Technical The upholstery thread to end all threads

Foam is very forgiving. It hides a multitude of sins. I would spray weldwood glue on all of it and cover with 1/4" foam to start. Maybe some of the more experienced trimmers can chime in.

 

So, let's dissect this interior. I am interested in the tufting. How much foam do you think is under this fabric to achieve this puffiness? Are these pleats top stitched? Is this created using thick scrim foam?

 

@topher5150 I`d make it out of 4 pieces of vinyl. The two sides. The top and the back section. I`d sew an extra flap on the sunk in section. Glue thin closed sell foam on the entire surface. Test fit the cover to see if it is gonna work. Put it on like a sock. Top sew the seams so they lay flat. When installing it permanently, on the surface area, only glue where the seams will be. The closed cell foam seams should lie where the seams of the stitched lines will be.

 

Here is a Whitney punch I bought a year ago. Made a make shift stand to punch holes for the clips.

 

It's been quiet in here for a while, so I thought I'd post up a bit of an update. I have a '40 Ford Coupe that was done with "rad" tweed interior, and really ratty bright red carpet. I bought a machine, and I've posted what I have done with it so far in this thread.

My '40 came with a fairly nice Burgundy split bench seat, but it needs to be taken apart for a minor mechanical repair, so I have been looking for a temporary replacement. I love driving the car, and I don't want to have it inoperable while the seat is out. I have been looking for a somewhat nice '40 Ford seat, but most of them are really rusted, worn out, or just plain junk with a high price tag on it. I just missed a nice one a few months ago in Tucson, Az, but someone snapped it up within hours of it being offered for sale.

This one popped up last week in Bakersfield, CA (appx 100 miles North of me) and I charged up there the next day and came home with this one.



Not only was it a very nice price, (and in nice shape) but it turned out the seller was "Squeak" Bell. I gotta say, that he is even cooler and more gracious than everyone says he is. I was there for about 30 minutes, he gave me a tour of his shop, and even invited me to stop back in for a beer anytime I was in the area. Truly a wonderful guy.

Anyway, my plan is to use this as my test mule to practice my seat upholstery on. I'm going to keep the same design (it actually matches the 2" pleats on my interior panels) but I'm going to try to get the pleats on the seat back to match the cushion. As soon as I feel it's acceptable, I'll install it into my car and start on the repair and upholstery on the existing one. I'll post a bit as I go. (Even when I crap in my hat!)


Sorry if this post is a bit long...

 

Well, I don't know if this has been asked before, but is a walking foot machine absolutely necessary for interior upholstery work? I know, I should have read the whole thread, but I'm being lazy

 

Absolutely necessary? No, not automatically necessary just because what you put into it is called upholstery. But if that upholstery is made of materials and construction that a simpler machine struggles with you'll wish you had a different machine.
On the other hand, basic fabric upholstery without any fancy designs or thick multilayer seams may even work good enough with an old, cheap domestic sewing machine.

If you choose materials and construction suitable for the machine you have you can do upholstery work on just about any descent sewing machine, just realize that that may not be the materials or construction you want to use. A better machine will make for an easier project, with less limitations.

 

I would guess that a needle and thread are the only real necessites.

 

I guess what I'm really asking is if a used industrial machine without a walking foot would do the job using quality materials with thick seems like you mention. I can find lots of used industrial machines without the walking foot for under $500, many in the $200 - $300 range, but a good used walking foot machine is usually in the $1000 range and up! If I had money to burn I would probably just pay someone to do my interior, but I'm just an old retired guy trying to make ends meet

 

https://weallsew.com/3-reasons-to-o...ilters know what a,any shifting of the layers.

 

I haven't tried, I'm holding out for a walking foot machine, but judging by my experience using domestic sewing machines I wouldn't expect a bottom feed industrial machine to work well in leather, fake leather, welting and other thick, hard to feed materials - the bottom layer may be fed through just fine, but if the top layer likes to stick to the presser foot rather than slide under it at the same rate as the bottom layer moves you'll be fighting the machine to produce an even seam.

You can put thin paper on top to help it slide through to prevent the sticky leather/fake leather from grabbing the presser foot. When you need to go over a thicker seam you can stop just as you get up to it, needle down to hold everything in position, then lift the foot and but something of suitable thickness under the back of the foot so it won't have issues getting up over the extra thickness. So there are ways to help a bottom feed machine do jobs it isn't really suited for, I can't tell you if the results are good enough to let you get through your project with your sanity still intact or not.

