This is for my 51' chevy bench seat... I am doing something a little different than your typical vinyl seats. I am using 8/9 oz cow hide leather that I will be tooling to make designs out of just like a saddle or motorcycle seat. I am curious on what you think would be the best way to measure out or make the right patterns to fit on right.. should I leave enough space to the edge to sew (which I will be doing by hand by a special brading technique along the edges of the side). Any thoughts?? I went and used just a bed sheet pinned it along my old seat (which is partially destroyed from wear and tear) used a marker to line around the edges for just the top of the bottom half of the seat (for now) to get the closest design possible so I know how far to leave space for sewing. Im going into this kinda blindly. And since I know its my first well.. I dont expect a miracle that everything will line up perfectly.... Has anyone ever worked with such thick material
I'm not an upholsterer but I've been studying my ass off the last couple months as I'm doing my '35's interior right now. One thing that I read that might be of some service is to head to Walmart and get some clear vinyl to help you make the patterns and then transfer that to your seat. ALSO repost this question in the Upholstery Social Club here on the HAMB and see if you get better answers then the one I supplied you with.
Jeff is right on both suggestions. Lowe's has big rolls of the vinyl as well. My only suggestion would be to slighly under size your leather to ensure it will be a tight fit. Nothing worse than going to all that work and it being loose. Definetely join the Upholstery Social group. A lot of helpful guys in there...
Sound like a cool project miss rabbit. The first thing I would do is make sure the seats foundation is in good shape. It would suck to do all that work and then go to sit in it and the springs are all shot . Next get your padding the way you want it. In other words make sure it has the shape you are after. You can use cotton or dacron batting to beef up the cushion, the I use muslin to cover that. Pull the muslin tight over the batting and hog ring it to the frame. Use clear 6mil plastic and cheap spray adhesive. Spray the muslin lightly with the glue, you want to be able to remove the plastic as this will be your pattern. You will want to do both the seat bottom and backrests at the same time so you can lay out your pattern. Use a sharpie to draw your lines on the plastic. make witness marks along the lines to line evrything up when sewing. Carefully cut out each peice as they will be your patterns. You can then set the patterns on top of the material and trace around the edges with a china pencil or chalk. I add about 1/2" to each edge for sewing. I hope this helps. PM me if you have any questions. Jim
My wife wanted to do that with her '51, but balked at the price of a hide. Somewhere I have a photo of a car done exactly like that though
I just finished the interior of my car and I purchased my foam, hog rigs and other stuff from these guys. http://www.diyupholsterysupply.com/ I have no affiliation with them but their prices seemed good and they were pleasant to deal with. ~Carl
Miss Rabbit , there was a '29 pickup built here in NZ a couple years back that had the seat done in a heavier style material - prob very similar to what you are considering . The stitching was all deliberately done in "Baseball Mitt" style , was very effective and suited the rest of the build well . I will see if I can scrape up some pics and come back and add them here . . here you go , a pic in here http://www.hpcoatings.co.nz/Portals/489/images/Proj 29.pdf
MissRabbit try this thread. I have the mag at home but remembered this thread. Dan http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164488
Wow! That is GORGEOUS! Just add some tooled designs and you got a masterpiece right der! Thanks alot that looks amazing. Thats stored in my favorites!
I think it's a great idea! I spotted this Cadillac at the Lone Star Roundup a few years ago and I was blown away by the saddle interior:
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