Sewing with leather?

Question

Is leather a hard material to sew with? I'd like to make a leather bag. I probably wouldn't use real leather. It would be a faux leather that I would make it out of. Is faux leather expensive? What kind of needle should I use? I have a Janome Magnolia machine. I think Magnolia is the name of it. Would that work fine? I've only ever worked with silk, cotton, and a strech material. I really want a leather book bag but the ones that I found that I like are really expensive. Well, not really expensive. Just more than I want to pay. Which is $45. So, can you answer all of my questions?

Answer 1

you can certainly sew leather - most new machines have a special pressure foot attachment that is designed specifically for suede and leather. Look in your sewing machine tool case and it should be there, if not cut the design of your purse, with right sides together sew a seam around the bag, placing tissue paper under and over the material, leave an opening for snaps or a zipper closure. Then tear away the tissue paper when the seam is finished. It's as simple as that.  Be sure to have the right size needle in your machine,  You can find the  correct guage # in the instruction manual that comes with the machine.  On my machine it is #16

Have fun!

Answer 2

There are special leather needles that you can purchase at Jo-Ann Fabrics or any fabric store, and you need to use either a Teflon foot (good) or a walking foot (better), available where sewing machines are sold. Otherwise, you can use tissue paper under a regular presser foot to help the leather feed through more easily. Since you cannot pin leather pieces before sewing, I use binder clips to hold the pieces together. If there is a leather store near you (like Tandy Leather Goods http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/Locat... ) they will have remnant bins with leather pieces large enough  to make a bag, and the prices are not bad. I bought a remnant large enough to make a purse, and it cost me $10.