[DanTwoLakes]

Originally Posted by benchracer1

I removed the driver side seat cover and found a bit of damage to the underlying foam. Short of refoaming would this be a good place for a foam patch. It is maybe 1/4 in. rubbed off. Maybe I should just leave it alone

If it's 1/4" low, glue a piece of soft 1/2" foam to just the insert area.

[benchracer1]

when topstitching is it acceptable to stitch to the facing or is it always stitched back to the cushion top? Do you cut the relief cuts before topsitching or after?.......Steve

[DanTwoLakes]

You would almost never top stitch to the seat top, but there's no rule that says you can't if you like the look. The stitching would be in the perimeter pieces attached to the seat top.

Relief cuts are normally cut in as you go and where needed, so that would be before you top stitch. I rarely make relief cuts if I'm planning on top stitching, especially in vinyl, leather, or Ultraleather which stretch more than cloth fabric. The exception to that would be a really tight corner.

[benchracer1]

got the first seat done. I am still having troubles with some of the tighter corners. I ended up with a small pucker on this one and the other side is fine. All in all Im pretty happy with the outcome considering what they looked like when I started. I seem to have problems keeping the edges lined up while sewing them. I will be doing the other seat this week. Practice makes perfect or at least acceptable......Steve

[DanTwoLakes]

That's a pretty large pucker in a small area. Where did you start sewing the perimeter pieces to the face of the seat back? Are you making a lot of witness marks on the two pieces you're sewing together and trying to match them up as you go?

[benchracer1]

Started almost at the center of the headrest, went through center and down about a foot. I then we nt back to the center of the headrest and went the opposite direction and down about a foot. I then did the sides in two sections from the bottom to the center and then from the first seam down. I had witness mark where the seams on the perimeter piece, it is made from three peices, intersected the cushion top.

[DanTwoLakes]

A couple things to remember about witness marks: First, too many witness marks are not a good idea. If you try to force the fabric to match up between witness marks when they aren't lining up, you can create puckers. Second, the witness marks on a cloth seat cover may not work out the same if you are doing the seat cover out of vinyl because the vinyl stretches a lot more than the cloth.

The smoother and flatter you sew the seat cover, the better it will fit. You would be better off to start from the top middle and just sew continuously to the end in both directions. Leave the outside pieces long and cut them to fit at the end. This will leave you with a much smoother seat cover.

[benchracer1]

Thanx. I think I need to work on the smoother and flatter concept. I was really fightin the machine and had a bit of problem keeping the peripheral and cushion peices lined up on the edges passing through the corners as they are relatively tight.......Steve

[benchracer1]

was able to get the second one completed today. All in all I am pretty happy with the outcome. They look better than they have since 1990. I have a couple wrinkles where the listing is held down but i am pretty certain I could have done worse. I feel alot further along than when I started the laearning a couple years ago. I will do the back seat eventually.........Steve