Page 1 of 1

Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 05 Jan 2019 01:12
by Grinder
I've got a little bit of experience fixing up a couple of antique chairs so I thought I'd try my hand at some automotive upholstery. I bought an industrial sewing machine so I'm kind of commited now :) The plan is to do the interior on the 4dr 510 but thought I'd practice on my daughter's 240SX interior. The seats are BEAT! I can only make them better than what they are and that's not saying much - a piece of duct tape is a vast improvement :)

The 4dr 510 and future upholstery recipient :)
Image

So lets start with some before pictures. Like I said I can only improve on this :)
Image

Image

Image

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 05 Jan 2019 01:28
by Grinder
I won't put all the pictures I took here but I'll try and keep it as step by step as possible so you can see the process. Take lots of pictures as you take it apart. Sometimes there is something you need to go back as reference. In this picture you can see where the top stitch was done so that you replicate it when you sew it back together and it lays properly.

Image

Bottom of the seat - you can see where the hog rings attach the seat cover and hold it in place.

Image

On furniture you use staples into the frame to hold the fabric in place. On a car seat you use hog rings and wire in a pocket sewn into the cover.
Image

or a reinforcement of some sort like these plastic sew on strips
Image

I'm reusing the wires from whats left of the seat covers so I make sure they are labeled. You can make your own of course. It looks like they bend the ends back to keep it from poking through.
Image

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 05 Jan 2019 01:35
by Grinder
Label and pictures.... if you don't need them no problem but once you're scratching you head it's too late :)
Image

Image

Image

I tried ironing the leather to make a template but a lot of them have a coating similar to vinyl and it will shrink and pucker so I use weights from my barbells to cold press them as flat as possible. Once that's done I stapled them to some heavy cardboard to make templates.
Image

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 05 Jan 2019 01:50
by Grinder
Now the fun part - time to get creative. My daughter wants to paint the car powder blue so the theme is mainly black with pink and blue for the interior.

A blank slate. Vinyl on top glued to 1/2" foam then a bottom layer of fabric glued to the other side of the foam to make a vinyl/foam/fabric sandwich. Layout is done in chalk - it doesn't stain and is easily erasable. Just sharpen a stick of chalk on a piece of sandpaper to get a chisel edge to do fine lines.
Image

I haven't seen this anywhere but I thought I'd try it. Using a bamboo basket weave pattern embossed vinyl and glued diamonds onto the panel with contact cement. You need to be very precise with the cutting so a ruler and Olfa blade works very well.

Before gluing down textured vinyl on base
Image

Panel sewn. You can see how the 1/2 foam sandwich makes nice pleats in the panel.
Image

Close up of the diamonds
Image

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 05 Jan 2019 01:59
by Grinder
So I start watching some YouTube videos so I can try and figure out how to do this and of course I decide to go with a blind stitch because it looks cool. Problem is that it works for one row of diamonds but the material starts to bunch up if you add another set top and bottom.

Layout for blind stitch
Image

Too much puckering :/
Image

But a chance to see what the upper panel will look like on the seat
Image

Do over on the panel. Colour is just washed out with the camera and lighting. There is a problem with the stitch on the bottom RHS diamond which I have since fixed. Added a second row of top stitching.
Image

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 05 Jan 2019 02:09
by Grinder
Now that I've got the main panel for the back of the seat done I'm going to do the seat. These are the two main panels and the majority of the work. My daughter and I decided on textured stripes to match the diamonds on the seat back. The angles are the same as the diamonds and the pleats will match up to the seat back.

Test layout
Image

Precision fitment is critical here. Not sure if this is the way to do it but it looks sharp in the end.
Image

Kind of wrinkly from manhandling around the sewing machine.
Image

Some close ups to see the stitch work.
Image

Colour is washed out but more detailed shots.
Image

Rough idea of the main panels.
Image

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 05 Jan 2019 08:32
by defdes
Nice craft there my man. After this, the 510 should be too difficult.

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 23:43
by Grinder
Progress on back panel

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 07 Jan 2019 06:55
by Byron510
Kurk, thanks for the detailed write up - very cool as few would ever attempt this undertaking.

Are new foam inserts available for these seats, I’m guessing the drivers seat was beyond help in its old condition! Or are you lucky enough that another pass side foam insert work on the drivers side seat?

Keep us posted on the progress, looks great!

Byron

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 10 Jan 2019 23:36
by Grinder
Thanks :) I did go way overboard trying a bunch of different things to see if I could do it. I'll call it Bosozuku style lol.

I found a used seat for $20 but I'm waiting to hear back from the guy. It's about $85 for foam pieces to rebuild the bottom seat piece so I'll try and track down another seat instead. Driver or passenger side should work.

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 10 Jan 2019 23:40
by Grinder
Test layout for grommets.
Image

Image

Installed
Image

Test fit - hog rings not installed yet
Image

Grommets with inserts
Image

Cleaning the glue gun can be a pain. Work smarter - not harder!
Image

Seat bottom panels starting to go together
Image

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 11 Jan 2019 03:03
by Heinrich
well done.

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 11 Jan 2019 08:21
by Byron510
I love the tape over the gun - I totally get it!

Love the grommets - awesome old school JDM touch.

Keep em coming, great thread.

Byron

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 19 Jan 2019 19:44
by VelvetHammer
Beyond impressive! Great job!

Re: Uphostery - first attempt at recovering a car seat.

Posted: 20 May 2019 13:05
by goichi1
I know this is a little late, but I just read found and your thread, very nice work! I too tried to cover a few seats or repair them. Looks like you caught on fast too! Also, try 1/4 foam or even 1/8" next time. Sometimes you don't need as much foam thickness as you think. And, how did you repair the damaged foam? I repaired a BMW seat a while back and it was a pain in the ass but it worked out. have to have a special glue for foam. A electric kitchen knife works amazing too for the shaping process. Very cheap at a thrift store.