Marfy meets lambskin

It all started last November.  OK, it was probably earlier than that, but it began in earnest in November. My absolute favorite garment of all time, my baby blue leather jacket from 2005 (or 6 or 7) has gone past 'a little tight' to 'just let it go' too small.  This picture is from about 2007.  It actually buttoned at that time.  I used a vintage (even at the time) pattern Vogue 1919 pattern (Pattern Review is here) I will spare you the gory details, but I made this before I knew that you weren't supposed to put bound buttonholes in leather with out written approval from congress and an edict from The Vatican.  They turned out pretty good, for something that I wasn't supposed to be able to do.

Still love it, really love it.

But its the time of year when a young girls thoughts wander through too many shopping sites and her feet wander through Nordstrom too frequently and she gets the wanderlust for a beautiful new motorcycle-esque fab jacket.
It helps that my favorite fabric retailer has so graciously assumed the duties of lambskin dealer...

My favorite to replace the blue is remarkably similar to the emerald that has been declared the color of the summer.

I also love the look of that super soft quilted leather.  Its a sure sign of my Kate Spade obsession.  I am determined to find a way to do this.

My first tip was to get a walking foot.  Since my dearest elna didn't have one (from 1977) I borrowed a machine from a dear friend across the hall at work.  Yep, thats just the way sewing enthusiasts roll...  Its a Janome 6500 with some kind of dual feed adjustable feed dog synch sewing magic going on.  It sews the leather quilting wonderfully.  It feeds evenly (my biggest concern) without bunching or skipping.

The results for this specific purpose are wonderful, but I wouldn't buy a $2,000 machine just for that.  It doesn't sew well through 4 layers, and not at all through 5.  When you think about it, this can be a problem in garment sewing.  When you sew on belt loops there are 4 layers in the loop so sewing it to 2 layers of waistband (or jacket seam) is out of the question as is a jeans hem with a flat felled out- seam.
Another problem with the Janome, it refuses to sew with heavy duty thread, it shreds it like crazy in about 6".  Vangie agrees so it isn't operator error.  I was hoping to do the quilting in a heavy duty thread that is half a shade lighter but I guess not.
Anyway, I'll post more later...