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Bad Seamstress Blues

ydeardorff

New member
Sorry to quote a song by the band Cinderella,

But I was wondering in the several tens of decades worth of experience we have here in this forum, could any teach me/us how to sew, and upholster our car interiors? Maybe share some tricks of the trade, and things not to do ect?

I also noticed this has to be one of the MOST neglected subjects on this forum. *hi-ya*
 
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letterman7

Honorary Admin
Good point! Err...I can't sew worth a darn, even though I own a heavy duty machine for stitching banners when I need to. Nic out there in the Bay area said at one point he took a couple classes to do his seats....hmmm

I think that's one area that we as a collective group are definately lacking skills in!
 

Nic

Active member
I did take an upholstery class, 2 in fact. Here is what I know.

1. It isn't easy to do.
2. It is much easier to do if you have a pattern to work with.
3. You need to add an extra 1/2" to all edges if you are not working from a pattern.
4. The Jukie (sp) sewing machines take a while to get used to. The ones I worked on had a hair trigger. Slow stitch to full speed (run a seam up your arm in a second flat) was about a 1/2" difference on the pedal. I don't know yet if a standard home sewing machine will work, but I plan on finding out.

Stevie... watch, learn and bask in it's Big Hair glory!
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksGE4cqRzPM]YouTube - Cinderella - The More Things Change[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i28UEoLXVFQ]YouTube - Cinderella - Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCOrtJMQmVs]YouTube - Cinderella - Nobody's Fool[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptPekKOigkQ]YouTube - Cinderella - Shake Me[/ame]
 

ydeardorff

New member
Nice NIC!*rock on**rock on*

I was wondering as I came across a bundle of some black naugahyde vinyl and was wondering how to get those concave surfaces done up. Given Im not a seamstress, and I can turn a sewing machine into something that resembles a 4 y/o playing with one of those zebco closed faced fishing reels after about 4 casts.

This may be a project left for the professionals. Not sure. Maybe we should do some recruiting. And bribe a good upholstery person! LOL
 

thestevie

Member
or practice
get a pattern and make some things, make your own patterns maybe.

although if you have the money a pro can stop a lot of cursing and anger.
 

farfegnubbin

Site Owner
Staff member
*laugh**laugh**laugh* You guys are great! Though I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, I loved the Cinderella mini-concert!

(And Ken...shame on you for making us feel so old! How can you not know about Cinderalla! *eek!* Next you'll be telling us you never heard of Europe (as more than a geo-political entity) or Whitesnake (as a means of seeing Tawny Kitaen's famous nip slip). *oh my*

But anyway, regarding upholstery...

I've done somemodest piece work (for sport aircraft seats)...and I've seen lots done by other non-pros...and my experiences have been that doing upholstery is very unforgiving to the amature. *whaah* It's not too bad to get the basic mechanics down, but it's really difficult to get a result that doesn't have tucks and puckers and baggy areas.

That said, there are people who can do it. And WE are people. And therefore, with the right knowledge and practice, we could be people who could do it. Right? :)

In my town, there is a little Ma and Pa upholstery place that operates out of a little old garage. If you can find a place like that and ask to just spend a little time looking over their shoulder, you'll learn a lot really, really fast. If you explain your project and maybe buy some materials from them, a shop like that would probably give you some pointers.

And then there is the almighty YouTube. I haven't checked this oracle yet, but it rarely let's a person down.

Yaughn (or anybody)... If you're bored and have some time, cast out some lines and see what YouTube (and the rest of the web) has to offer... and then bring the bounty back here an show what you found if you find any good resources. This is a good topic.

One last thought: Go easy with the naugahyde. The Nauga's are almost extinct! *laugh**laugh*



*insane*
 

thestevie

Member
i found this
mid west fabrics
its an auto upholstery supplier

i also found a bunch of books on auto upholstery
ill have to buy some when i get some extra money

not to make you feel old but... cinderella is 2 years older then me.
 
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ydeardorff

New member
Thanks for that!

Now I have an urge to add a trailer hitch to pull a walker behind my car. LOL
Gypsy Road came out AFTER I graduated high school. *laugh*
 

Sidekick

New member
I have done all my own upholstery. My mom taught me how to sew when I was 10 and at 16 I was making all my band clothes- tom jones shirts bell bottoms. I made my own seats for all of my vehicles. so I can probably answer any questions you may have. BTW- I made my own living room furniture.
 

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Sidekick

New member
about 26.00 in materials to recover and using an old good housekeeping sewing machine.
 

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