but I am giving this upholstery stuff a shot.....here's a bench I recently completed that I'm pretty happy with.
Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate the compliments, gives me tons of motivation! Back to stitchin'.......................this stuff's addictive!
Yes, it's here at WyoTech. In fact I'm getting ready to graduate at the end of the month and am looking for a shop around the St. Louis area to gain experience with if anyone knows of someone who might be interested in hiring. Thanks Chad
Move to Austin- I'll fire TexasHardcore! (just kiddin' Jeremy. ) What's the auto trim course like at Wyotech? Learn alot? Good instructors? Do any of the students give a damn about traditional style upholstery?
Hey if the rest turns out as good you should do good in the Upholstery trade been at it 38 years,keep at it
You might get hold of Jerry Sexauer's/upholstery in St Louis-he used to do a lot of work on rods.....You can tell him I told you.....[Kenny-/Elmer Mo]
I have to say that the trim course has been the most enjoyable class that I have taken at WyoTech. Number one reason..............it's 95% shop time, 5% lecture. This has given me for the last 9 weeks about an average of 6-1/2 hrs a day to learn, practice, and experiment! Now here's the part I love the best.....all that free time to work on my skills is truely voluntary for the most part. Just as in the real work place, you can bust your ass day in and out to better yourself or sit around and mope about how sewing "sucks", "it's hard", "I can't do it". That's the kind of things I hear about half the class saying, and it just motivates me even more to suceed! I hope my work shows what half the class I am on. I guess that's why there's a sign outside the classroom that reads "If it were easy, everyone would be doing it" (I look at that every morning and kinda grin) Anyway as far as learning alot, I have learned more than I can imagine about sewing, seams, carpet, headliners, sun visors, door panels, seam allowances, various tools, convertible tops, etc. The course really has covered the basics in the trim world. Yet, I lend most of my knowledge to the extra "studying" I do outside of class. Once I'm out of class in the evening, if Im not reading a book on upholstery or watching a video, then I'm usually on a trimmers website reading tech articles and looking for examples of work. I have been able to relate all the lectures from school with other information that I have found and it really has helped me to understand techniques and such much better! The best part.............I love the upholstery side of our hobby, it really lets me to use my artistic side. It's pretty much what I have on my mind at all times in the day. Shit, I can't go out to eat anymore without noticing what types of seams are used on the booths!!!!!!! I critique everything, I even been taking apart some of my furniture in my apartment so I can learn how the covers were assembled. I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to becoming an upholsterer! Instructors: I am impressed with the two that I have along with the two who teach the night classes. All have at one time owned their own shops and are all from different parts of the country. This aspect has been very useful because all have worked on many different types of vehicles, boats, etc. So the knowledge base is amazing, and all are more than willing to share trade secrets and give tips on running your own business successfully. The thing I love the most, and believe is the area my money has been worth it is that all will share mistakes that they learned the hard way and how to avoid them. I believe that helps to put me a couple of years ahead in the game. Finally, (Do any of the students give a damn about traditional upholstery?) Well, let's put it this way...one of our competencies that we had to complete last phase included a tuck-n-roll panel. I think of all the competencies, the most complaints were probably about the difficulty to sew the panel. Now, I too had trouble getting the hang of laying it out and actually sewing it. I became frustrated but kept reminding myself of the type of vehicles that I enjoy the most and how that style of upholstery goes so well together. So I kept pushing and after much trial and error feel I'm competent. So to answer your question, I don't think that too many of the students appreciate a traditional style, but there are a few like myself that understand the importance.
Kenny, do you have a number or an idea of how I might get ahold of him. I tried doing a couple searches on the internet but have come up short..... Thanks Chad
That looks damn nice, man, you should be proud. You should do well as an upholsterer, both because of the skill you've shown here and because of this: That's so the right attitude to have. It's the same way I felt getting into pinstriping [in fact, last night a friend had to ask me what the fuck I was staring at after I spent a couple minutes examining some hand lettering painted on the side of our booth at a restaurant]. I loved doing it, loved learning about it, and took pride in doing everything I could to get better [Still workin' on that.]. Being passionate about what you do and taking pride in your work is every bit as important as your skill, because if you love your craft, and work at it, you're going to actually care what your clients think, rather than just treating it as an assembly line. Nice seat!
"It's the same way I felt getting into pinstriping [in fact, last night a friend had to ask me what the fuck I was staring at after I spent a couple minutes examining some hand lettering painted on the side of our booth at a restaurant]." Glad to hear that I'm not the only one starring at my booth when I go to eat! It's interesting to find and use different examples of work that relates to our hobby!
Slow right now, but as of tomorow we will be thrashing hard to get it running for the nationals in august. Nick
No worries dude, been to Tejas and it is too damn hot for me man! Yet, I'd love to come down sometime and check out the shop!
Your work is nice. You're young though, you WILL get better. Your attitude rocks and is very refreshing. Good for you. from one Chad to another.
The Jalopy Journal
