The Upholstery Forum

Greetings,

Here I go again . . . I have a new (to me) boat that is in need of some upholstery work. One interesting aspects is that the boat is only 5 years old (2016 model) and the seating is already in rough shape. Not sure if this is a case of "they don't make them like they used to" or if there was something wrong with the fabrication & materials themselves. (I suspect the thread was not a lifetime thread, because sun exposure areas are the worse of the bunch).

It doesn't really matter the cause, as I plan on re-upholstering the entire set of seating and trim, since it is all suspect.

Here are a few pictures of the issues. Mostly thread disintegration and premature wear, along with some discoloration due to abrasion.
Referring to my other recent threads on material suppliers and seam choice - Thanks everyone for your input and comments. It looks like I will need a bout 50 linear yards of vinyl material, and I placed several orders with a few on-line suppliers.

My last project was about 2 years ago, when I re-upholstered my then 25 year old boat. This boat has a bit more seating, being a bowrider. IIRC, I used about 33 lin. yds. on my previous project.

Here are a couple more pictures . . .

The previous owner (PO) placed some patches on the seams in the worst areas to prevent them from coming apart further.

There is also some discoloration in the vinyl, apparently from abrasion.

My hopes are to address the issues in a re-upholster job, getting something that will hold up better/longer.
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Day 1 Update . . .

Well not really one day, more like a weekend.

Machine Maintenance - Consew 206RB-4
I used the videos posted by @ChapelWorx , to check and adjust the machine. The timing was off a wee bit, maybe about 10˚ of bobbin rotation, as it was passing the needle at the lower 1/3 of the scarf.

I also oiled everything up, and cleaned things as I went. So, the machine should be good to go for the upcoming work.

Seat Disassembly
I started with the rear seat, which is one of the seats with the most issues, lots of seam separation on the backrests.
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The seat is a front/back double seat made up of 6 individual pieces. 4 base pieces and 2 backrest pieces.
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Here are a few of the base pieces.
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I took one of the base pieces for the rear-facing portion of the seat apart. So these panels should be good to use as templates for the new base skins, as they look to be in decent shape. .
The bases for the rear portion of the seat are slightly different than the bases for the forward-facing part of the seat. So I will need to disassemble one of the forward bases in order to get both patterns.

I'll have to see if the 2 backrest pieces are the same, because it would be nice to have to disassemble only one of those in order to get 2 sets of patterns.

Material Update . . .

I mentioned needing about 50 yards of material.

The original material was Spradling brand and the patterns used were Beluga (white), Simtex, (lt. gray and black) . The side and helm trim is Diamante (Dk. Gray), which has been discontinued.

I plan on adding a bit of color to the new skins, with a red panel in some of the backrests, as shown below.
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The prior work that I've done has been with Nautolex and Morbern brand vinyls. I tend to favor Nautolex brand. So, I've ordered mostly Nautolex vinyls for the new seating.

White = Nautolex Cetacea -White
Lt. Gray - Nautolex Capitano -Techno Gray
Red = Nautolex Colorguard - Tomato (this is the added color for the backrests)
Dk. Gray = Nautolex Beacon - Lead
Black = Spradling Simtex -Zeus Black

I also ordered a similar amount of 1/4" thick (6mm) sew foam with the scrim backing. The original vinyl had only the 1/8" foam backing without a scrim layer. It appears that sew foam is a bit hard to come by . . . I usually get it from Sailrite, but they were out of stock, and other places were a bit pricey. I managed to order some from 'yourautotrim' website at a decent price.

In total cost, I am at about $1,200 in vinyl and about $600 in thread, and $500 in sew foam. ($2,300). I had guesstimated $3,000 for the project, so I should be on target with tools and supplies.

I should have the material in about 8-10 days.

Great job so far! Cant wait to see it finished!

Quick update . . .

I could not get the Nautolex Cetacea vinyl . . . So, I will be going with the Spradling Beluga instead, which is the original.

