Gearing up to do the seats on my 53 and stuck between 1" or 2" pleats. Want to eventually do tuck and roll but not at this point. Which would be more era correct for 1960ish on pleat width? Kinda leaning towards 2" but worried considering I grew up in the 80s and 90s I was worried it was more of a later look lol
I AM going to try to do them in a way they have a more bubbly tuck and roll feel. Going to stuff them with 2" wide half inch thick strips cut to width
2 inch is the way to go imho. I thought the way to do it was to take a backing cloth, lay the appropriate thickness of foam on top of it, cut the pattern you want partially into the foam (1/2" deep for a 3/4 or 1" deep pad) then sew the top fabric to the bottom down the cut lines. Always had a little extra top layer as you'll loose a little material width due to the depth. But there are people that know interiors that can correct me. It would be a royal pain to stuff foam down the length of the pleat.
That's the plan. Basically going to lay the first stitch, put a strip of foam next to first stitch, pull material snug and stitch other side of foam and repeat till done
1 1/2" inch pleats are for customs. 2 inch pleats are for street rods. all of my cars have 1 1/2 " pleats and the 56 and the 55 were both done in the early sixties. And you don't use strips of foam. you buy the channeled foam that is made for sewing pleats. It has grooves in it every 1 1/2"
See that's why I asked. I know a 70s Ford I'm restoring to original for my boss has flat 2" pleats. So that's what had me wondering if it was more of a later thing
I have never seen any upholsterer use anything but scrim backed or sew foam for making pleats. There are no channels cut in it just a fabric backing to hold the stitches. I did a ton of research before doing my interior and never saw what you are mentioning. Originally guys would individually stuff pleats by sewing the top material to a fabric backing and stuffing the pocket between the two.
the Car Craft dream rod and the Futurian have 1 1/2” pleats while the Outlaw has 1”. All done with channeled foam
Late 1950's, Newts Upholstery an Boat Tops,27 Ave. Coconut Grove, Florida. He kept in stock pre formed/molded pleats vinyl in a number of colors. It was a bit lower $ then doing them by sewing ,plus on boats more water proof too. The molded pleats were 1.5 inch wide ,it's still made,an I've used same when redoing my hotrod as well. Sure sewed pleats are cool,but the molded was used a lot.an on my low $,was just super cool to have nice upholstery. This was ture for lots of mid an low $ hotrods an customs. I worked part time after school;as clean up n odd job n gofor at Newts. It how I got my upholstery done in my hot rod and then my custom. I did a lot of indoor cars shows,and for pleats,it was about 1/2 an 1/2 sewed or molded. I still have 1.5 inch molded pleats.,had to update my steering wheel some years back,when it's plastic outer grip started falling apart,so added new one with wood to match other wood trim in my 28A.
just search for heat pressed pleated vinyl, lots of places have it https://www.greatlakesskipper.com/upholstery-tops-flooring/pleated-boat-vinyl
Pleats in the early '60's were kinda busy. Doyle Gammel coupe & Kendrick's Super Prune look like 1": Whereas the Avenger (show car) looks like 1.5-2":
There a lot of places that sell molded pleated vinyl; Here's one that can be used,but I have seen lower cost,if you'd like to hunt;; https://www.amazon.com/Pleated-Mari...db8ff5b34ba9b9192dca2b10993&gad_source=1&th=1
2” work for me….remember the package tray if you have one and you want 50-60’s look. This may sound trivial but if your doing verticle pleats or tuck and roll make sure you tell the upholstery shop and the person doing the sewing …the pleats on the back MUST LINE UP with the pleats on the seat…nothing looks as unprofessional as missaligned custom upholstery work. This goes for horizontal too if they are inserts……If it doesn’t…. It’s all you will see every time you get in your car mark my words..
On the 54 I'm actually going to do*****. Did that on a custom built 57 Ford custom model car I did in 1/25 scale and loved it. Not sure if I'll do pleats on the package tray of the 53. Will really have to see how it looks when I do the seats. Not a big deal to go back and redo the tray though
I copied a mid sixties Pontiac bucket seat design in my coupe with diagonal pleats. Pardon the white and black under construction,but I went with varied pleat width. I've used the channeled foam and it's easier to get the more pronounced pleats.
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