The Upholstery Forum

Check out my first seat cover:

The “rocker bed”:

My apprentice:

In this last one you can see my low budg cutting table made from cheapo plastic sawhorses and a 4’x8’ sheet of mdf cut down to fit in my estate car (station wagon)
It is a bit annoying as I am always shifting stuff from cutting table to the end of the sewing machine table or the sewing machine chair. Need an auxiliary workbench.

I need to work on padding out the seat more as this cover fits a bit loosest the top. Also the cushions are a bit loose in the corners even though I cut them a bit larger than the finished cushion after you subtract the seam allowance.

Any advice or feedback on these from you folks?

Thanks

I think it looks very good. From sewing perspective all lines straight which I rarely see with piping.

The only thing is it’s not stretched, need some padding

Thanks, man. :)
What do you all call the stitched in lines in the orange? Is it quilting or is this what you are refering to as the piping, Ivan? I know piping and welting are often names for the round edge beading that protects the stitching and is decorative.

Oh, see what you mean, padding behind the stitching in the orange bit.

No, I was referring to covers being loose, not stretched, need some foam or templates might need to be smaller.

Stitches and sew lines all look excellent from what I can see.

Yeah, you’re right. The original seat covers were under there with variably worn original stuffing material. I should have packed them out more I think . I was struggling a bit to pull them down enough as you can see at the bottom of the front of the backrest so didn’t want to pack it out too much. Should have done more though!
Thanks for the appreciation of my stitching! :)

This is what I would do and think (keep in mind I'm completely self taught).
You sewing looks really good.
On the big seat it looks likethe corners are to square. maybe they should have been rounded a bit?
The smaller seats are good. If you are able to put a pull in them and hog ring them in it will tighten them up.
Usually when I'm doing a seat I add 1/2" foam to it. I'll take my pattern off that and not add any seam allowance. The 1/2" foam with no seam allowance once it is sewn makes everything nice and tight.
I hope that is not to confusing 😊
I like the colours

You are right, it was set out with totally square corners. I only added 10mm extra foam (less than 1/2”). Yeah, maybe a bit of a radius on the corners would tighten it up? But I like the square so like you say, maybe a bit more foam than I used would tighten it up?
Thanks for the appreciation of my sewing! Colours are the clients idea though. It was a weird job because I was replacing elements of the job done by someone else that had been gnawed by rats and then completing it by making the missing parts. I had the chewed seat cover to copy, but like I said, I have no idea if it is a best practice one or not.
Suzy, could you tell me about the pull you mentioned putting in? What are they like? Or did you just mean to pull up the material tight and hog ring it in place?

Check out the back cushion of the bed. Also a bit loose but I was proud of the complex cut out for the spare tire. That was a bugger to get the cushion into!:

@Pays0n-UK That is really a great result for your first time! You should be really proud. Hey nothing wrong with a saw horse bench set up. When I first started my business I laid a sheet of wood over my bed and that was my cutting table . Then leaned it agents the wall at night to sleep.

The others are right the cover is a little loose. Probably your pattern was just a little big or maybe you didn't use scrim foam on your cover?
Either way you should be proud. That's really great for your first seat cover! Thanks for sharing

Thanks, John! Yeah, I didn’t have the scrim foam in there so interesting to find out that could be a factor as well. You must have had some crazy dreams breathing in the glue fumes!! ;)
Thanks for providing this rare place where I have felt comfortable to share and where the feedback is well intentioned and truly helpful.

Haha well I tried to do the gluing outside haha!
Your welcome! Really glad you enjoy it. Thanks for being a part of the forum and sharing your projects.

@Pays0n-UK ,

Piping is a term for the outside cording that you are common with in the Uk. Welting is what we refer to it here but exactly the same thing. You did an incredible job! I like the orange too!