I am also considering adding a diamond quilt section in the backrests . . .
I'd want to use the same vinyl (Beluga) as the other white panels, so just wondering about quilting with my walking foot machine.

Good stuff, keep the pictures coming!

Very nice!

Looks great! Your walking foot machine will sew diamonds no problem.

Here is my first attempt at diamond quilting a panel . . .
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This panel is going to be the center section of one of the backrests of the rear seat. I had intended that the lower part of the panel would be not quilted, as it is where the upholstery will attach to the base board of the seat. However, it looks like I should go with a separate panel for the lower part sewn to the quilted panel, because of the distortion of the quilting.

The bottom of the panel is 36" across and the top (after quilting) is 34.5" across.

Question: Should I be always be making the quilted section of the overall vinyl skin as a separate panel? I'm thinking yes, because of the distortion quilting adds.

Here is my second attempt (lower one in the photo below). . .
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I cut the lower (non-quilted) section off of the first panel (top in photo) and the dimensions have corrected somewhat.

Here is the piece from the backrest skin that the Diamond quilt will be replacing. I made the quilted piece big enough to allow for some alignment.
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Those look great for your first attempt! I would do those as 2 pieces as well.

Update -

I finished stitching 6 diamond quilt panels to be used in many of the backrests.

I made my first piece, which is part of the instrument panel trim. The original skin had a 'faux' french seam, and I decided to add a bit of color to the re-make of it with real top-stiching instead of a faux seam. The original skin is to the left in the picture.
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I've noticed that a fair amount of the sidewall trim in the boat has 'faux' french seams (i.e. double stitch rows where a seam would typically be). Then the material is stretched to fit the shape of the trim.

I'm planning on going with an actual french seam instead of the faux seam. Stretching the material for a precise fit in a 'one-off' fashion is a bit of trial and error. I think an actual seam will make for an easier (and better) fit to the trim piece.

Update . . .

More sidewall trim pieces. These were originally gray and now will be red.

The vinyl is Nautolex/Boltaflex Colorguard in 'Tomato'
. Interestingly enough, they use a similar type of 'push-in' fastener as many automotive interior trim pieces.

Here is my first attempt at a french seam. The boat originally had 'faux' french seams, which looked cheap and the thread has not held up well.
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Here is an original piece (left) and a re-make of a similar piece (right) with a true french seam (or double stitch seam)
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Here is a close-up of the seams.
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I have the skin made for the larger piece in the picture. Just got to install it to the foam & backing.

there are a few other places on the seats themselves that have french seams. So, I'll be doing those as well.

Looks fantastic! I love the colors and pattern you chose. Cant wait to see it in the water!

First of the seat cushions is done!!!

This is the corner piece of the aft seat base (port side). It is one of the smaller pieces, and I am finding the smaller pieces can be the most challenging
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Looks great! Yeah isn't it deceiving. sometimes the smaller stuff takes longer than the big cushions.

I am awaiting a couple more different presser feet for the Consew 206RB. I have a zipper foot that I use for tight corner/radius pieces and a top-stitch guide. They both both are on the wrong side of the material, requiring the fabric to be 'scrunched' under the machine arm (if that's what is called). So, I've ordered some for the opposite side.

Meanwhile, I've done some other pieces. This is more of the sidewall trim. I added top stitching with RED thread to make the edges more pronounced.
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As I take the old skins apart, I am adding more alignment marks and seam match notations. It also appears that the original skins had only about 1/4" selvage. On the new pieces, I am going with 3/8 - 1/2" selvage, since I am doing more top stitching.
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There is a lot more to go . . . I think 32 pieces total, which is about double of the last boat I did a couple of years ago. I have 7 pieces done, so I'm taking a look at my average time per piece and projecting my schedule. Working on it some nights and most weekends.

My average time so far is about 5-6 hours per piece, which includes

Removal of the old skin from the base or backing
Marking and disassembly of the panels
Cutting new fabric pieces from the old pieces as templates
Gluing the Sew Foam backing and trimming any excess
Sewing new panels together
Fitting the new skin to the existing seat frame/base.

