I bought this machine specifically to work on a leather jacket. Some of the seams were too thick and heavy for my regular machine to handle, which I found out the hard way. After viewing several lists of best heavy duty machines, I went with this model. So far, it has performed like a champ, easily punching through all but one seam—and to be fair to it, this seam was very thick and stiffened with leather glue.I recommend the Janome HD to anyone looking for an affordable machine capable of sewing garment weight leather.