The Upholstery Forum

Ok, I’m a total noob, but I’ve been wanting to learn upholstery forever. I’m a pretty good metalworker, and I’ve done some woodwork, so I’m hoping that will help me get the hang of this.

I looked at used machines, but couldn’t find one that I liked...and I decided I didn’t want to deal with troubleshooting an older machine. Generally I’m a big believer in old iron, my bandsaw saw duty in a wwii navel aircraft shop for example.

So I ended up getting a new Consew 206rb5 from upholster.com. Servo motor and free shipping, best price I saw anywhere online. I spent half a day Saturday figuring out how to put it together (O.M.G., what is up with not even providing an assembly diagram?). I was able to sew a couple of practice bits, get the thread tension figured out, etc. I did more practicing today, straight French seams, one curved flat felled seam and one pleat practice panel. I also swapped in a 50mm pulley, which helps a little (it was pretty controllable already, but I want to stack the deck in my favor). I got a shorter belt, but it’s a tiny bit too short, so I’ll have to deal with that tomorrow.

John’s “apprentice” course was a big help. I’m particularly happy about the pleat panel, the stitch lines are reasonably straight (the edge seam, not s0 much). I wanted 1 7/8 pleats to work with a chair I’m going to re-do as a practice part, I allowed 1/8” for the stitch allowance and it came out right on the money.

I have an old (Ikea?) chair that I use in the shop sometimes. I figured I couldn't possibly make it worse, so I cut a block of thicker foam for the seat, and made a pleated panel and skirt, and stapled it back together.

It was a good learning exercise, I learned a few things, and it came out OK. Not particularly inspired, but not awful either. Happy camper.

Wow love that chair! Well done, thanks for sharing your experience so far,i found it is so inspirational

Hey @Joemcglynn Welcome to the forum! Thanks for sharing your story. Your learning really fast! I'm impressed.
Great to hear that the apprentice course was helpful Cant wait to see your future projects.

The chair looks SWEEEEET! Good job!

Thanks @vicstric, it felt great to be able to pull that off. I know it’s way simpler than a car seat, but i’m Working my way up.

I just did a practice piece. Not perfect, but it came out ok. I laid it out wrong once, and had to think about how @john showed doing the layout in the videos. I had forgotten to start from the middle on the sides (longer dimension) but once I figured out what I had to do it was not hard. I used a silver space pencil for the layout, that’s my new favorite tool. Crisp lines and wipes off easily once I’m done sewing.
More practice panels to do, but I\I am working toward making a pair of “low rent bomber seats” for a hot rod. It is just a practice project. I learn more making real things than just random sample panels. I have the four sides (for two seats) cut out of 16 gauge steel. I need to figure out how to make the edge that will be exposed “not sharp”. My preference would be to have the edge “wired”, rolled around a 1/8” steel rod, to give it a finished edge detail. So I’m off to play with metal for a while to figure out that operation, then I can lay out the details for the seat sides.

Nice work on those Diamonds.

Looks like your a fellow metal fabricator I am as well! Looks like you sheet metal skills a little better that be based on those metal lips in the background. I took one of the Lazze classes about 8 years ago. It was awesome.

Thanks John. A few wobbles on the stitching, and I can see that I need to pay more attention to how the material is gathering into the pleats because there is some weird bunching in places. Good learning experience though.

I just visited Lazze recently when I was picking up an early Christmas present ;). I’d love to take his class, I have been lucky enough to take classes with some other metalworkers - Ron Covell, Fay Butler, and a few others.

I did a couple of experiments on wiring the edge yesterday. That 16 gauge is stiff stuff. I didn’t quite get a successful edge, more experimentation required. I was able to turn a small flange neatly, which is the first step in wiring an edge, but rolling it over the wire by hand was a struggle. I’ll post some pics next time if anyone is interested (and it doesn’t look like a two year old did it).

I had a few minutes and have been wanting to try piping. I switched over to a welt foot, and just used some scraps off the floor to get a feel for it. Holding three pieces of Naugahyde and the piping in alignment is a little tricky. In @John’s videos that how he shows it I think. Certainly faster to do it in all one operation if you can.

On a real project at my (nonexistent) skill level I think I would pre-sew the piping loosely, then baste the two panels and welting together with staples to lock in the alignment.

How do you guys do it?

I’m going to spend more time later practicing, this one isn’t terrible but then it doesn’t have to fit anything either.

I really like that color combo.
Looks like your a quick study!

Ok, I know this sucks, but it was good sewing practice. It was also hard.

I started at the top. First stitches were too short. Then too long. I finally set it to 6mm, which should be 12 stitches on the short side and 16 on the long, but every segment seemed to be slightly different. I know if I wasn’t exactly on the layout lines that would be an issue, but the amount of tension on the fabric as I feed it seems to influence it too. And I think the foam and how much it’s compressed may affect it.

Anyway, kind of fussy work, and certainly not ready for prime time.

I also lowered my seating position at the end, that helped me follow the layout lines. Next time it will be better. I think I will use 1/4” foam since it ends up so compressed anyway and the thickness with 1/2” foam makes it harder to follow he line.

Damn!! I would be lost and looking for my tail if I tried that! Cool.

wow your are making a lot of progress!

That is nice . I understand about the stitch length but that is a learning curve. I would have to pack a sack lunch to try that I also took a class with Ron Fournier years ago and also a two day with Covell

That is very cool.
I've been wanting to try something like that but haven't had the time.

I tried another panel. Still not good enough, but I felt a lot more in control on this one. Good practice. I want to try this with bigger thread, maybe 207.

(Note to self: next time start with a new bobbin so you don;t run out in the middle dummy)

@Joemcglynn

Those are pretty fancy stitches. Are you drawing the template out by hand?

@Joemcglynn

Great Progress!!!

Compare to sample above I think it’s just wow. I wouldn’t even try it yet. Seriously, first try is horrible, this one took me a minute to find mistakes. Looks very good

@IvanD

I admire the attempt at that challenge and think they look GREAT!!!!!