Just wondering what some of you have done without any knowledge of doing upholstery work. Did you start with a living room chair or go straight to a car project. Books, YouTube, what was your first step. Photos always help. Has to be a lot safer than wiring things. Thanks! Bob
Sit down and learn how to sew on a home-based sewing machine. Kind of like a football player learning ballet.
I did the interior of my truck, never did any upholstery work before. It's about as simple as I could make it. I thought I would use it for a while then change it out, been 21 years and still haven't got around to it.
I did a stint for a few years making custom window shades on an industrial machine. It was a simple assignment to just form and sew the bottom slat pocket sleeve. The material was a fiberglas reinforced vinyl. The best I can tell you is just keep practicing measured straight lines. Get some practice material, cloth, vinyl, or fiberglas. Train your eye and fingers to keep the folds measured even and non stop to the row's end. Have fun
I got interested in making upholstery when I saw what my buddy paid for his interior. A good friend ran a heavy truck body shop and did everything including upholstery. I watched him and asked a lot of questions. One of his remarks was, "So if you think old Bob can do it anyone can?". The real answer is yes, if you work at it. You will make mistakes, Bob told me they make good kneeling pads. So, I bought an old Pfaff walking foot sewing machine much like my buddy Bob had. I got some good thread and material and practiced, practiced, practiced. The big thing about machine work is sewing a straight line. Once you can do that you can move on to projects. One of my first big ones was making seat covers (practice) for the seat in my Model A. The seat is a cut down rear seat from a mid 70's Bronco. It turned out pretty decent for a first time and using odds and ends of material. Hopefully it will look a lot better when I re-do it.
I've said it before, if I knew 40+ years ago what I know now I'd have listened to a local upholsterer who offered to teach me the trade in exchange for some chassis work I'd have went into the upholstery business instead of the chassis business.
@Roothawg started a thread in the past year or two. Lots of advice on it. Many other older threads as well that surface as well. What they’ve taught me is I’ll just have to pay someone to have things done. So nice to just be into pickup trucks
Ashley did the lucky needle classes online, and then started upholstery everything in the house for practice lol
Don't want to put Dave out of business but know I'll never wire a car so the upholstery looks like something I can see and understand. Watched a few videos and it all made sense.
At 76 I’m careful about buying more tools /equipment. I can wire a car with what I have. I can’t do upholstery with what I have, unless I’m going to glue the seams.
Hey, 37kid; Fortunately, Singer made a heavy-duty *foot* operated sewing machine years ago. Still can be found sorta-cheap. No electrickery involved... . Not quite as nice as a full-blown-walking-foot-+everything else machine, but no electrickery... BTW, how's the speedster et/al coming? Marcus...
Watching a few upholstery videos I see some things in common with guides on a table saw and foot control on a Heli arch aluminum welder. I'd feel safer sewing than running wires. Just hung up the back half of the speedster chassis a few hours ago to make room in the basement.
Singer made a load of different machines, some heavy duty, many not, some suitable for upholstery, many not, some on a treadle, others not. Anyway, just about any sewing machine can be placed on a treadle and operated by foot power if you wish to do so. In many cases probably not the best option, but it IS an option. Treadle sewing machines are still sold new in parts of the world where electricity isn't as common as we're used to. But those are probably just simple fabric machines, not the triple feed industrial machines you'd want for upholstery work.
Gson; I was just 'funnin' 37Kid - he enjoys claiming he's paranoid about wiring & electrickery... He's building one of the neatest speedsters too. Eventually, it'll have about 8 wires on to run it. Marcus...
Electrical fires and the destroyed cars, garages, and houses are real, too late to understand how it works. Think I'll start on a chair and some leather and see how it goes.
That is quite difficult to do on a walking foot machine. The presser foot will give you a warning shot [approx 3/4" from the needle] I've done this many times, but never even came close to a needle in the finger [that is the exclusive domain of women "gossiping" in clothing factories] @The37Kid Those machines have pretty good brakes on the motors! they'll stop the machine from full speed in about 22° of rotation. The foot control is a clutch with a heel brake [old time machinists "tap the clutch" to position the needle], The motors come in 2 different RPMs for commercial machines [3450 for clothing factories, and 1725 for upholstery/walking foot] My # 1 tip for sewing .........is to hold the Fabric like a hacksaw [one hand behind the machine] That way you can hold the correct/constant tension oo the fabric AND feel the speed/feed of the machine. Tip # 2 ......... When sewing fabrics cut on a bias/ diagonal use some scotch tape [cellotape] along the seams. This prevents the fabric stretching ,and can be pulled off later like perforated paper. Tip # 3 when installing covers on seats , use pieces of plastic bags between the foam and cover to allow the padding to push into the corners properly [nothing looks worse than wrinkles in the corners] Some people use a steamer to hide the wrinkles with shrinkage, but the actual problem is underneath. A layer of "Dacron" between the foam and cover is also a good method [especially if the foam has been repaired] @The37Kid get yourself a good electric or air stapler [then later some "hog-ring" pliers] The real skill from upholstery comes from the installation . You will quickly grasp how to pull fabrics so "railway tracks" disappear. If you are playing around with synthetic woven fabrics buy a cheap "Hot knife" to cut the fabrics. Get a good walking foot machine.....It doesn't stop with just doing cars. Here's a winch cover for my trailer I custom made Tie-down straps I even did the curtains and valances in our home [The real skill was in the installation , not the sewing] All the curved valances were cut with a hot knife] The projects are endless, but because they are visually effective..... They are very satisfying
Couple Hispanic guys on YouTube thankfully take the time to post a lot of how to videos. I struggled thru my interior and now starting on my neighbors 54’ Chevy. Most guys on here seem to pick it up a lot faster than I did.
I met Sid Chavers (THE Bay Area CA. upholsterer) at an early Billetproof, around a gag by some fenderless hoodlums that said Sid and I were 'lookalikes'. We both got a laugh, but the similarity was there.... Sid had some 8 track tapes, (#1 & #2) I bought both. Mom-in-law taught Home Economics thru '60s and '70s, so Wife Joey is a whiz. Her Mom watched the Sid tapes, told me there were some tricks that were new to her! Machine and teacher available. Student HAMBer unwilling. Wife 'bribable'.
I did a tech for us on the HAMB years back,that has a lot of tips an how too. It worked for me; https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-sew-at-home-upholsrety-hot-rod.604077/
I’m very much a visual learner. If you are also, check out Chechaflo on YouTube and lucky needle has online courses for short money. I watched all of their content, bought a sewing machine and supplies and just had at it.
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