I started off using Black Swan with a leather needle. The seams went very well using Gutermann's NE50 cotton thread. I switched over to Coats and Clark upholstery thread for top stitching. The first bit went pretty good also.
I did need to help the needle when I hit 4 layers of the 1mm thick leather, but I was kind of expecting that.
So, am I ready to call the 201 'industrial strength!' and put it up on Ebay for $500 with these pictures as proof of its heavy dutiness? Maybe with a stack of quarters next to it to prove that the presser foot moves up and down?
Not so fast. Yep Black Swan did very well on the first round. But now comes round 2. The shoulder strap.
I had to run out to the local quilt shop here in Simsbury to grab some 'Wash Away Wonder Tape' by Dritz to use as basting. I guess while I was out Black Swan asked herself why a 'dressmaker' machine was having leather ran through it, because as soon as I started running stitches again she puked out this.
Looks like a freakin' 401 stitch or something. What a mess. And that's the best I got it to after re-balancing the tension twice. But I figured I was ahead of the game at this point. I had been surprised she handled the leather at all.
At that point I decided to very politely open up Wicked Queen as let her have a go. But Wicked Queen was in a rather pissed off mood from me ignoring her for the past few sewing projects.
Even worse. I might as well be trying to sew with a Singer 8748 or something. I tried for half an hour to get any kind of decent bobbin tension on her. But I couldn't get the bobbin below 50 grams without detaching the spring. I apologized profusely to Wicked Queen and promised her a nice jacket project in the coming months before putting her back to sleep.
Finally I gave in and heaved the 29K72 up onto the TV console, since the 29-4 treadle is still awaiting my son and his friends to weld some support extensions on it to allow for the longer feet on the 29K72.
Yep, that's what happens when you use the proper machine for sewing leather. The 29 still isn't 100% though. It has some alignment issues, presser foot positioning and the tensioning is not all they could be. But even in its 'iffy' state it makes a darn sight nicer stitch that the domestic machines when working with the heavy stuff.
The biggest drawback is the lack of anything driving it other than the hand crank.
Trying to guide heavy, stiff material through a sketchy at best feed mechanism over a 1 1/4" wide bed while turning a wheel over two feet away is not that fun. It's about 6 hours later and my shoulders are still tight from it. Even from this distance you can see the wobble in the stitch line, but good stitches.
For attaching the strap to the bag itself I initially decided to give riveting a try. I watched a video on youtube where a guy went on about riveting with what you have laying around. The only problem was he had things like an anvil laying around. I didn't so I went to Michaels and picked up a 'rivet setting kit' and 60+ rivets for like $9. I bet that youtube guy spent more on his anvil.
The leather punch was another $9. So if I never use either again my wife's Valentine's Day gift cost about $40 including the leather. But I imagine I'll use the rivets on more projects going forward. I didn't even use half of the leather we had purchased. So maybe this bag will be the practice one and I'll do a second, better bag later.
After riveting I didn't really like how the straps looked with just the rivets holding them in, so I ran another line of stitches to hold the straps to the bag as well.
My wife really liked it. She teared up when she saw it the first time. That is my favorite thing about sewing. How people react when they get something hand made.
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