Hot Rod Forum banner

1st seat cover

8K views 54 replies 6 participants last post by  DanTwoLakes 
#1 · (Edited)
Actually my 2nd, but the first didnt count. It took me about three hours. I feel pretty good about it and will add the facing tomorrow. Please feel free to critique, Particularly the sequnce. I first measured and cut the pieces, second, sewed them together and marked the line. third I glued the sewfoam and stitched around the outside. fourth, added detail stitches and finally added welting. had the machine set for 9 stitches per inch, is that about right?
 

Attachments

See less See more
5
#27 ·
Finally was able to get back on it. I sewed the headrest to the border first. started in the center and went down about a foot in each direction. Next I sewed the perimeter to the seat front by starting in the middle and going up then flipped it over and wnt from the center down. I completed one then went to the next. I was not sure if I should have done the center up on all 4 seams then the center down on all 4 seams. Chose 1 at a time. I ended up with a pretty well centered cover. The headrest is a little looose, not sure what to do with that. if anything. Tomorrow I will refoam the seat back and do final install. I need to be a little better with a conatant edge distance
 

Attachments

#29 · (Edited)
When they apply buttons in the factory, they use loop strings of a pre-determined length, or straps with metal ends of a pre-determined length and special buttons to make sure all the buttons are the same from one seat to another. The needle and buttons next to the button twine is a loop needle and loop backed buttons connected to a loop. The needle has a slot to grip the loop as it is pulled through, and then the special button is attached to the loop after it is pulled through the seat. You will need a long button needle, some heavy Nylon button twine, buttons with "eye" backs, and the ability to tie a slip knot called a mattress knot or figure "8" knot. The bottom two button backs with loops are connected with a mattress knot that hasn't been tightened down. Once you pull the buttons as tight as you want, tie a half hitch over the top of the mattress knot to hold it in place permanently.
 

Attachments

#30 ·
Finished it up for the most part. I ended up with the insert on the seat back about 3/4 in narrower than the bottom cushion, The seat back has a a bow to it and it apparently narrowed the insert a bit. The headrest was still a little loose. how can You account for the bow other than doing the seat back first and the measuring across? I cut both inserts at 16 inches and they remained that throughout the assembly. All in all I feel pretty good about this project. I am sure that it could have gone way worse. Will put the buttons on tomorrow and start with the drivers seat. New errors will be coming just so I dont repeat the same ones LOL
 

Attachments

#31 · (Edited)
Are you sure you cut the inserts square, or did they get warped out of shape before you sewed all the parts together? When you do inserts, you need to make a larger blank of fabric and sew foam, draw your sewing lines on and sew them first. After the sewing lines are on the insert blank, then you use a square to measure and cut the blank to its final size. If you don't do that, the inserts can end up different sizes, and they could shrink. Are you making a pattern for all your pieces, or are you just copying the old pieces? Just because that's the way they were originally doesn't make them right. It doesn't take much to make a seat cover look bad. A couple small mistakes can really make a difference.
This is an insert I replaced on this truck seat yesterday. I made one reversible pattern for the pieces on either side of the insert, but the insert was just done from measurements. I used a framing square to make sure the insert was square after sewing in the lines and before sewing the side pieces on.
 

Attachments

#32 ·
they were square, I also measure corner to corner, I may have pulled a little to much tension on the center of the cover. I am going to reattach it this morning and see what happens. If not I will just move on to the drivers seat. It is just a daily driver. I made the pattern from the covers that were attached. There was no insert, just the standard vw vinyl seat covers. The insert was my addition because the vynil gets you to sweating on a hot day.
 
#34 ·
I am back to working on my brothers seats. On the back side of this material there is what appears to ba very thin sewfoam, what would that be? I am replacing this with vinyl.It will go over the foam backrest pictured What is the proper buffer to put between vynil and foam? One of the backrests has some foam worn through, Is there a good fix for that.
 

Attachments

#35 ·
The vinyl on the original seat has 1/8" sew foam bonded to it at the fabric mill. It is just there to eliminate a step. You will have to either not put anything under the vinyl, or glue it to 1/4" sew foam. Check out this thread, beginning at post #21 to see how to do the headrest and foam repair: CLICK HERE
 
#38 ·
benchracer1 said:
will putting the vynil directly on the foam damage the foam? IS 1/8sewfoam availible?
It won't damage the foam, but you'll have to compensate for the 1/8" of foam that is missing. Pinch welding in this case is just gluing the edges and pushing the two pieces together so that no foam shows, and the reverse side of the sew foam is the only thing visible. I have never seen 1/8" sew foam. I have seen 1/8" foam laminated to fabric that could be used as sew foam. Using 1/4" sew foam instead will help fill out the headrest.
 
#40 ·
Yes, dacron polyester batting ( I call it wrap) would work fine to replace the 1/8" foam. While foam to foam glue would be your best choice, you can use contact adhesive to glue it on. I think you'll find that not spraying it will be more messy, and a hassle. It will still work, though.
 
#42 ·
The answer to your question depends on what you are putting the foam over, and the density of the foam you use. Over the original seat springs, a really firm piece of foam that is 1" thicker will do the trick. If the foam is softer, it may take more thickness.
 
#44 ·
Finished my brothers driver seat. It was very complicated to me, I feel pretty good about it. The hard part was making the patterns. Since the right seat is a duplicate of the left I feel it will go quicker. I told him that he is not going to go to the good guys rod and custom and get an award but it is a bunch better than he sent me. Sitting beside it is the other seat which actually was the better of the two.
 

Attachments

#46 ·
Thanx for the compliment.........Much appreciated. To this point I have used a flat felleseam on most of my work. I think on the next one I am going to use a french seam. Is it advisable to put a piece of material on the back side when doing the 2 topstitches or just run the first seam , lay them flat and put down the two topstiches? thanx again.....Steve
 
#47 ·
If you have a high stress area, you should put something under the French seam. I like to use 1" wide twill tape. Around the outside perimeter, it's not a big deal.
 
#49 ·
No, that is not advisable. Your best bet is to just check your stitching after you're done, and remove and replace any bad sections of stitching at that time if there are any.

If you're sewing machine is set up properly for the fabric you're sewing, problems like you mention should be few and far between. I always sew three or four lines of stitching with the fabric I'm working with to fine tune my sewing machine before I start sewing the actual project.

Also, if you listen to your machine while you're sewing, you can hear when it sounds different and should stop to see if there's something wrong.
 
#51 ·
FINALLY geting back to my brothers toyota seats. Fronts a re done and he is very happy with them. I am now starting on the back seats and have run into a little snag. The seat backs have a rest that is part of the seat. I am having problems doing the corners. First there is a seam that comes down in the middle of the corner. Second, the acual part that makes contact with your head has sewfoam on the backside. This is making for a lot of bulk in that area and makes it very difficult to manipulate it all through the machine. I have tried relief cuts and that helps i am trying to sew from the center out and down around the corners and out to the end
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top