

When sewing leather, it is very important to tie all the threads of the beginning and end of the seams, and not to make reinforcement stitches. The tails of the tied threads should be left 1 - 2 cm, because. they slide into the skin and the seams come loose very easily.

Genuine leather products have always been valued very expensively, since their service life is practically unlimited. But not every material can be flashed on a typewriter, and it is not always convenient to use it. Therefore, many craftsmen sew only by hand and the quality of their work remains at its best, and the price significantly exceeds the cost of machine-made products.

WE SEW FROM GENUINE LEATHER OWN HANDS

You will need special tools - an awl, a punch and a hammer.

There is also a special tool for pricking, or as it is also called a “fork”:

1. 1. You need to extrude a line on the material being processed, which will take on the role of a guideline when making holes. It can also be applied with a compass;
2. 2. now, using a punch and a hammer, make holes in the workpiece;
3. 3. pre-place a piece of thick rubber under it;
4. 4. if you worked with a pricking fork, you will have to additionally open the holes with an awl for stitching;
5. 5. Having placed the material in the clip, you can start stitching

What kind of thread should be sewn on leather? When performing a saddle stitch, arm yourself with linen threads. Before use, they are recommended to be waxed so that they repel dirt and easily pass through holes in the material.

What needle should be used to sew leather? You will need a strong, blunt-pointed saddlery needle. Ear size also matters. For example, to make shoes fit needle with a fourth eye size. Pulling the short end of the thread, it should be twisted into a loop. This is necessary so that the thread does not jump off the needle. Now get to work by choosing a seam "forward needle".

You can sew two parts with two needles at the same time. In this case, one of the needles must be inserted into the extreme hole and dragged through. Pass the second through the second hole and pull it down. Now it needs to be inserted into the hole on the other side a little higher than the first and dragged, pointing the pointed tip up.

Both needles are then inserted into the next hole and pulled through.

How to hand sew leather? You can join the parts with a seam over the edge. With this method, it can be quite difficult to fix them in the clamp, so experienced workers give advice to glue the parts with PVA glue. If, after reaching the end, you make two or three stitches with the needle, moving backwards, you will not have to make knots. It is enough to cut the thread at the very surface.

When working with kapron threads, the tails can be melted and then they definitely will not bloom. We sew a bag made of genuine leather: using this method, you can sew not only shoes, but also a bag that will serve you for more than one year.

HOW TO SEW HOOK LEATHER

If you don't have a needle handy, you can learn how to sew with an awl. That is, use it not only for making holes in the material, but also for pushing the thread. Although this is not the best solution, since the thread is easily damaged.

Therefore, the best alternative to a needle is a crochet hook:

1. 1. in one hand, hold the prepared overcast, and in the other, the awl;
2. 2. make a hole on the outside of the workpiece and insert a hook into it: hook the loop of the doubled thread and pull it to the outside of the product;
3. 3. having disconnected the hook, gently pull one end of the thread so that one part of it is from the outer edge of the outsole, and the other from the inner;
4. 4. make another puncture with a metal tool at the distance you need;
5. 5. insert the hook into the resulting hole again and hook the loop of the thread from the inside;
6. 6. pull it so that the tip of this loop rises 10 mm above the outer side of the product;
7. 7. release the hook, and pull the tip of the fiber you received earlier into the loop formed;
8. 8. it remains to tighten the stitch by pulling the thread from the inside;
9. 9. at the end of the work, as soon as the first stitch you made touches the last one, take 3-4 steps in the opposite direction, and do not thread the new holes, but those that you already have.

WORKING ON THE MACHINE

How to sew genuine leather on a typewriter? On ordinary household sewing equipment, it is quite possible to sew such material, but not too thick. Of course, she will not be able to process the belt, but she will be able to take the skin, with a thickness of 1 to 1.5 mm. But for this she needs to create certain conditions.

What is needed in this case:

• 1. a special needle for the skin, the tip of which has a non-circular section. The end of such a needle has sharp edges that do not push apart the fibers of the material, but cut through them;
• 2. If no stitch formation occurs, you can set the needle thicker and not all the way. But even these measures may not be enough, and if we sew a skirt from genuine leather, then most likely we will have to look for thinner material;
• 3.if the upper thread does not tighten, you can try to change the threads and take not flax, but nylon;
• 4. If the conveyor does not cope well with the advancement of the material, it is necessary to purchase a special Teflon, roller or fluoroplastic foot. Some try to get out of the situation and sprinkle the pattern with talcum powder, oil it, or simply help it move with their hands. You can try all these methods, and as an option, it is recommended to sew over tracing paper, but this is not very convenient.

RULES FOR SEWING PRODUCTS FROM GENUINE LEATHER

It is very important to properly sew leather, especially suede. If you do not take into account the direction of the pile, the cut parts will vary in color. You need to iron the surface only from the wrong side, and the iron should not be very hot and emit steam. Don't forget to put the usual cotton fabric. Remember that when working on a typewriter, the seam is not secured in reverse, which means that you will have to fix the ends of the threads with several knots.

Working with leather almost always involves processing with glue. Glue can be applied with a brush only on a cleaned surface and previously freed from grease. The most commonly used glue is Moment, rubber compound or PVA. The parts treated with glue must be allowed to dry, and then connected and be sure to put under the press. Remove excess adhesive solution with a cotton swab or rag.

Knowing these rules for working with leather, you will not spoil the material, but only improve its properties and qualities. Good luck!

A short video about the creation of a new brand of leather goods