Just wondering if this amount of time sounds about right, or if there are some time-saving steps I should consider ?

If I were to do this semi-professionally, I'm wondering what labor rate would be appropriate? If each seat piece (base, backrest, etc.) is taking about 5 hours then the base cushion I posted a few days ago might be $300 (assuming $50/hour + materials/supplies), which feels a bit high (maybe not ?)

If I were to price out this entire boat re-upholster project, 32 pieces at 5 hours per piece. It would come out to about $8,000 in labor and $2,500 in material, or $10,500 total (@ a $50/hr labor rate).

I guess that is OK . . . If my 'rate' was more like $75/hr the total job would be $14,500 . . . that might be a bit high.

Thanks in advance for any input on the time and hourly rate if I were to do this work for others (right now just doing my own stuff)

So on the square cushion you have torn apart in the picture above. I would probably estimate around 3 hours start to finish but I have done 100s of boat cushions and parts. This also varies based on the complexity of the cover, how much top stitching, condition of the original cover to use as a pattern, custom changes, ect

As for ways to save time... practice and more practice is the most important but other tips that come to mind are:
- learning to trace out you patterns seam allowance by eye and not use a guide.
- Instead of un-stitching each piece many times you can take your scissors and cut down the stitch line removing the seam allowance. This is really easy on single reinforced and french seams. This takes practice to not cut in to you pattern on accident and you have to use best judgment on when you can do that. But this can save a lot of time
- Working on all of the cushions at the same time. When I do boats I remove all the covers in one step, Disassemble and pattern everything in one step, cutout all in one step, Back with foam, then sew , then install all in one step. This saves massive amounts of time in cleaning, switching tools, ect... Just be careful to keep everything is designated piles to not mix up the patterns.
- What staple puller are you using? I find that the CS Osborne ones dont work near as fast as a tack removal tool sanded down to a knife edge.
- Depending on the quality required of the project you can use a multi tool to cut the staples flush with the board instead of pulling the staples. This can save a huge amount of time.

Estimating is very difficult with upholstery because there are sooo many variables. This is why I encourage people to get out of the set price / estimate model as soon as they can and focus on building a customer base that is willing to pay for quality and not the cheapest they can find. I understand that when starting out thats hard to do but it should be you goal to get to that point.
I feel pretty strongly that every trimmer that does good work should be aiming to charge at least $100 per hour. This makes some people starting out uncomfortable but if you look at other similar industries their shop rates are rarely under $100 per hour these days. Automotive repair shops now days charge between $100 and $250 an hour! Your skills are no less valuable than other trades.
At this point in my carrier I personally wont even turn the lights on for a job that doesn't pay that and all of the high end trimmers are the same way. This industry needs to start valuing their skills more and not be so scared of customers that expect to pay you pennies. Its our fault that customers across the country think that way because we continue to take the jobs at that price.
The key to getting to charge for every hour and not a set estimate is being very honest and upfront with the customer about the estimate not being a guarantee and keeping them looped in on set backs throughout the project. For example I recently did a plane interior that went more that %50 over the estimate. I notified the customer about all of the broken parts and problems I came across once getting the interior apart and how I recommend we fix it. That's how it works at an automotive repair shop right? If they start the job and find another problem they call you and tell you its gonna cost x to fix the problem. They would never fix it for free because of an estimate. It should be no different for us. At the end of the project the customer was extremely happy with the end result because he knew what he paid for because I was honest and upfront. If I had not kept him informed he would have justifiably been very angry upon receiving the bill.

Again I understand when your just starting out and building a reputation this isn't realistic but it should be your intention to get to that point because if you get stuck with the reputation of being the lowest price in town your gonna end up too much work, customers that dont value you, no time and wonder why your just barely getting by and busting your ass.

Sorry for the rant but the business side and pricing side of upholstery is something I'm really passionate about. I hate seeing people so drastically undervalue their skills and the demand for those skills. Its a big problem in trade and I hope to help fix that one day...

Hope this helps!!!