Might be worth mentioning that if you buy a second hand walking foot machine chances are you can get your project done and resell it for about the same money. They are always in demand.

 

One of my old buddy's that taught me a lot about upholstery had an old commercial singer, that's all he had. He was the main upholstery guy around eastern Kentucky. One of the best. He always talked about a walking foot machine, but never owned one in the 25 years I was around him. We have a walking foot only because I found a deal on it.

 

Kinda like a guy learning to play guitar that goes out and buys a $6000 Gibson, man has to crawl before he walks.

 

Thanks for that response. That pretty much answers the question. Guess I'll start looking in earnest for a decent used walking foot machine that hopefully won't break the bank!

 

I have tried both and a walking foot machine is 1000 times easier to use. A standard industrial machine is just going to add one more frustration of trying to make sure all the material is going through at the same rate when trying to learn.

 

Also, remember when you are finished with your upholstery job you can sell the machine and recoup your investment if you so desire!

 

You can find a walking foot machine with no reverse for around $600 + It`s just a doo able option.

 

I didn't grab too many photos as I did this, but I took off one of the backrests on my '40 Ford seat and stripped it down. It looked to be in pretty good shape when I bought it, but I was a bit surprised when I stripped it down.

The original covering was still on it, (in really bad shape) and it had about 3 inches of dacron glued over it. I suspect sometime in the past, someone took it down to Tijuana and had it done as cheaply as possible. They slapped the dacron on it and reupholstered it as is. I'm doing one at a time since I'm new to this, and I'll get more photos of the second piece.

The seat frame and springs had a fair amount of rust and some pitting, but it wasn't fatal. I sanded the loose stuff off and cleaned it the best I could. I then used Rust Cutter which a rust converter. I then sealed everything with epoxy primer followed by a couple of coats of acrylic enamel.



I used 3/16" spring steel round bar and replaced all the broken horizontal pieces. (with the blue tape) I also replaced all the wood tack strips along the bottom. They were in sad shape..



The original backing was pretty much crumbling away.


I hit the local metal supplier and found a half sheet of thin aluminum to replace it.



The thin aluminum was easy to work with, and came better than I expected.

 

Before and after. Cant wait to mount them!

 

Dodge Dakota seats.

 

Life stuff has been slowing me down, but I finally got a first attempt done on my 40 Ford seat cushion. It's not good enough to go on the seat, but it came out quite a bit better than I thought it would. I will say that making mistakes is a good way to learn.

Much respect to you folks that do this so well. Getting that big cover manuevered around to go through the machine, while keeping the seam straight, and all while keeping the alignment marks on track is quite a juggling act.

 

Recently picked up this older Mercury branded walking foot machine with a servo motor, and it has reverse, for $400. Not much online about it, but looks a lot like the Sailrite Fabricator. Works well, still learning how to set tensions for different thicknesses and materials. I've tried doing short lengths of pleats and french seems threw heavy cloth cemented to 1/2 sew foam and I'm real happy with it so far! Being new to me, I might bring it in to the local sewing machine repair shop and have it gone over by a professional to have it cleaned and make sure everything is set up correctly.

 

Take a close-up picture of the foot with the needle.

 

Like this?

 

I was fortunate to buy all the OEM style fabrics for my 46 Olds from Hampton Coach (GM arm of Le Baron Bonney) before it closed. I'm not skilled enough to tackle this job nor do I have the correct tools so I handed things over to a motor trimmer to replicate the OEM interior from a Fisher Body manual I had. Very pleased so far with what he's done. He's an old school tradesman who knows his way around.

 

I toyed with farming this job out for my 47 Olds coupe, but decided to give it a try myself. I have done everything else on this car myself so far, so might as well give it a shot! I am going with a Sunbrella cloth called Blend Sand.

 

Sunbrella is stiff and won`t stretch. Might be a little hard to work with.

 

I thought it might not be a walking foot, but it is. Good find. It looks like it hadn`t been used much.

 

Well I hope it isn't too bad, I already bought 18 yards of it! Guess I'm about to find out

 

@Sporty45 Sunbrella is good for boat covers, awnings and outdoor furniture. I just had 60 feet of awnings in 3 different sections leave my shop (yard) yesterday. The second part of a job in all totaling that took 25 yards. The shop that does them makes them out of aluminum and staples them on. This style is the old design where you use gromets and use zippy ties. They have a tool that welds the fabric together.