How to Sew Leather

All fabrics behave in different ways: chiffon is delicate, polyester stretches, and leather has its own set of qualities to be mindful of when sewing (as does faux leather!).

Certain leathers are known to be “sticky” – meaning, when it comes time to use a sewing foot to hold the fabric in place, the leather can stick to the foot. This will lead to uneven stitching if you’re not careful.

You also have to be careful about how you sew leather because once you make a hole in leather, it’s difficult to disguise unlike other fabrics.

Here’s a helpful video you may find useful:

Janome HD3000 Heavy-Duty Sewing Machine

The Janome HD3000 is considered to be one of the top heavy-duty machines on the market.

With a powerful 1.0 amp motor, all-metal insides, and excellent selection of accessories, the HD3000 is a powerhouse of a machine.

The HD3000 glides through several layers of thick materials without any issues. Leather is no exception.

The Janome HD3000 has 18 built-in stitches, but with a speed of 850 stitches per minute

It is on the slow side for a heavy-duty machine. Still faster than a regular sewing machine, but more experienced sewers may find it lagging behind.

However, the slower stitch speed isn’t much of an issue when working heavy materials like leather. A slower stitch speed is ideal with leather in order to keep control of the fabric while it feeds and to avoid overloading the motor.

The Janome HD3000’s superb performance has led to it acquiring a strong fanbase of dedicated users. Several users even swear that it is better than their industrial machines.

You can find even more information on the Janome HD3000 by checking out our individual review here.

The Best Hand Leather Sewing Machines

Many people wish that they could work with leather but are put off because they perceive it as pricey. These days, nothing could be further from the truth, a quality leather stitching machine is well within everyone’s reach—and the best hand-operated models will be able to stitch up other heavy-duty materials as well.

In this article, we will highlight seven of the best machines with leatherworking capabilities. They will come at a variety of price points to suit almost anyone’s budget, but all will be of a quality that is sure to please experienced leathercrafters.

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• Best Leather Sewing Machines

Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 Computerized Sewing Machine

The Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 is the only computerized machine to make it onto this list. While it is not directly intended for leather sewing, its versatile features allow it to handle some leatherworking projects.

As you would expect from a computerized machine, it has a staggering 600 built-in stitches. Many of them are decorative or embroidery stitches, so while most of them won’t be particularly useful for leather, they can come in handy with your other projects.

The Quantum Stylist 9960 allows you a lot of control over your speed, which is a great asset when sewing leather. You can use the foot pedal to control your speed or you can set the speed through the computer.

With a truly impressive 18 presser feet included, the Quantum Stylist 9960 is the only machine on the list to come with a walking foot! Since this is an essential tool for sewing leather with leather, it cannot be overstated!

The Quantum Stylist 9960 doesn’t allow you to connect to a computer to download more stitches, which is a disappointing drawback for a computerized machine. For leather sewing, additional stitches aren’t a big deal since you only need a handful of basic utility stitches for it anyway.

Check out our individual review of the Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 to learn more about it.