Sewing with leather

Well, I finally tried it. I came across the perfect large white leather coat at the Goodwill and figured it was time to see if my machine could handle it. In order to minimize waste I used the coat design elements in my bag design. For example, I took apart the lapels on each side of the front opening to make the purse straps. I took a pocket off the front and made use of a nice stretch of clean hide for the front and back and used the under arm and part of the sleeve (where the leather seemed a bit softer and weaker) for the inside top where the magnetic closures were placed. I used a walking foot and regular thread. My walking foot is noticeably lower quality than the other attachments I have. The foot's metal is actually bendable when I have to wrangle a thick chunk under it and it doesn't lift up as high as I'd like in the first place. I think for top stitching I should have used a heavier-weight thread, too. Where the straps attach to the bag was too thick to machine sew so I hand stitched those parts using a tapestry needle and DMC thread and pliers. Not much fun, and we'll see how long they hold up before I have to reinforce them. Sometimes the hand stitching is the strongest part -- you never know. Anyway, the result is pictured above.

I guess on one side of my brain I'd like to see cleaner sewing and fewer stitch marks. However I realize I'd need to get my hands on a real industrial machine to get several layers of leather PLUS the thick foam interfacing I use under the needle. Also, I'd need to purchase clean hides which haven't been used before. From the old waste-not-want-not mentality there's something really satisfying about using secondhand garments in making new purses. If you're like me you really love the stitch marks left from removing pockets and from previous stitching on the coat. It's the patina of a recycler's new creation and a-okay with me. In all, I'm pretty pleased with my new bag. I own a nice "pleather" white bag, but I've been wanting a white leather bag made from real skin (sorry PETA). Every time one of those "IT" bags catches my eye the price tag shoots a little hole in my heart. So this one's mine.

I have three more leather coats to play with: one great soft black leather coat, a sort of pebbly brown leather coat and a dark plum colored leather coat. Yippee. I'm thinking next time I'll use a different interfacing. While I love the structure of the white one, I may ease up on the machine (and save some needles) and use a thinner interfacing. Maybe a slouchier design will accommodate that. This is gonna be fun.