Most machines are built for speed, and trying to get them to punch through heavy material at the low motor speeds often needed for leather work is a lesson in frustration. How frustrating?

But was the machine’s work inferior? After all, the gears and needle emulate the motion of a hand sewing from muscle memory developed from practice.

Situated in Fall River’s 19th-century Granite Mills, Frank Clegg’s 5,000-square-foot workshop is cluttered with textile swatches, old sewing machines, leather scraps, patterns, and, of course ...