Tucks and Rolls and Rolls and Pleats and a small panel

Please excuse my ignorance but what size staples did you use? I am just about to do this for my first time. Thanks in advance. Great Post!

 

Nice tech piece, Thanks. I just did my first seat and door panel(1 to go,yet). I used the same style pleat and I like the look. I have some baggy spots, mostly on corners, can these be "shrunk" in any way?

 

You make it look so easy....

 

My stapler takes a 3/8 crown staple, the width. You need to be concerned with the depth of the staple. Probably 1/4 in is good for going through a 1/8 in panel and 1 layer of vinyl, as long as you have at least 1/2 in of foam on the frontside.

Theres an upholstery HAMB forum with 3 more techs.

Sewing diamond pleats by Jake.

Sewing the most common upholstery seams for your project.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=174

Recovering a stool- upholstery basics that you can use for your auto project as well.

 

That looks awesome! My first seat had more pleats on the back than the bottom!

Its only baggy because its a little to big. The rule is if you dont have to fight the cover to get it on, its too big. You want the cover to compress the foam so it pushes against the cover to take out the wrinkles.

 

Great thank you for the advice!

 

my intention was not to insult and im glad you understood that.

 

Really well done post, my only concern would be using 1/8 inch veneer on the panels, it would be better to use water repellent board (the black stuff that shops use), in time the 1/8 inch wood will self destruct from mositure ..........

 

Awesome tech - now im off for my own trial n error!!!!

 

Great thread- thanks for posting this. I learned a lot from an upholsterer in Torrance named Warren Morimoto. I was designing interiors for GM show cars and had Warren upholster them. One thing that he was meticulous about was the foam. He really shopped around and didn't use a lot of the stuff that is most commonly found in supply shops. He would sew several samples with varying foams to see if it gave the look he was after. I really got an appreciation for that kind of finesse as it can really make or break a piece.

And vinyls- there are so many brands out there and you really have to watch out for the offshore stuff. Crappy backing material and poor UV resistance and you'll see a great upholstery job fade and stain in a hurry. Materials are certainly not a place to save money. Look around and shop carefully. Same with leather.

One of my pet peeves is puckered pleats on a door panel and I see it a lot. Roger seems to have that attention to detail that makes for a great job. Great stuff.

 

First let me say awesome post!! I've been thinking for some time about buying a serious machine and upholstering my sedan and I think you've pushed me over the edge.

Now a question. You said you were using 3/4" foam. Did you bond 1/4" & 1/2" together to get 3/4"? The pictures look like there are two different colored layers (grey & white) with the fabric on the back of the grey.

Thanks for taking the time to show us how it can and should be done for a great outcome.

 

I used 1/8" on mine but I sprayed them with clear lacquer to seal the wood.

DD

 

Good question about the 3/4" ...I've asked a few places and none of them had it

 

I make 3/4 in by cementing 1/2 hi density to 1/4in scrim if i cant get 3/4 in scrim. a Lot of guys use "channel foam" for deep pleats. Look for 5/8 hi density scrim also.

 

I know this thread is slightly old,But it would be nice to tell everyone that before you cover your panel to trial fit it to the door
and make provision for the clips that retain it to the door....
Then cover......My 2 cents.....

 

Great tech. Helps us rookies alot. Thanks

 

Lol, What a dick.

Actually, if you want to make a door panel heres a great tech by Skipstitch.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115914&highlight=upholstery+tech

Also, check the HAMB uphlolstery forum for great info and tech posts here.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=174

 

Its like sharing a recipe for oatmeal cookies, then having someone point out the fact that you never told anyone to preheat the oven.

Wow, Merry Christmas buddy.

 

Wow, this went downhill fast.

Too bad.


-Jason

 

I'm contemplating doing the interior of my Shoebox with much trepidation and found your tech very helpful. Wish me luck.

 

nice work....you make it look so easy

 

Really nice looking work and thanks for posting. Could you tell us is there an easy method to do alternating colors for the pleats, like blue,white,blue,white etc? Thanks.

 

I just enjoyed reading this again....until that last page.....must have been the irritation that caused you to run that needle through your finger Gill.....

 

Nice how to! I followed you over here from the Upholstery Forum, glad I found your write up. Now I'm going to try one.

Thanks,
Bobby

 

Hey Bobby, weve got an upholstery social group, join us here-

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=174

 

Thanks for taking time to post all that up.Looks great.Now I really want to do my own........

 

i love this thread thanks Gil, now my mother in law was given and industrial machine and all the gear, she has all the semi pro home type clothes sewing machines anyways...........

i was hoping to do some panels up for my 55 Dodge pickup, and a bench seat as well, but was looking to use a silver sparkle zodiac vinyl or something like it, can anyone say that this vinyl is thicker or the same thickness as say the vinyl used on a panel like this? Wondering if it will fold and roll like this stuff?

any help would be appreciated

best, Derek

 

Derek, you can tuck and roll Zodiac no problem, make sure the machine is a walking foot industrial.

 

The only "easy" method i could think of for that would be to sew individual foam backed strips together, but it really wont have depth like a pleat.

i think the best results would be a stuffed pleat or sewing the strips into a channel foam.