Technical The upholstery thread to end all threads

I just ordered a 5/8" and 3/4" set. The 1/2" set that I just got doesn't really work well with 1/2" cord with heavy cloth wrapped around it. It kind of pinches the cord. I'll post a pic later showing what I'm getting.

 

Here's a picture of what I am talking about with the 1/2" foot. The one on the left is the one made with the 1/2" foot and the one on the right is made with an 1/8" cording foot. I fed the windlace to the right of the needle with that one.

 

I have a '40 Ford. It also has the larger diameter windlace around the headliner. It's in good shape, but it's a gawd-awful color and needs to go..

 

Here is my attempt at Ed Roth upholstering. Needed fur covered interior for my Mysterion reproduction. Shopped around getting fur swatches from everywhere before finding the right stuff. Had to make the crazy shaped panels from mostly fiberglass. In this process I discovered a great method for making molds for fiberglass. 3 layers of duct tape was laid over areas to be paneled and I laid fiberglass and resin over that. I figured the tape would become a permanent part of the panel. To my surprise, the tape easily popped off the 'glass! All that was left was to contact cement the fur to the panels.

 

My first upholstery project is done. 24 feet of windlace! Turned out well and I'm happy with it
Now, just have to finish the rest of the interior!

 

How are you guys going about capping windlace? In my roadster I have it going around the door opening. It ends sticking straight up. I tried folding it over but does not look good.

 

Good question. I have a long way to go before I actually get to installing it, but would like the answer too

 

When I did my Deuce 5w eons ago, I cut the windlace "rope" just a tad shy of correct length(like ~ 1-2 thicknesses of the Naugahyde), folded the end over, & sewed it to the windlace "lip", cut off the excess. So, at the very end(s) of the windlace - which for me was at the floor/carpet, there were 4 layers of material ~ 1/2"-1" long, although not real noticeable as the folded-over end was 'twixt the windlace & the body. Plus, the door panel covered the lip anyways, so not real noticeable.
Only other way I can think of, is to sew or glue, the end of the windlace material shut, like squeezing a straw tip. Make sure you seal it tight so it doesn't come apart(unravel), & cut it close to the end, so's there no bunching at the tip end where it meets whatever it does(floor, carpet, other upholstery, etc).
For a roadster door top, I'd fold the material over, just for the smoother looks. I suppose there might be little "caps"(similar to the hide-em strip trim-ends used on the outside of convertible top bows) to make this look better, but I haven't seen any, at least that I've noticed.
Marcus...

 

Here is what I had and tried to copy, I was not really happy with it, but it was bigger cording. So, I will try again. Was hoping there was a better way.

 

So you’re saying you’re crazy? Hehe.

 

Instead of folding it under & then inward, finish sewing a bit beyond the piping, idk, maybe a inch. Then wrap it around the bottom, up one side, & resew it to the "flag" material. You will get a little bunching at the lowest inside edge of the material, but I always tried to get the fold to occur right in the center of the piping. Can get frustrating. & I used pins to hold it in place to sew it. To get a decent fold, try using a pair of really thin-tipped needlenose pliers to start the squeeze & then wrap. Sorta like if you were pinching off a piece of hot shrink tubing. Something else to try, cut the piping at a slight angle(that would face the body) to relieve some space for the fold to go into. Will take abit of putzing. I don't post pics here well, & my camera is f'd, so I can't even send you any pics via text. Sorry.
Maybe a pro upholsterer will chime in. .
Marcus...

 

Thank you Marcus, we will play with it some, see what we get.

 

I just noticed that you double stitched it. Maybe I should go back and do the same with mine!

 

I was just copying what was done on the brown one. I am no upholsterer.

 

Flatrod:
I forgot to mention that I may have used heat from a hairdryer, & the needlenose, to get a smoother foldover. Kindof a heat, fold, heat, fold, etc, & then once folded over, I put the hot end on a flat surface. Better than nothing. Might have been the material I was working with, since it'd stretch in one direction only, & was kinda thick Naugahyde. I did wear some thin gloves on the hand that held the trim, hairdryer wasn't focused enough. Just been too long to remember exactly. I did similar things w/the thin piping that I used for seat material-separation, if I couldn't hide the piping-ends, sewn between into the material pieces, on a couple of projects. So things could get a little thick. You could also try to *very carefully* cut-away a couple of the inner layers of the wrap-around material, to reduce thickness accumulation. Like just before you sew the fold-over, near the 1st sewn edge. Won't help on the outer-piping-edge thickness, but will make the "flap" area thinner for a better upholstery-panel-fit-to-the-body. I ended up doing this, because of an upholstery learning-project where I didn't sew/seal the piping ends, & the piping eventually came out of wrap(had to but the ends, as it was a footstool. Should've over-sewn the piping cover(s) before I tacked it into place). Also, don't pull the material tight(rear: stretch it), It'll come back n haunt you later.
Marcus...

