Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.
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Thought this might be a helpful reference for anyone wanting to redo their seats. This is my first attempt at a car seat so I did a lot of reading and watching YouTube videos. I've got a little bit of experience fixing up a couple of antique chairs so I thought I'd try my hand at some automotive upholstery. I bought an industrial sewing machine so I'm kind of committed now :) The plan is to do the interior on the 4dr 510 but thought I'd practice on my daughter's 240SX interior. The seats are BEAT! I can only make them better than what they are and that's not saying much - a piece of duct tape is a vast improvement :)
On the "to do" upholstery list :) Attachment 21637 The 4dr 510 and future upholstery recipient :) Attachment 21638 So lets start with some before pictures. Like I said I can only improve on this :) Attachment 21639 Attachment 21640 Attachment 21641 |
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I won't put all the pictures I took here but I'll try and keep it as step by step as possible so you can see the process. Take lots of pictures as you take it apart. Sometimes there is something you need to go back as reference. In this picture you can see where the top stitch was done so that you replicate it when you sew it back together and it lays properly.
Attachment 21632 Bottom of the seat - you can see where the hog rings attach the seat cover and hold it in place. Attachment 21633 On furniture you use staples into the frame to hold the fabric in place. On a car seat you use hog rings and wire in a pocket sewn into the cover. Attachment 21634 or a reinforcement of some sort like these plastic sew on strips Attachment 21635 I'm reusing the wires from whats left of the seat covers so I make sure they are labeled. You can make your own of course. It looks like they bend the ends back to keep it from poking through. Attachment 21636 |
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Now the fun part - time to get creative. My daughter wants to paint the car powder blue so the theme is mainly black with pink and blue for the interior.
A blank slate. Vinyl on top glued to 1/2" foam then a bottom layer of fabric glued to the other side of the foam to make a vinyl/foam/fabric sandwich. Layout is done in chalk - it doesn't stain and is easily erasable. Just sharpen a stick of chalk on a piece of sandpaper to get a chisel edge to do fine lines. Attachment 21628 I haven't seen this anywhere but I thought I'd try it. Using a bamboo basket weave pattern embossed vinyl and glued diamonds onto the panel with contact cement. You need to be very precise with the cutting so a ruler and Olfa blade works very well. Before gluing down textured vinyl on base Attachment 21629 Panel sewn. You can see how the 1/2 foam sandwich makes nice pleats in the panel. Attachment 21630 Close up of the diamonds Attachment 21631 |
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So I start watching some YouTube videos so I can try and figure out how to do this and of course I decide to go with a blind stitch because it looks cool. Problem is that it works for one row of diamonds but the material starts to bunch up if you add another set top and bottom.
Layout for blind stitch Attachment 21624 Too much puckering :/ Attachment 21625 But a chance to see what the upper panel will look like on the seat Attachment 21626 Do over on the panel. Colour is just washed out with the camera and lighting. There is a problem with the stitch on the bottom RHS diamond which I have since fixed. Added a second row of top stitching. Attachment 21627 |
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Now that I've got the main panel for the back of the seat done I'm going to do the seat. These are the two main panels and the majority of the work. My daughter and I decided on textured stripes to match the diamonds on the seat back. The angles are the same as the diamonds and the pleats will match up to the seat back.
Test layout Attachment 21618 Precision fitment is critical here. Not sure if this is the way to do it but it looks sharp in the end. Attachment 21619 Kind of wrinkly from manhandling around the sewing machine. Attachment 21620 Some close ups to see the stitch work. Attachment 21621 Colour is washed out but more detailed shots. Attachment 21622 Rough idea of the main panels. Attachment 21623 |
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Progress on back panel
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Test layout for grommets.
Attachment 21606 Attachment 21607 Installed Attachment 21608 Test fit - hog rings not installed yet Attachment 21609 Grommets with inserts Attachment 21610 Cleaning the glue gun can be a pain. Work smarter - not harder! Attachment 21611 Seat bottom panels starting to go together Attachment 21612 |
looking amazing! awesome work
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Wow
Great job. Very creative
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