Hi Sweeby,
Beyond using the right (brand new, leather needle) I don't have any tips. Regarding the pressing, I immediately think you should use some kind of a pressing cloth, but I'm not certain even then you will truly get a nice pressed seam. Is this a treasured garment? If so, I might be tempted to take it to a drycleaner/tailor. I cannot imagine it would be more than a few dollars, and it will come out perfectly.

Thanks Bestyears -- Actually, I haven't had the greatest luck with dry cleaners and leather. And it won't be a treasured garment unless I can get the fit exactly right -- which may take a few tries and some experimentation. So it's definitely a DIY job for me. (I won't be crushed if I kill it -- but I know you don't get endless 'second chances' with leather like you can with fabric.)

I sew but have never sewn leather so I have no advice. Just here to wish you good luck! I'm jealous of your machine!

In addition to the new leather needle, I would suggest a heavy duty thread, too. I've done this using both, with great results.

You might practice first on a piece of scrap fabric to get your thread spacing the way you want it, too. As you know, once the needle makes a hole in the leather, you're committed.

Yes, Ma'am Golddust - that's my baby ;-) I mean *vintage*!
(But SO much better than the 'fancy' new ones!) I was debating whether to get an old Bernina or an old Viking, and called the guy at the sewing machine repair shop for advice. He suggested this model on eBay with the ~$80 cost of a 'tune up' mentally added onto my bid price. He gave me a few model numbers and said this particular one was a favorite of old school Home Economics programs because they were simple to use and bascially, un-killable. Makes sewing a pleasure again...

And good suggestions on the stitch spacing and thread. Crossing my fingers now...

Here is a link that might be useful: Vintage Viking

You brought me out of lurkerdom with your questions! First of all, you have a cool machine there. Congrats!

My machine (Viking)is electronic and has a leather setting. It set itself for a stitch length of 3mm (8 stitches per inch) and tension at 5 1/2.

When sewing leather, use a leather needle, size 90, and a leather or teflon foot. Instead of pinning seams, use a hand held stapler within the seam line. It saves your fingers, and you won't bend a bunch of pins. After the seams are sewn to the final fit, trim them down to 1/4 inch. Don't press, but pound them open and flat. A leather mallet is made for this purpose, but any rubber mallet will do. Glue the seams flat with rubber cement to hold them in place. Alternatively, seams can be topstitched on either side of the seam line. That's probably not applicable in your case, but I wanted to give thorough instructions.

Good luck, and have fun!!! Hope this helps.

I used to sew leather bags, vests; even made pants.

Hopefully you won't have issues with the needle going through the leather. I have special feet that roll verses walk I'm trying to remember the seams- pretty sure that once you have them flat; they do stay that way. You can also use a glue/adhesive if you need.

I learned on an old Viking. No clue where it is; my ex got rid of my machines; had an old Singer too.

Beautiful old Viking, it looks like a workhorse! My older Bernina was that way, indestructible and a hard worker, until the foot control died. Since the flood back in early 2000's, parts for those older models aren't available, sad to say. I had to retire that machine, which originally was my mothers, and I felt bad for doing so, but it had provided over 35 years of heavy duty service.

I'm still using a Bernina, just a slightly younger one, but I'm looking for a backup because I need to have one working when the other's being serviced. That Viking looks interesting - are you happy with yours? I don't need a lot of fancy stitch styles, just a good, heavy duty machine that can handle 6-8 hours of daily use.

"I don't need a lot of fancy stitch styles, just a good, heavy duty machine that can handle 6-8 hours of daily use. "

That was exactly what I wanted -- a good BASIC machine that could sew on leather, denim, upholstery weight, silk, chiffon, charmeusse -- all without skipping stitches or thread spaghetti. And this one can and does. Yeah, with cams, it can do a lot of fancy stuff (supposedly), but I don't imagine I'll ever try it.

Thanks for the extra hints Woodsy! I thought I had leather needles, but they're 'denim', so off to the fabric store I go...

There are several videos on You Tube that might help. About the only thing I remember from doing it years ago is that a leather needle actually cuts the leather as it goes in so you should not use short stitches since you run the risk of weakening the seam. Use strong thread and tie off the ends rather then reversing and going forward as you would with fabric. Do you have a scrap piece of leather that you could practice on? Make sure the feed dog doesn't leave a mark on the leather - however if you're only sewing seams and not top stitching it should be OK.

Maire

I'm happy to help! Stalking...um, I mean...lurking...feels a little creepy anyway. It's time I joined the conversation!

Woodsy -it's great that you're joining us here. I hope you post often - the more the merrier.

Maire

Thanks for the warm welcome, Maire!