 

Not what you wanted but heres a photo I dig anyway.

 

Ron Mangus in his custom upholstery books says the best thing to do is leave the windlace a little long then screw it to the floor so there is no chance of it being kicked loose in the future.

 

Marcus,
I talked to a upholstery friend and he came up with this, sewn inside out then sewn around the cord, but he still didn't like the tit on the edge. He had me make a rounded 3/8 rod (the size of my cord) and plans to try molding it. Thanks for the suggestions I am working on it but it slow going.

 

Yah, I tried a couple of different versions, & experimentation got me what I described after I talked to upholstery teacher, read a couple of uphls books & mag articles, then friends that owned a sewing machine shop(& also did classes), kinda went thru what you're doing. I doubt I have any pics left, esp that'd show detail. Would be old 35mm stuff at best. Rarely did pics of stuff back then. You're on the right track, none of it's really wrong, just gotta figure out what's acceptable to you.
Marcus...

 

I don’t do a lot of upholstery any more, but I’ve promised an old friend that I would do his roadster seat for years. He’s finally getting it close to done so I’ve started in on the seat. It’s fun to pick and choose projects as I feel like doing them. Got the seat cushion done and will set it in to finish figuring out the backrest. It’s the front half of a ‘27 Phaeton with doors lengthened 2”. My friend has built some great cars over the years. It’s the maroon one. Best I have for pics right now.

 

Ok, so here's a question I don't recall being asked or answered.....how are you pros spraying the landau adhesive? I have a binks gun and glue pot I've used, which only worked ok. I haven't been able to get the spray pattern right for the thicker glue. Recommendations on spray tip sizes or gun set up?

 

I’ve tried many and been using one of these for about 40 years. It’s the most simple siphon feed gun ever made and sprays glue great.
https://www.albrightssupply.com/eze-spray-glue-gun-with-aluminum-cup-ctezsprgun

 

Excellent! Thank you!

 

I started work on the door panels today. It took me all day to get one put together! It came out pretty good, and I'm happy with it, but have a couple questions. In the first pic you can kind of see the wrinkles in the cloth. This happened from rolling it up as I was sewing the pleats. They aren't bad, but would like to get rid of them. Not sure how to go about doing that. I thought of ironing them out, but was worried about the foam melting, as well as the glue. Maybe steam? In the second pic you can see where the vinyl and cloth pieces are joined. Do you trim this excess material as close to the thread as you can, or just push it down as tight as you can when you glue it to the door card?

Old fart trying to learn something new questions!

 

Door panel looks great! I’m no expert, but pretty sure you want to leave some of the extra on the back side and not trim it all the way up to the thread. I would trim it to maybe a 1/4 inch and then try to flap it open so it would lay flatter. For the wrinkles I would try a steamer….should help quite a bit.

 

I’m just an old fart learning by doing and YouTube. I have been handling the excess material in the seam by cutting away the sew foam (to within about 1/16” or so of the threads in the seam, which is easy to do with scissors) and leaving the vinyl excess. That leaves plenty of material for strength but removes the bulk which comes from the foam.

 

Thanks for the compliment! There are a couple not so straight sew lines, but I think it's not too bad for a rookie I was afraid to trim too much off that back seam, but a 1/4" sounds reasonable. I'm going to try going over it with a roller to flatten it as best I can, and will try a steamer on those wrinkles

 

Ran across something new while taking my front seat apart. It appears to be a split nail. There are several of them holding the top padding along the side edges to the layer of burlap on top of the springs. They are only about a 1/2" long. I couldn't get a good pic of them in place. Anyone ever seen these?

 

They are called bifurcated rivets,
https://www.hansonrivet.com/

 

Learn something new every day! Thanks