Sewing With Leather and Suedes
Firstly never use pins to hold your seams before sewing. Get some of those binder clips or bulldog clips the small size. Hold the fabric together with these instead of pine. The first one will go out of the way of your pressure foot at the top edge and the others down the seam allowance. Allow 1/2-inch seam instead of the 5/8inch seam and use polyester or cotton wrapped polyester thread. Line up so the first stitch goes into the leather or suede, do not back stitch when starting or finishing, instead tie off the threads, pull threads to one side and then tie off, leave the ends long as these will be included in the seam edge finishing. Using a seam stick and a small wallpaper roller open the seam out and with pressure roll the wallpaper roller along the finished seam allowance. Unfortunately these will pop back after so you need to use permanent contact cement. Sounds drastic, I know but it's not. You don't use very much. I use a coated disposable plate to put a small amount of contact cement on and then take a Q tip or cotton bud with a little on and run this along the under side of the seam allowance (keeping a little away from the start and finish of the seam) and press down with fingers, don't stretch. Do the other side in the same way and then press flat with the wallpaper roller. Make sure you only put enough of the contact cement to get a bond. This will give you a lovely pliable seam on your suede or leather. CTBaird is an author of many articles and the Sewing eGuide “Sew More For U” http://www.sewmoreforu.com Copyright © 2005-2006 CTBaird Rights Reserved Sew More For U
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