Upholstery 101
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 1:14 am
Friday 29th January 2016
Hello! It's Mim here, borrowing Jon's account so that I can let you all know how I am getting on with re-upholstering the chairs! First off, I have never done this before so if any one has any hints or tips as I go it would be much appreciated! Especially ideas on how I can speed it up...
So after watching a few YouTube videos, I felt that I could give re-covering the chairs a good go even though the chairs that we have are slightly different. I have a fairly good background of using sewing machines but I would really recommend anyone giving it a go just to be able to say that you have done it!
I removed the front seats from the car first and after taking what felt like an excessive amount of photographs I started to remove the plastic trims and handles. I don't normally mind getting my hands dirty but for some reason, the dirty foam, rusty runners and damp smell grossed me out a bit (yep, I was a stereotypical girl at this stage!) and so got Jon to get rid of the nasty bits! After removing all trims I then went about taking photos from every single angle to show how all of the pieces should end up like.
Carefully removing and labelling every fabric piece that came off was really, really important and even though I came home with about 50 photographs, I regret not taking more! Next time I do this, I will label the exact order that I took parts off as for some reason it doesn't seem clear. I think I can still bodge it to being a good job still but it will be much easier with the order list.
Some of the fabric pieces are held in with plastic strips - I have googled these for ages and can't find what they are called, possibly plastic retaining clips. These are very brittle and although I have removed almost all of them without snapping, my machine won't be able to sew through them again. Essentially one strip is sewn into the fabric and one strip is fastened to the seat base and they slot into each other. Does anyone know if these clips can be replaced with staples and hog rings only? Or if I need to source some more? If so, how should I attach them to the fabric with only a basic home sewing machine?
After I had removed all of the fabric off the first front seat, I took these home to mess around in the warm!! I purchased myself some foam boards as recommended by YouTube to create my new pattern pieces and set to work with even more photos! Whilst the seat covers were all in one piece, I numbered the parts, marked where each seam met and where the fabric folded into the corners.
Once I was happy that I knew where everything was supposed to end up, the fun began! I cut along each seam and then used these shapes to trace around on the foam boards. Everything was going swimmingly until I realised that cutting into the foam boards was not the easiest. I am definitely purchasing card boards next time and saving myself the hassle and mess of tiny bits of foam everywhere!! A junior hacksaw, two pairs of scissors and a very cross Mim later... and the pattern was ready!!
These patterns pieces were then transferred onto my LOVELY new fabric that Jon has bought for me!! The chairs are going to be made in faux leather as real leather was way over budget. The side edges are going to be black, whilst the center cushions are bright yellow.
I started with the yellow sections, cut them out and have sewn as many seams as I can without trying out the fit. It's a bit of a risk doing so much work just in case, but I feel fairly confident that my pattern pieces are accurate and The Captain loves too far away for me to just pop down in an evening.
Anyway, here is the work so far!!
We are going to try them out later this afternoon so I will let you all know how it goes! If these all fit well, I will be starting the black edges - the goal is to finish one of the front seats in about a fortnight. I am hoping that the back seats will be much easier and faster (at least according to YouTube that is correct anyway haha!)
Speak to you all soon,
Mim
Hello! It's Mim here, borrowing Jon's account so that I can let you all know how I am getting on with re-upholstering the chairs! First off, I have never done this before so if any one has any hints or tips as I go it would be much appreciated! Especially ideas on how I can speed it up...
So after watching a few YouTube videos, I felt that I could give re-covering the chairs a good go even though the chairs that we have are slightly different. I have a fairly good background of using sewing machines but I would really recommend anyone giving it a go just to be able to say that you have done it!
I removed the front seats from the car first and after taking what felt like an excessive amount of photographs I started to remove the plastic trims and handles. I don't normally mind getting my hands dirty but for some reason, the dirty foam, rusty runners and damp smell grossed me out a bit (yep, I was a stereotypical girl at this stage!) and so got Jon to get rid of the nasty bits! After removing all trims I then went about taking photos from every single angle to show how all of the pieces should end up like.
Carefully removing and labelling every fabric piece that came off was really, really important and even though I came home with about 50 photographs, I regret not taking more! Next time I do this, I will label the exact order that I took parts off as for some reason it doesn't seem clear. I think I can still bodge it to being a good job still but it will be much easier with the order list.
Some of the fabric pieces are held in with plastic strips - I have googled these for ages and can't find what they are called, possibly plastic retaining clips. These are very brittle and although I have removed almost all of them without snapping, my machine won't be able to sew through them again. Essentially one strip is sewn into the fabric and one strip is fastened to the seat base and they slot into each other. Does anyone know if these clips can be replaced with staples and hog rings only? Or if I need to source some more? If so, how should I attach them to the fabric with only a basic home sewing machine?
After I had removed all of the fabric off the first front seat, I took these home to mess around in the warm!! I purchased myself some foam boards as recommended by YouTube to create my new pattern pieces and set to work with even more photos! Whilst the seat covers were all in one piece, I numbered the parts, marked where each seam met and where the fabric folded into the corners.
Once I was happy that I knew where everything was supposed to end up, the fun began! I cut along each seam and then used these shapes to trace around on the foam boards. Everything was going swimmingly until I realised that cutting into the foam boards was not the easiest. I am definitely purchasing card boards next time and saving myself the hassle and mess of tiny bits of foam everywhere!! A junior hacksaw, two pairs of scissors and a very cross Mim later... and the pattern was ready!!
These patterns pieces were then transferred onto my LOVELY new fabric that Jon has bought for me!! The chairs are going to be made in faux leather as real leather was way over budget. The side edges are going to be black, whilst the center cushions are bright yellow.
I started with the yellow sections, cut them out and have sewn as many seams as I can without trying out the fit. It's a bit of a risk doing so much work just in case, but I feel fairly confident that my pattern pieces are accurate and The Captain loves too far away for me to just pop down in an evening.
Anyway, here is the work so far!!
We are going to try them out later this afternoon so I will let you all know how it goes! If these all fit well, I will be starting the black edges - the goal is to finish one of the front seats in about a fortnight. I am hoping that the back seats will be much easier and faster (at least according to YouTube that is correct anyway haha!)
Speak to you all soon,
Mim