No More Saddle Stitching?

After years of hand-sewing, I'm learning to use a sewing machine again to tackle bigger projects more efficiently.

This is the last thing I made on a sewing machine. I made it in 2001 when I was in eighth grade. Recently, Texo sent me a sewing machine so that I can learn how to use one again and make leather goods out of it. Let's talk a little bit about what's going on because, as you guys know, for my whole career, I've only hand-sewn everything. However, I'm getting older and have been doing this for a long time. I have a trigger finger that won't bend; this one goes like that, and this one is stuck like this.

I want to be able to make bigger projects, like bags and sewn straps, without them taking me 8 to 10 hours. You know, bags can take 40 hours to hand-sew. So, I reached out on Instagram and asked everyone for recommendations on sewing machines. Texo was the brand that everyone suggested. They have tons of resources online and are great to deal with. I emailed them and asked if they wanted to work together. They provided the machine with no payment involved, just the machine, and I agreed to make a couple of videos about my experience using it as a beginner.

This is not a professional review; I openly do not know how to use a machine, which is kind of the whole point. They are not seeing this video before it goes out; they just wanted me to give my honest review as a beginner. In this first video, I'm going to show you the machine set up and give you a rough idea of how my solar-powered workshop works. I built a whole solar system this summer, and I'll show you how it works. It's pretty simple and not that expensive anymore. We'll also go through what I've learned to make in the last two weeks, and then we'll have a follow-up video to show you my progress.

Spoiler alert: the machine has been great to use. These are my solar panels, about 1,000 watts of solar. I run a cable through the double doors of the workshop, which we don't really open because there's a big tree in front of them. The cable comes in on the ground, goes under the rug, and into my solar cabinet. In the solar cabinet, the power comes in from the solar panels to the charge controller, which conditions it. It then goes to some switches, fuses, and bus bars before going down to the batteries. I have 400 amp hours of lithium iron phosphate batteries where all the energy is stored.

Up there, we have two inverters. One inverter is for all the other stuff in the shop, like the lights, fan, and burnishing machine. The other inverter is specifically for the sewing machine because I didn't know how much power I would need. Right now, I have it running an extension cable, which changes it from 12V to 120V, and it is plugged into the sewing machine. The machine comes with a light, different accessories, multiple presser feet, a zipper foot, and a piping foot. It comes with a lot of stuff.

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This sewing machine is perfect for beginners—fully set up out of the box, easy to use, and backed by great customer service.

The inverter in the shop is specifically for the sewing machine because I didn't know how much power I was going to need. Right now, I just have it running an extension cable because the inverter changes it from 12 volts to 120 volts. I’ll get that tidied up under the rug, and it is plugged into the sewing machine.

The sewing machine comes with a light and a lot of different accessories. It even comes with all of the tools, multiple presser feet, a zipper foot, and a piping foot. It comes with a lot of stuff, including thread like a half-pound spool. More importantly, it comes fully set up out of the crate. You just take it out of the crate, and I didn't need to make any adjustments to it. You can see right here it comes with a full bobbin of thread, and this was in the machine. It's fully tested, so you can see that even the tension is perfect on leather.

When I was talking to Texo, they asked me what machine I wanted, and I told them honestly I've never used a machine before. I asked them to recommend what machine I should get based on my use case. They listened to me, got information about what I was going to be using the machine for, and I told them I didn't want the most expensive or the fanciest to show off on video. I wanted to know what they would suggest if someone were to call and say, "This is what I'm going to be using this machine for, what would you suggest?" You can call them, talk to them, and the service is great. They’ll suggest a machine to you, suggest different options, and tell you what will and won't work for what you want to do. That was very important to me.

Everything I've learned so far, I've learned from only their resources online. They have videos that show you how to retime your machine if you throw off the timing because you forget to pull up the presser foot when you're pulling out something, and you smash a needle and it goes into the gears. Not saying that happened to me, but say it did, right? You can just look up how to retime your machine, and in 20 minutes, you'll be back up and running. It was important for me to get the full experience of what they were like to trust because even though they sent me the machine, I was ready to contact them and say, "I'd like to buy a machine, and what do you recommend?" I wanted you guys to have that experience too.

This is the start and go pedal, and this is the presser foot pedal that brings the presser foot up, which loosens the thread so you can pull it. It puts the presser foot down. When you get a piece of leather, you put it in, and this is the retractable roller guide. You have to remember to hold this thread, and it tells you right there. Then you can just go. If you want to backstitch, you just grab this leather, pull it down, and it'll backstitch for you. Then you just keep going. You can see it stitches nice and slow, which is really good for someone like me because I'm a beginner. This roller guide ensures that the stitching stays exactly the same distance from the edge the whole way. You can speed up, you can slow down.

Now, this is something I really like. If you want to do one stitch, you just hit the pedal once. If you want to go back one stitch, you hold that lever down, and it goes back one stitch. I'm not even holding it, and it's doing it. Obviously, you would hold it usually. Now, if we want to get this leather out, if we press the presser foot, you can see the needle's still in.

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From 40 hours to 3: My new sewing machine makes crafting high-quality leather bags fast and affordable!

As a beginner, I find this roller guide extremely helpful because it ensures that the stitching stays exactly the same distance from the edge the entire way. You can speed up or slow down as needed. One feature I really appreciate is that if you want to advance one stitch, you just hit the pedal once. If you need to go back one stitch, you hold the lever down, and it goes back one stitch automatically. Normally, you would hold it, but it can operate on its own.

When you want to remove the leather, you press the presser foot, and even if the needle is still in, pressing the back raises both the presser foot and the needle, allowing you to pull the material free. The machine has a drop-down roller guide, which I love because it helps keep the stitching close to the edge. Initially, the walking foot prevented the roller from getting too close, but once I switched it out, I could get the roller very close to the needle, achieving a look similar to hand-sewn pieces.

For pieces where the roller guide isn't suitable, there's a laser guide that shows exactly where you're sewing, which is incredibly helpful for beginners. The machine also allows for easy adjustment of stitch size, from very small for wallets to larger for bags. The reverse lever is conveniently large, making it easy to use without looking. For those unfamiliar with sewing machines, it even has a diagram showing how to replace the needle.

The machine offers insane control over speed, which is crucial for beginners. I've been keeping it at around 700 to prevent accidental speed bursts. It also comes with a speed reducer and Servo motor, which were pre-installed, making setup straightforward.

So far, I've made a bag that would have taken 40 hours by hand, but with the machine, it was much quicker. This bag includes features like fully stitched straps and multiple stitch lines, which would be too time-consuming to do by hand. Now, I can offer high-quality products at a more affordable price, which aligns with my goal of creating good, hardworking items that many people can enjoy.

I've also made a tote bag, which took about three hours with the machine, compared to 20 hours by hand. This is my first video showcasing my machine, and I'd say it's going pretty well. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below. Remember, I'm not a professional; I'm just someone who recently got a sewing machine and is learning. See you in the next one!