Re-sewn seat covers

[Mathil]

Thought I'd post up a teaser pic of the seat cover I just finished sewing up tonight... I'll have installed pics tomorrow...

For the past 10 years or so the office chairs/benches at my shop have been an old set of the head rested, arm rested, reclining buckets from an Astro that we mounted to some rolling bases. My 2000 AWD cargo van came with the one piece no armrest non adjustable ones, so the swap was an inevitability.

I started out thinking I'd do a modified hexagon topstitch on the insert panels, but quickly grew tired and decided it would take WAY too much effort for a quick recover. I've done diamonds, lines, curves and other patterns before, but the hexagon is so labor intensive (without a cnc quilting machine) that you almost never see it. Aston Martin uses it now, and it looks awesome. To do a true hexagon tile you need to sew some long lines with corners, and then sew between the lines, finishing the stitch exactly and tying off on the backside. One insert panel done this way could easily take a day to get through, depending on the size of the hexagons. A guy on an auto upholsterer forum posted a method that gives a similar look, but skips the whole tying off problem. I followed that on a headrest for a test, I'll post a picture of that as well...

I decided on squares instead after abandoning the too labour intensive hexagons. Squares, although quite labour intensive themselves at the 1" scale, let you set up on a chalked line and run the machine full speed until the end of the line. Hexagons require you to sew 7 stitches, release the foot and turn, sew 6 stitches, release the foot and turn, sew 7 stitches, etc etc ad infinitum.p

Porsche has done squares lately, and it looks pretty cool. I chose 1" squares sewn into 1/2" sewfoam. I have two types of sewfoam at the shop, one is cheaper and the scrim backing is loosely applied and has wrinkles and overlaps, the other has the scrim firmly attached with no wrinkles, almost like a headliner. If you choose to redo your own seats, it is possible to use regular headliner as a backing foam, but keep in mind the foam itself is of lesser quality and will not hold shape or loft over time like a proper sewfoam.

The 1/2" foam gives a nice deep pattern to the insert that I think might feel good to sit on, almost like those bead seat covers, but plusher, and less tacky!

Let me know what you think!

[Astrophysics]

Very nice work! Sewing is still one of the best fabrication skills. Nice pattern, precise dimensions, art and science combined.

Super nice.

AP

[okie1]

Very good workmanship, those look super.

[Mathil]

Cover is installed now. Just gotta take the steamer to the wrinkles and work them out, then in the van they go!

Gonna be much comfier!

[Mathil]

Sure is a big difference! Pic attached of the old seat.

I'm going to have to fab up some bases for the seats though... I'll probably move them 2" down and 2" back for a start. The fresh foam in the new seats sits me even higher than the tired old stuff in the cargo ones. May as well do a swivel for the passenger while I'm at it.

I also think I'm going to sew up some covers for the seatbelt legs... They look pretty beat and ratty.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Wow! Awesome work.

[CaptSquid]

Yeah! What he said!

[Mathil]

I'm sewing up another backrest and the headrests, maybe I'll take some pics for those who might want some tips on sewing up covers.

[d3athm3talh3ad]

very nice work...i am looking forward to the pictures, i've been thinking of doing this as well...

[doyoulikeithere]

Wow, you have talent. !! Those are money right there !
Wish I could find a set of decent front seats from a Gen 1.
Whats a recover job like that supposed to cost?

[Mathil]

Resewing a pair of covers takes about a good 8 hours before you count any funny insert top stitching, french seams, piping, or other complications. The square stitches probably added 3 hours to the pair of seats, with all the layout, stitching, extra bobbin winding, etc.

Materials? I used vinyl that I get for 15$ a yard, and used 7 yards. The good scrim foam I used is 5$ a yard. Probably 5 bucks in thread. 5$ in glue maybe. Some hog rings too. All said probably 150$ for the materials. That was the cheap way, I had thought of using a suede for the inserts (alcantara) that is 100$ a yard. If you use ultra leather (again, 100$ a yard) or a high quality vinyl (easily 50$ a yard) you can see how it adds up.

I think in the US auto trimmers charge at least 60$ an hour for their craft. That would put the cheap option at around 630$, if you can find someone to do it.

Real trim shops have fancy machines like post beds and double needles that make some things easier, and otherwise impossible things achievable.

I'm gonna attack the last cover tonight, I think I'll post as I go, kind of a "sew along".

[Mathil]

Ok, here goes.

First, you really need a walking foot sewing machine. A regular housewife garment machine just simply will not do. A walking foot machine ensures that the top layer and bottom layer of fabric move at the same speed through the machine. It makes a huge difference over a seam that's 4' long, and avoids bunches and wrinkles.

I'm working on a Sailrite LS1 machine. It's a portable machine that only has 7" between the needle and the post, but I can use it while parked in front of the tv



First, look at the cover. Study it. Plan your attack. If you sew in the wrong order you can find yourself sewn into a situation where you can't access the next seam. You have 2 seats. Rip one apart to use as a pattern when you trace out your material, but for the love of god leave the other one together as a reference until you're done.

Laminate your material onto your foam. Trimmers disagree with how to do this, but most ways work just fine. I lightly...VERY LIGHTLY... glue the vinyl to the foam. I only apply glue to one side. It is not to make it stick together forever, it's just to make it stick together as long as you need it to to sew it up.

Then, once you have a slab of laminated material, start marking out your parts. Sewing can be boiled down to carefully minding your seam allowances. If the cover has 1/2" of extra material past the stitches, copy that in your pieces. When you sew, make sure your seam is a dead on consistent 1/2" from the edge.

You will need all the clips, Velcro and Listings from the old cover. Be careful what way they come off, they need to go on in the exact same way or the cover will not work.

For your inserts, lay out your stitch pattern precisely and accurately. If you get sloppy here, all the fancy stitching in the world won't save you later... Use something that will last until all your stitches are on, but that will wash off. I use chalk, and if you do you have to be careful to not wipe it off as you manipulate the material.



Stay tuned!

[WoodButcher]

Thanks!
I'm subscribed for lessons

[Mathil]

So... Now that you're crosseyed from sewing all those squares (or diamonds, or lines, or god forbid, tesaracts....)...



slap your insert pattern down on the sewn piece, centre it, and mark it out. Why didn't we just cut it out, mark the lines and then sew them, you ask? Wouldn't it save you from sewing a couple extra lines, you say? Well, each stitch line you put in shrinks the material by waffling it up. If you mark, cut and then sew you'll end up with something too small, and if you manage to get the cover on straight when you're done the panel will fall flat and lose all it's 3d goodness.

Stitch around the outside, very close to the edge. This is called a perimeter stitch and it will do two things for you. It'll compress the foam by the edge and make it easier to do subsequent stitches for assembling the cover, and it will keep the topstitches you just spent an hour putting in from unraveling.



Onward!