Now I'm an upholsterer

[Duster440]

Rather than spend $400 to have an upholstery shop stitch up some rear seat covers to better match my front seats (Summit Sport), I spent less than $100 and did it myself, french seams and all.

Also a pic of a interior door emblem a friend and I made up. It's polished aluminum with a black vinyl field and argent vinyl in the center of the letters. The outline on the letters is the aluminum showing through. The pic doesn't do it justice.

[kudah440]

Ive got a similar duster and similar seats Ive been planning to do the same thing to.  Too bad I keep getting stuck making repairs to the house and the yard and the daily drivers and and and....
Great job though!
What kind of machine did you use for the seats?  Im hoping my sewing machine has enough power...if not Ill drop in a 383, im sure i can get an adapter plate and headers from somewhere...

[75Dart440]

Great job on the seat!  Looks good.  What sewing machine did you use?  I picked up a 1929 model Singer electric portable at a neighbor's garage sale a year ago, but don't if it is capable of sewing through upholstery or not.  I would like to recover my front seats (1989 Dodge Daytona Buckets).

[Duster440]

I used my wife's Pfaff "Hobby" 4240. If that thing can do it, almost anything can. The motor's a little weak but I was going through 5 layers of vinyl in some spots. I used a vinyl that can darn near pass for leather. So, it's not real glossy or slippery. And because of that when I was topstitching it wouldn't feed through the machine real well. Wiping the area with silicone spray did the trick. Just wiped it off when I was done. 100/16 needle.

The old home machines are built like tanks, 75Dart400. I bet you'd have no problem with the old Singer.

[doug 371]

great job!

[68dodge]

That looks great! I had to pay $600 to have a set of front buckets made to match my interior.

[smitty72]

looks great 

wanna do mine?                   just jokling

[jamesdart]

looks good. i tried with an old singer and had no luck. some people that do auto interiors down the street my wife knows told her some spring inside doesnt have enough pressure. blah blah blah.  harbor frieght is supposed to have a heavy ass machine. where did you get the vinyl?

[Ciscodog]

Looks great!  You've got some talent with that!

[Duster440]

looks good. i tried with an old singer and had no luck. some people that do auto interiors down the street my wife knows told her some spring inside doesnt have enough pressure. blah blah blah.  harbor frieght is supposed to have a heavy ass machine. where did you get the vinyl?

They're probably talking about the presser foot. The spring pressure is usually adjustable. If there isn't enough pressure it won't feed properly. (BTW, I worked as a machine mechanic in a clothing factory about 25 years ago which is the only reason I can pretend to "sew"). The Harbor Freight machine would probably work. It's the "walking needle" or "walking foot" that makes them good for upholstery work.

I actually got the vinyl at Joann Fabrics. They had 3 grades - the cheap, thin worthless crap, some glossy marine vinyl, and the "faux leather" stuff. At the time I didn't know if it was automotive grade with UV protection and all that. The clerks didn't have a clue either. So, I went home and did some research online and found out it was the real deal. It's manufactured by Spradling and is their "Whisper" line. All the big online trim suppliers sell it so I figured it would be okay. About $15/yard and I happened to get 40% off with a coupon.

They also sold Spradling "Rave" which is also faux leather at about double the cost.

[sycboi]

Looks really great man...

-Michael

[75Dart440]

I actually got the vinyl at Joann Fabrics. They had 3 grades - the cheap, thin worthless crap, some glossy marine vinyl, and the "faux leather" stuff. At the time I didn't know if it was automotive grade with UV protection and all that. The clerks didn't have a clue either. So, I went home and did some research online and found out it was the real deal. It's manufactured by Spradling and is their "Whisper" line. All the big online trim suppliers sell it so I figured it would be okay. About $15/yard and I happened to get 40% off with a coupon.

That's funny.....my mother was just telling me this past Sunday to get my vinyl at Joann's since they had 50% off all fabrics this past weekend.  Of course, I didn't do it!   

[moparchop]

I bought the seat cover kit,didnt even think of that...

[Duster440]

I would have bought a kit too for simplicity, if not for cost. But, I wanted the rear to better match my fronts and no existing kit does that.

[68fish]

I wish I had the talent to do the work you did on those seat covers. They look really nice. Congratulations on on your excellent work.

BTW.... I have a pretty big stash of very high quality upholstery grade leather. Can leather be stitched at home or is that better left to a professional???

Thanks !!

[Duster440]

Thanks for the kind words. You could stitch leather at home but it would depend on the thickness of the leather and hardiness of the machine. It'd make me more nervous than doing vinyl.

[75Dart440]

I was just doing the research on this old garage sale sewing machine that I bought ($50.00 for 2 old singer machines with attachments, accessories).  The electric one is a 1919 Model 127 Singer full scale machine and it says it will sew thru 4 layers of leather, 6 layers of denim and 10 layers of vinyl/tarpuline. 

A couple of sources said that the newer style plastic sewing machines, have nylon drive gears in them instead of cast iron or steel ones.

I think I'll give it a shot on this 89 year old sewing machine and see what happens!