Technical Mexican Blankets for Seat Covers...I know...

theres a wise guy in every crowd !

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remember mexican blankets arent very durable or well made, theyre colorful and cool, i used to buy em every year 3 for 20 bucks in cabo but they can come apart easily, i would check out joanne fabrics if you have one close, they have tons of stuff

 

Not to be picky but that design on the blanket you have looks more South West First Nation rather then Mexican. Good luck with your project.

 

I'm actually planning on doing the same with my 54', but hear me out. Underneith I'll have nice OEM patterned upolstery for shows, but the car will be a daily driver, so = seat covers.

I'm going for presewn saddle blanket seat covers that will go with the color sceme of the car. I've got a bit of rural AZ in my genes and have always been fond of the American Southwest, so the blankets for me are a little more than stereotypical lowrider style.

 

I would take the blanket, lay it on the floor of my garage and park my ride on top of it.

 

Nah. Traditional!

I wish I had something as nice available in the '50s.

Ben

 

I have some quality Mexican blankets I dragged back years ago. Most of what I have seen are made offshore and of very poor quality. I do like the look in most vehicles.
'member when all cars had a "car blanket"?
Maybe some Canadian will use new or vintage Hudson Bay 4 Point blanket to upholster Merc truck seats.

 

I'm gonna go make a Mexican omelet with some Canadian bacon and think about it.

I had to make a seat for my heap, and driving it is more important than looks for me, so I covered it with the first blanket I found in the closet. Just folded and stapled to the plywood. If I ever get around to the interior it will get upholstered.

 

I'd vote for the saddle blanket covers. I'm still using one in my modern truck. They fit literally anything lol. Since you're in IN, maybe check tractor supply?

Alternately, what about those NORS 1950's-60s cover sets that always pop up on ebay? I can't imagine the Packard seats are much bigger than Buick or Cadillac so there's probably a more common application that would fit your orphan.




EDIT: amazon has the cowboy covers.

 

My experience with the real Mexican blankets is that if you attach them with hog rings, they unravel pretty quickly. They are woven and not bound very well on the edges. They were intended to cover people up, not be seat covers.

Used to be able to get real upholstery material at Jo-Ann Fabrics pretty cheap, that stuff you could hog ring to the seat frames. Probably not nearly as many color and pattern options as there used to be there.
The next option I'd probably go with would be the cowboy seat covers. They are pretty cheap and will hold up for a couple of years. Gene

 

Cowboy seat covers?


55 Clipper
55 Patrican
55 Panama
(Packard)

 

Like the one listed above ️


55 Clipper
55 Patrican
55 Panama
(Packard)

 

I'm actually thinking of doing something like that with a HBC four colour blanket on my '32 one day. You may want to explain what 2,3,&4 points mean.... Some may not know.

 

I have a Mexican type blanket on the front seat of my Ford, the existing seat needs to be covered and it is falling apart. I have it held on by a bunch of big safety pins. But not good for a long term fix.

 

I used a serape, they are a tighter weave an work pretty good. Must be glued to a foam or backer though.

 

Army, Navy Surplus stores have green, brown, grey, and blue blankets that look a lot like original upholstery, they're good if you want a quieter O/G look. And yes hog rings are the ticket.

 

Here are the colors I’m going with.






55 Clipper
55 Patrican
55 Panama
(Packard)

 

Chaddilac is right, you want the Serape, not the loose woven blankets.

 

Is J C Whitney still in business, they had them at one time.

 

This cover^^^^is what I used on my bench seat. You will be able to do the same with a Mexican Blanket.

I cut 1/2 or was it 3/8" DOWEL ROD into 8" lengths. I dropped the 8" sections in the front pockets you see above and then 'SEWED' the DOWEL RODS to the seat springs using ZIP TIES. For the back (and the sides and back of the seat portion) I folded material over the dowel rod sections and pulled the zip tied sections to the springs.

Cheap and good looking solution. The Saddle Blanket Seat Cover has not moved and hasn't bunched up. IMHO, looks great. BTW, 110k miles on a '49 Chevy half ton.