BERNINA Corporate Blog -I make all of my own clothes, and sometimes folks ask whether I also sew for my husband Jon as well – and the answer is, well – sometimes! He has a lot of purchased garments in his wardrobe, but sometimes when the requirements get specific I get to make something for him!
We’ve been working on quite the collection of home improvement projects in the last few months – one of the biggest is that we rebuilt our deck, which was the last piece of the puzzle before we bought our new grill! With a new grill comes BBQ accessories, and although some details take longer to finalise than others, Jon almost immediately asked me to sew a leather apron.
We planned out the requirements – a selection of pockets, a strap to hold a tea towel, removable, adjustable straps, and a robust cotton canvas base fabric that would be easy to wash. I considered making it fully out of leather at the start – the main benefit is that leather is excellent for blocking the heat from the burners – but ultimately washability won out, especially for his current needs. We can always go back to the full leather idea in the future if needed.
I used an apron I’d made for him previously to gauge how much larger this one needed to be – it has a fuller coverage top and wraps further around the sides so that he has more real estate to wipe his hands. I folded over and topstitched all the straight edges, but I used bias binding to finish the curved sides to keep them nice and neat.
Supplies for Sewing with Leather
Sewing with leather isn’t as scary as you might think, but there are a few tricks to keep in mind that will make the process run smoothly. First of all, there are some material considerations.
Needle
Choosing the right needle makes a huge difference, especially when you’re working with leather. Leather needles have a blade point that helps cut through the leather, and they have a larger groove to protect thicker threads during stitching.
Thread
You have a few options here, depending on your project. You may choose to sew with a heavy duty thread in both the top and bobbin for maximum strength, but this isn’t always a requirement. For this project, I threaded my machine with two spools of all-purpose sewing thread to create the appearance of topstitching thread and used regular sewing thread in the bobbin.
Pins
The best pins for leather are no pins at all! You’ll certainly find yourself needing to hold things in place before stitching at some point though. For this, sewing clips are your best friend. Any holes poked in leather are permanent, so clips are a perfect solution.
Another option (again, I use this for shoemaking) is a white PVA glue, like Elmer’s. Glue like this is a very common way of basting pieces of leather so they don’t shift when you’re sewing.
Machine Foot
You have a few options here, as well. The Roller Foot #51 was my choice for this project – the foot has three rollers which help the leather glide freely, even with high pressure foot pressure. For particularly ‘sticky’ leathers like those with patent finishes, and vinyl, a foot with a non-stick sole can work as well.
Another option, the Leather Roller Foot #55 has a very different kind of roller! The large, tilted wheel turns as you stitch to keep stitch length even, and allows for excellent manoeuvrability over tight curves. I have the old-style version of this foot for my 1980’s Bernina 830 Record, and I find that the foot has trouble holding thicker leathers down as the needle is drawn back up, but I’m not sure if this is because of the foot or because my old machine doesn’t have the presser foot pressure required to keep it in place! One of these days, perhaps I’ll get the new version for my B570 QE and run a proper comparison!
Leather Thickness
In addition to the above, you’ll need some leather, of course! My leather is a nubuck suede and is moderately thick – at most, I stitched through three layers of this leather in order to sew the apron, which is the upper end of what I’d expect my machine to be able to handle. When choosing a leather, consider its thickness, density, and the total number of layers you’ll need to sew through. If you’re unsure, test out sewing through a few layers of leather. Keep an eye out for skipped stitches, and check (with eyes and ears!) to make sure your machine isn’t struggling as you sew.
There is an upper limit on our machines’ ability to handle leather, but there’s also a trick to sewing with leathers that are too thick for your machine. If your leather is too thick, you can shave the back of the leather down along the edge you plan to stitch. This is called “skiving” – I use it most commonly in my shoemaking projects! The most common tools for this are a leather knife or a safety skiver, but a utility or x-acto knife will also work in a pinch.
Skiving decreases the thickness of the leather only where you need to, in order to decrease bulk and make it easier to stitch. I didn’t need to skive my leather for the apron, but it’s a handy trick to keep in mind if you ever fall in love with a leather that your machine isn’t tolerating.
Machine Setup
We’re almost there! Before we begin sewing the leather parts of this project, there are a few machine settings to adjust – this will depend on your machine and any preferences you may have set up.
Stitch Length: Closely spaced stitches can weaken a leather seam, so increase the stitch length to around 3 or 4mm.
