The Upholstery Forum

So this winter I decided to redue my boat interior. I have never done any upholstry work, or sewing for that matter so this is a massive project for myself. My mother has a lot of sewing experience so she offered to help and show me how to get going. My uncle had an old industrial sewing machine so I borrowed that and off I went.

The start:


I didn’t want to change the Color’s to much so I’m going with a white vinyl, perferated tan, and a black for the backs.

I was off with little practice and a lot of confidence and this is how it turned out





And then onto the second


So to get these done was a big struggle with the machine I had. It would bind up regularly, I couldn’t get a consistant stitch I hated the top stitching and felt like giving up. I did a lot of research and talking to some local guys and came to the conclusion I needed to get walking foot machine. Looking around for a used one I couldn’t find anything in my area. So decided to buy a new one.

Out with the old

In with the new


So during the time it took to get the machine I enrolled into the apprentiship course on this site and did a ton of practicing and learned a lot of good skills. Also did some research on the perferated material and decided to not go with it (whoops now I have a whole roll of it) . Now that I have the new machine I’m back to working on the seats





The new machine didn’t have a piping foot so I’m currently waiting on that to come in. I am happy with the way the top stitching looks and with the decision to change material. My winter project might run a lot longer that I had originally planned but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Looks good, never seen a Titan before but it looks just like a Juki

Wow, that's a lot of curves for your first project! Honestly I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the covers with your old machine. Have you looked into an edge guide presser foot? I have one and it's fantastic, top stitching is effortless. Keep up the good work.

Wow! @Jsykes that looks amazing! I'm in your same "boat" new to upholstery and doing my boat. Keep the the updates coming and keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

@Revv Up yeah I think the titan is built off the juki

@fibersport is this what you are talking about?

I will keep the updates going, might take some time haha

I just got some of those feet and the edge guides are really helpful for top stitching. I have a Juki and they fit perfectly.

Yes, that's the one. I have the same brand in 4 mm but it seems to be a little less than that when I sew it up, to get 3/16" I think a 5mm would be better.

So with the new machine in hand I finished up with the cushions. I first started doing them one by one but after I got the hang of doing them, I patterned them all, cut the material and foam , then did sewing in steps so I wasn’t changing the foot 3x for each. I think they came out looking good. Onto the sun pad next .

Very nice job!

Looks great!

Got the sundeck completed today. I thought these would be easier than they actually were. Took a lot of time to get them stretched on and looking good. The bulk in the corners was tricky aswell. I think they turned out nice.

Very nice, I really like the charcoal, it adds a nice touch.

Yeah for sure. I will be doing the seat backs in the same color. So after mounting the deck I noticed my one seam line was off. Gona try and see if I can adjust it a bit so it isn’t as noticeable. Live and learn.

looks good!

Very nicely done.

How many hours and how much material would you estimate you have into the project?
I have a pole barn in Northern MN and people know I sew so I'm being asked about doing boat work.
Thanks,

How many hours and how much material would you estimate you have into the project?
I have a pole barn in Northern MN and people know I sew so I'm being asked about doing boat work.
Thanks,

@Ron Henningsen I actually have not been keeping track of my hours. Like I said this is my first project so I spend a lot of time learning and doing things more than once. All I know for pricing is that there was no one around my hometown that would do it, and from what I gathered online it was about 10-15g Canadian (so like 100bucks USD ) all in. Maybe someone who does it professionally can chime in.

I had a knee surgery and have been off work for the last month so this is what I have been filling my time with.

Just finished the one side cup holder…. After I finished I realized I should have switched to black for the first seam…. Live and learn, switched it for the other side.

I have rejoined the workforce so progress on the boat has slowed. Just finished up installing the seat backs. The long back seat has a few wrinkles in the inside corners that I could not get out for the life of me. I had already done it two times and don’t want to run out of material or else I would have attempted it the 3rd time. I’m hoping that they might pull out when it’s in the sun but I doubt it.

You should be very proud of your efforts on this, it looks really good!