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Perfect Fit: Tips for removing wrinkles

8K views 12 replies 3 participants last post by  sandy clock 
#1 ·
Hey guys, any tips for tightening panels up and removing wrinkles? I sewed up the following cover, and it's not hog-tied down in the pictures but I can already see it's going to have some wrinkles, although less than are visible now.

Anyone have any luck with using a heat gun to shrink leather up? If not, should I be cutting the seams open and resizing pieces or do you guys in general recommend sewing a tighter seem over the original one and going about it that way?



 
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#2 · (Edited)
Heating will not do a thing to leather other than make it hot, it won't take out wrinkles. Also, do not wet the leather down to try and remove wrinkles.

Working with leather is a whole different thing than working with any other fabric. The problem with leather is that it stretches so much that it is hard to control. Making the parts smaller is a crap shoot, 'cuz one part of a hide can stretch more than another. The simplest way is to sew all the pieces to sew foam so that the seat's parts only stretch as far as the sew foam will stretch.

How did you make the pattern for the cover you made? Are you sewing the pieces to sew foam?

Look at this thread, it should help you: CLICK HERE
 
#4 · (Edited)
Are you gluing the leather to the sew foam, and sewing around the edges of each piece before you sew it all together? Go back to my first response, and look at the thread I linked.

BTW, you are going to have to go back and take this seat cover completely apart to fix it. Nothing short of starting over will fix it.
 
#5 ·
DanTwoLakes said:
Are you gluing the leather to the sew foam, and sewing around the edges of each piece before you sew it all together? Go back to my first response, and look at the thread I linked.

BTW, you are going to have to go back and take this seat cover completely apart to fix it. Nothing short of starting over will fix it.
Im sewing it down but I haven't been gluing it. I'll try that for sure. Thank you! Are you still recommending k-grip?
 
#6 ·
You can use just about anything to glue it down. All you're trying to do is hold the fabric to the sew foam long enough to trace your pattern and then sew around the perimeter of the pattern lines.

There's more wrong there than just not gluing the leather to the sew foam. You shouldn't be getting anywhere near the wrinkles you are getting.
 
#7 ·
DanTwoLakes said:
You can use just about anything to glue it down. All you're trying to do is hold the fabric to the sew foam long enough to trace your pattern and then sew around the perimeter of the pattern lines.

There's more wrong there than just not gluing the leather to the sew foam. You shouldn't be getting anywhere near the wrinkles you are getting.
I also used 1 piece of foam instead of sewing separate pieces like u did in your thread because that's how the original cover was sewn on an earlier seat I took apart. I'll try cutting separate pieces. Any other thoughts?
 
#8 ·
If you're going to try to duplicate a seat cover, then do it the way the original was done. Trying to do it like some other seat you took apart doesn't make much sense. Seat covers are patterned in certain ways to fit the specific frame they are made for,and screwing around with that is asking for trouble.

I think you really need to slow down and learn more about the whole process before you try to continue. It's a shame to ruin good leather,and that's what you're heading for.
 
#9 ·
DanTwoLakes said:
If you're going to try to duplicate a seat cover, then do it the way the original was done. Trying to do it like some other seat you took apart doesn't make much sense. Seat covers are patterned in certain ways to fit the specific frame they are made for,and screwing around with that is asking for trouble.

I think you really need to slow down and learn more about the whole process before you try to continue. It's a shame to ruin good leather,and that's what you're heading for.

The reason I did that was because the original seat didn't use foam at all, just a felt-like material. I wanted to add pleats so I felt that I needed to use foam.
 
#10 ·
To add the pleats you would need to use sew foam,or something else to hold the pleats, but the pieces next to the pleated area don't look like they have sew foam under them.
 
#12 ·
No, Sandy, the seat cover is not sewn well. There are way too many wrinkles that should not be there, even if the cover was just sitting there and not on the frame. I have been trying to tell danios, as nicely as possible, that the cause of the wrinkles is partially the pattern, and partially the sewing, and to experiment on something besides leather. This seat cover needs to be taken completely apart and re-done correctly, that's the only way all those wrinkles will disappear.

I'd like to see pictures of the cover tuned inside out, and maybe I could pinpoint what's wrong. I'd also like to see pictures of the patterns and the process he used to assemble this seat cover.
 
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