Presser foot pressure: If your machine has the adjustable presser foot pressure feature, like my B570 QE, turn it up as high as it’ll go! This will keep the leather from lifting as the needle is drawn back up, creating a neater result with a lower risk of skipped stitches.
Finishing stitch/tie off: I usually have my machine set to take a few stitches close together at the start and finish of each seam to lock everything in place. If you do as well, make sure you turn this off before you begin! We want to poke as few holes as necessary, so we’ll use a different method to tie off and secure those threads.
Adding Leather to the Apron
That was a lot! Now that you’re armed with the right tools and settings, though, the sewing part is easy! My canvas apron base is now ready for its leather accents.
First up, I added triangular reinforcements to the corners of the waist. These are topstitched to the canvas (using all the settings and materials I listed above!), and I installed a grommet for the strap attachment point.
Next up, I determined pocket size and placement with some pieces of pattern paper. The top is a leather patch pocket, and the lower is more canvas with a strip of leather along its top edge. I laid these pockets out alongside the tea towel strap, and marked placement so that nothing would interfere.
When we were happy with placement, I stitched these down with the roller foot – including the canvas pocket. I was curious to see whether it made a difference to my stitching, and I was quite impressed! Especially with the pressure turned all the way up, I found that my layers didn’t shift and it created a lovely, even result.
I finished the pockets by adding rivets at each stress point, applied using my hardware press. These are double capped rivets – there are two corresponding pieces which fit together, and they’re installed either with a press like mine or a dome shaped tool and a hammer.
I love the look of the hardware, but it’s also very functional – the rivets will help stabilise everything when bulky items get quickly shoved into those pockets while Jon’s at the grill!
Adding the Straps
The final step to completing the apron is to make a set of straps! I spent a long time researching strap design for this project, looking for something that would be easy to get in and out of but also secure enough that the apron wouldn’t shift around during wear. At one point, I sketched an extremely complicated system of buckles and slide adjusters, complete with a magnetic quick-release buckle that would be special ordered from a tactical supply shop – before I realised that this was entirely too complicated for what was actually needed!
The design I settled on features latch clips which allow the straps to be removed for washing, leather shoulder sections and cotton webbing tails that tie at the back of the waist, and a diamond-shaped support piece which holds the straps in place and keeps them from sliding off Jon’s shoulders.
To prepare the apron, I added grommets at both the side and shoulder attachment points, again using my hardware press and a hole cutting die.
I already reinforced the side attachment points, but not the shoulders. To add support, I cut a piece of scrap leather into a “washer” shape and sandwiched this between the two layers of canvas.
Sewing the Strap Guide
After creating a template on cardstock, I cut two diamonds out of my leather – the first (top piece) at actual size, and the second (base) with a little bit of excess around each edge. I then cut the channels into just the top piece so that the straps would pass through.
Wrong sides together, I began stitching around the edge with the roller foot, holding the thread tail for the first few stitches. Cutting the lower piece of leather slightly larger means that I have a bit of wiggle room for misalignment. It also means I don’t have to worry about keeping the two edges perfectly aligned. Plus, it provides a bit more stability to the foot and a bit of extra grip for the feed dogs.
Securing Thread Ends
Since backstitching the seam would add extra holes to the leather that we don’t want, securing the seam happens in a different way. I complete my stitching and cut the threads from my machine manually, leaving a tail. Using an awl, I tug the threads from the top and the bottom so they’re poking out between the two layers, and use them all to tie a double knot.
Finally, I squeeze a tiny dot of glue onto the knot to ensure it won’t loosen over time. Once the glue has dried, it’s safe to trim those threads! The knot is invisible between the two layers of leather, and the stitching isn’t going anywhere. I’m using Tombow Liquid Aqua – an acid-free glue that I also use for a similar purpose in bead embroidery. A regular PVA glue would work as well.
Finally, I trim the excess leather from the lower piece, and our strap support piece is complete! Here’s what it looks like once assembled:
The finished apron is a big hit! Jon feels much the same way about cooking that I do about sewing, so it’s lovely to be able to use my hobby to make something for his hobby. As a bonus, I get the benefits of tasty meals made on our new grill! He’s usually not one to be in front of a camera, so here’s my dress form modelling it instead:
If you’d like to keep up with my projects and see what I’m up to – I’d love for you to come say hi on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or my blog!
Happy 4th of July to all you Bernina folks