Howdy,

We machine stitch about 35 hides worth of Bison and Elk per year. All our equipment is industrial. We simply change needles and thread to match the purpose.

For my personal gear, I usually use one ordinary straight stitch tailoring machine that's the equivalent of a heavy home machine. I hand punch the decorative or delicate portions with an awl, then thread it with chisel point leather needle and pliers.

For load bearing elements I'll use a heavier needle and thread, along with rivets to secure. On luggage, footwear, and hand wear the big machines are the way to go for us- the consistent thread tension, even spacing, and speed are great...but then we've had to work up to that over time. The results are what you might expect from the investment, but I recall having more fun learning to do it by hand.



Here's my traveling office, and the lower assembly from one of our boots. They were both done with a post-bed machine, heavy thread, and much patience.

Cheers,

Kevin.