Leather Chaps

[Christy]

Hello,
Have a customer who wants me to embroider the state of Texas on each leg of his leather chaps. I have not seen them yet, but he has 2 pairs and he said, one pair is real thick.
Appreciate any advice, even if it's, don't do them!
Thanks

[debndukes]

Depending on the thickness, of course, you could try to run it but I would do a fwe things. Make sure a heavy gauge needle is in use, and run the design VERY slow (400-500 s.p.m.), so if a needle does snap, the impending doom will be less harsh. Of course, let them know that due to the slow run time, the design may cost them a bit more to run than normal. Mostly, its a gut feeling. I have done leather before and had it work great, and i have had it punch the design right out of the leather. oops. only advise i can give.

[Christy]

I now have visions of this guy riding around with a state of TX cut out on his chaps ! Would be a big hole because he wants it to be 4" across.
Thanks for the info, think I'm gonna be passing !

[signman]

Here's a suggestion...embroider it onto denim or poplin, sew a satin stitch border around it and cut it out as a patch...then hand stitch it but space the needle holes 1/8" or so apart and use a thread that matches the material or the same color as the 'border' and hide them in the inside edge of the border. A couple rows of stitches around the inner design to tie it down...and it will look like it's embroidered right on it-with very few holes to cause the leather to tear out.
Just my thoughts...and charge through the nose!
Some of those bikes run $30,000 or more!

[djames]

When I do leather, I make sure that the density is less than what I would normally do on fabric(a 3.4 or knits would be a 4.2 or 4.5 on leather). I also make the stitch length longer, and my columns a bit wider. Make sure that the short stitch function is turned on. If the design is a fill make sure that it has a decent underlay, because the leather will stretch. Also in addition to a piece of tearaway, I put a piece of wax paper on the backside of the leather. It helps to lubricate the needle. Make sure also, that you use a sharp point needle, I usually use a 75/11. I also would recommend using poly thread, for less thread breaks. One other thing that I almost always do is run a sample. I get my sample leather fabrics from the thrift store I've gotten jackets there and have cut them apart. It has worked well for me.

[Digital Stitchz / LaserWorkz]

I agree with djames. One thing you want to do to the design is reduce the density of the embroidery on leather. It will still look very good with less, alot less stitches. If you can get a scrap piece of leather to practice on all the better. We did some 40 black leather jackets
with a density of about 40 to 50 percent less stitching.

Everything that djames said: needle, thread, density, scraps and speed are right on.