The Upholstery Forum

Hi Guys, thank you for letting me join this Forum. I am about to recover a 1950's car bench seat. The seat has two tuck and roll panels that flank a plain center panel. Around the three sections goes a length of seat piping and then a flat panel of leather. My question is what tips might you have for sewing the pleated panel, the piping and the plain leather together so that the piping is real tight. My concern is that sewing the 3 pieces together, if not 100% careful will leave the piping loose if I don't get real close to the piping cord itself. I have attached a simple diagram to help explain above.

I know @John is efficient in sewing multiple layers together, but I for some reason can’t seem to make it work. So I sew one layer to the piping and then come back and sew the second. This also lets me check before I sew the second if there is a place I didn’t get it tight enough. I do this by holding the material and twisting the piping so it’ll be how it’ll be on the seat. If it’s loose. I can either correct the area thats loose now, or do it when I sew the second layer. This also helps me cause On the second time I sew, I’m not worrying about 3 pieces going together, Just the 2. This lets me focus on my piping foot being tight and my seam allowance being correct. Also, make sure you use the correct foot for the job. I have seen I think cechaflo, use a zipper foot or a walking foot he cut the one side off that goes against the piping so it sits very close as you sew. Not sure if this is the correct method or not. But it works for whoever I saw that did it. Notch the piping in corners so it’ll lay flatter as you sew too.

Thanks Cody. I was doing some practice runs last night and I too came to the conclusion of stitching the piping to one layer first to reduce the amount of things to worry about. Do you use the piping foot on both runs? Last night I used a standard foot to sew the piping onto the pleated section so that my stitch line was away from the piping fold. I then used the piping foot when I sewed on the 2nd layer so that my stitch line was tight to the piping. I didn't want to weaken the material by having multiple stitch lines on top of each other. I'm using 1/8 (3mm) seat/cushion piping between leather with a 1/4 piping foot. I'm waiting on a smaller piping foot to be delivered. All the best.

Hi @Petticd Welcome to the forum!!
I recommend buying a 3/8 and 1/4 " welt feet. I bounce between both depending on the thickness of material and the size piping being used. Always do some tests on scrap before going to the one that counts
The way I teach people to do welting is in 2 steps as well. First sew the welt warping and cord to one piece. Make sure to sew this first stitch at less than your seam allowance. Then come back and sew all the pieces together at your full seam allowance. I use the welting feet on both steps. The reason you sew the first stitch at less than your seam allowance is to ensure that you don't see that first stitch form the front side. If your seam looks too loose its ok to come back and sew the seam again making sure your pushing the welt tighter to the needle. The big thing you have to worry about is sewing through the welt cord. If you do that you will see it from the front and its not fixable. You have to start over.

I hope this helps

@Petticd
As @John mentioned, id also add that you should sew the welt to the "band" and then the band to the pleated section to avoid over stretching the pleats. I would also cut the pleat selvage away about 3/4" away from the edge at an angle leaving and 1/8" or so at the edge. That should help the welt stay straight and prevent wandering and possibly walking the welt. If it seems loose i like to sew from the back side (flipped) and sew from the pleated side to get the welt to sit tighter.

Thanks @john & jdenison89 for your replies and advise. I've attached the test runs I did using some old vinyl I had, I've yet to try this on leather and around corners, but the advise and guidance I have received here should help me. Thank you all.

Looks like you’ve got a good go at it! I use the either the piping foot or the regular foot depending what’s in the machine as the time. But like you and others have mentioned I sew away from the piping the first run. Don’t want to weaken the material.

Hi, this is my first posting so please be gentle with me! I am restoring leather seats on my old 1938 Austin. I am aware that the seats should be finished using the tuck and roll method. I have sewn 20 pleats using this method and am extremely happy with the results - so far. I found a great video on YouTube. Now I need help. I have filled the channels with cotton batting using a tin box applicator as recommended, this has prevented balling of the wadding - great! Imagine I now have a seat cover with lovely round pleats. I am now stuck with the piping, you will appreciate that if I sew piping onto the pleats they will deform as the piping needs a flat surface and the pleats are round which means that they distort when squashed flat. If I remove the wadding and sew the piping on first then the wadding is likely to 'ball' when it is returned to the tuck and roll channel - HELP!

Hi @Pip Smith! Welcome to the forum!! Happy to have you here.

That is really awesome to hear you have used my tuck & roll video to make your pleats! I would love to see pictures when you finish.
I have 2 tips for you
1. First sew your piping on to the piece that doesn't have the pleats. This will keep the piping nice and flat when you sew all 3 together.
2. The edge of your tuck & roll section should already be pretty flat after the final step in the video where you fold and sew down the edges.

Hi John thanks for the advice, I will send pictures. Just to be sure the top layer is leather with the pleats sewn to the bottom layer of cloth (batting is sandwiched between the two, do you mean I sew the piping to the cloth first?
Hi John, thanks for your speedy response. I obviously missed the final step in the video, I was so excited to get going, now I have watched it again (for the 5th time!) I can see exactly what you mean and note the importance of pushing the following pleat to the pleat I am sewing before I actually sew. All clear now - not sure if I have fully understood the first step i.e 'sewing the piping on the piece that doesn't have the pleats. I assumed that after the final step where I fold down the edges I then sew the piping, maybe further clarification is required to help a confused British fellow sewer (we are going through a confused stage of our political evolution at present - BREXIT, so who wouldn't be confused!). Cheers Pip

A busy weekend on my full sized practice run in vinyl. Next will be to try in Leather.

I found it very difficult to manage the sheer volume of material through the sewing machine with a piece this size.

Dear all, last week I shared with John an automated Tuck & Roll calculator that I created in Exel to semi automate the Calculation sheet that John provides in his Youtube video. John has given his approval for me to share it with you all. I have used it and it appears to work, however, I would appreciate your feedback and confirmation that it calculates correctly.

The calculations are done in imperial measurements (Inches) with a conversion to metric should you need it.

Hi @Pip Smith Welcome to the forum!!! Yes sew the welting loosely to the piece with out pleats in it first. Then sew that piece to the section with pleats and sew it tight agents the welt.

@Petticd That looks awesome! Yes cotton tuck and roll can be a lot of material to handle. Great job though! Cant wait to see the finished project!
I have so say it is really really satisfying to see you guys using this method and seeing that my videos worked. I see your channel tins in that picture and they look great!

Thanks so much for the automated calc sheet for tuck and roll. I love how you made it work for metric as well. What a great addition to the forum!!! Everyone make sure you download this!

I just thought I'd post a quick update on my progress. I had some challenges sewing the piping around the base and if I'm honest it's not perfect. Although as my first attempt it is better than I expected. Thoughts and comments welcome as I want to learn and improve, thank you.

Looks great. Piping can be a bit of a pain sometimes. When I first started I was so focused on getting it tight, I’d often push it right under the needle and have to start all over. It’s very much a matter of practice. I’d be very happy with this if I were you. It looks like it wouldn’t hurt to go back and cut off any salvage left after sewing the piping in. Could be the pic, but looks like there is a line appearing just below it. This eliminate that line but trimming blends it in better. But again. Could be the pic.

Thanks Cody, appreciate your feedback.

@Petticd !!! That looks awesome for your first one. You should be super proud. I cant what to see more pics in the future .

@Petticd ,

I really appreciate the effort and remember that it is not fitted. Once fitted it will have the outcome youre looking for