Selecting suitable sewing machines for gloves will be an important issue when you are going to invest in the cut & sew glove-making business. Considering the type of gloves and the materials used, here are some suggestions that I hope will help you.
1. Fabric glove sewing machines.
1)Sewing single-layer thin fabric gloves, such as Jersey gloves, silk gloves, antistatic gloves, and cotton inspection gloves.
To make these kinds of soft gloves, a chain type sewing machine is the best option. The machine uses a straight needle and a curved needle to form a loop structure, the stitch is flexible, and the structure is tight. Also, the chain stitch is stretchy which makes the gloves much more comfortable when wearing them.
2）Sewing composite fabric gloves, such as windproof gloves, hiking gloves, and riding gloves.
The composite material typically consists of three types of fabrics: spandex fabric for the outer, breathable membrane for the middle layer, and fleece for the inner lining. The composite fabric is neither overly heavy nor too soft, standard flat-foot sewing machines equipped with plastic presser feet can effectively stitch them. The reason for using a plastic presser foot is due to the glove’s seam allowance being only 1.5mm-2mm. The plastic presser can be trimmed smaller and narrower to accommodate the glove stitching and make the stitching much easier.
3). Sewing Canvas Mittens
Canvas Mittens are made from the canvas without any coating, so the edge is easy to come apart. To sew these canvas Mittens, a five-thread overlock sewing machine is perfect.
It uses double straight needles and three curved needles to form chain seams and overlock stitches. The main function is to cut and sew the edges of the wrapped fabric to prevent them from falling apart.
The advantages of this sewing method are that the overlocking and closing seams are completed at the same time, the speed is fast, the stitches are elastic, and wrinkles are less likely to occur at the seam joints.
4). Sewing Neoprene diving gloves
The diving gloves material is normally 3mm or 5 mm Neoprene. The Neoprene components are glued together to prevent water seepage. After gluing, a whipstitch sewing machine will be used to sew the glued edges again to make reinforcement to them.
2. Leather glove sewing machines.
1) Stitching dress leather gloves and golf leather gloves
These gloves are normally made with 0.45mm-8mm sheep leather, goat leather， and deer leather.
There are four different stitching methods for them, inseam stitch, out seam stitch, half PK stitch, and full PK stitch. If you just make gloves in inseam, outseam, and half PK, then a flat-foot sewing machine with a plastic pressor can satisfy your needs.
If you also make gloves in full PK stitches, then a special PK sewing machine will be needed.PK sewing machine is a double thread chain stitch machine, it can be used not only for sewing the full PK leather gloves but also for the sewing of TPR or leather patches to the knitted gloves.
2）Stitching cowhide or split work leather gloves
The normal thickness of the leather for the work gloves is from 0.9mm-1.2mm, some leather may reach 1.4mm. Although a heavy-duty flat foot sewing machine can do the stitching for this thickness range, I still recommend using a walking foot sewing machine, this will help to reduce the thread breakage and avoid scratching to the grain.
You may also need some other sewing machines for the gloves’ decoration, such as double-needle sewing machine, zig-zag sewing machine, and post bed sewing machine (to stitch knuckle protector). Standard machines used in garments and bags will be fine.