When laying out your pattern check for imperfections in the leather. Marks, blemishes, and holes are quite common on hides and there's no point making a garment that's damaged before you start.
To cut the leather you can use a rotary cutter or a stanley knife. A good pair of shears will also work. A solid cutting board under the hide is essential for a clean cut, and helps make sure that you don't damage your table.
When laying out your pattern take care in deciding where to sew. Once a line is stitched, the holes are there for life. This also means you can't pin leather. When laying out the pattern to cut I use small tins of tuna. You can buy special pattern weights as an alternative.
When pinning seams for sewing I use hair clips. They hold the pieces together firmly yet don't damage anything. They are not as robust as pins so care will be needed when handling the pieces and feeding them into the sewing machine.
Leather doesn't need a 5/8" or 1/2" seam allowance. No fraying means a smaller seam allowance is possible.
A standard sewing machine (such as a Brother NS30) will happily sew simple seams so don't be put off by the idea of sewing leather. It's true that thicker skins or many layered seams will need a more powerful machine but get some offcuts and test what your machine can do. Trimming and layering seams will help. Remember that leather won't fray around the edges.
Your sewing machine will need a couple of extra toys to sew successfully.
- A leather sewing needle will help. This will have a triangular head and is designed for punching a small neat hole rather than opening a gap between threads.
- You'll also need a teflon pressor foot. This will allow the leather to slide easier so the stitches will stay even. Sticky tape over the base of the pressor foot can also be used, but I haven't tested it.
- A heavier upholstery weight thread will help keep things together.
While we are on seams you will need to decide how they will be finished. There are several alternatives you can use.
- Spread the seam open and pound it with a rubber mallet. This will make your seams flatter and they will stay mostly open. Trim them if they are too wide. In my opinion it's not that great a solution.
- Ironing a seam flat. This takes great care as leather burns just like any other skin and is very easy to damage with excessive heat. Use a press cloth and practice first. It works really well to hold the seam open, but I have badly scorched at least one large piece that I had to replace.
- A flat fell seam works well. Trim the excess from one side and fold both seams over in the same direction. Sew flat. It also helps reinforce a seam. This is my preferred method.
- Spread open the seam and sew it open with a second line on either side of the main seam. Keep the secondary lines close to the main seam. Basically top stitching the seam open. Trim back the excess on both sides.
- Glue or tape the seams open. Spread the seam and flatten with a mallet then use leather glue. It's rubbery so the seam will move with the garment but the seam will stay open. I found this a messy option but it does work.
None of this information was created by me. It's the result of many generous people who posted blogs on working with leather. Here are the sites that I have found most useful.
- http://www.designsponge.com/2012/02/diy-project-leather-lunch-tote.html
- http://fivemuses.blogspot.ca/2012/06/sewing-on-leather-stitching-and-seams.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+ClioPhineas+%28Clio+%26amp;+Phineas%29
- http://andreasnotebook.com/how-to-sew-leather-straps-for-handbags-and-purses-guest-post-by-paradiso-designs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+typepad/1214749844s27842/the_train_to_crazy+%28The+Train+To+Crazy%29
- http://nicolemdesign.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/how-to-sew-leather-few-tips.html
Links to all of these and others can be found here.
https://www.pinterest.com/raygleeson/leather-working/
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