The Upholstery Forum

I'm having a problem sewing where three pieces of material meet. There seems to always be a small hole and a knot of material. How do you handle the seams at the tri-corner?

Can you post a pic?

I'm having a hard time visualizing the seams

The top on my roadster is 5 pieces. There is a back window piece, forward of that is another "pie" shape piece and the side piece over the door. Not every piece goes all the way to the edge of the top but these three meet about 6" up. All seams will be top stitched. To visualize thing of a pie cut in three wedges. Where all three points come together is where I'm having the problem.

I had a three piece seam that also had a small hole. My mistake was in not having some overlap on at least one of the pieces to cover that. Long term, in my case I can sew over it a bit to close it up. Keep in mind I'm new at this so take my comments with a grain of salt. Is there any way to move one of the pieces to make it a tad longer at the intersection or even sew over it a bit like I'm doing? Maybe not the best way but a possible solution.

I'm trying to visualise what you are describing, I think I get it but a picture would be worth a thousand words...

I don't know if the underside will be seen? But if it won't, you could place a piece of the fabric underneath where your "slices of pie" meet. That way you wouldn't have that hole in the center where they all meet and it would be barely noticeable. You could use a square of left over fabric and that could be trimmed up after the top stitching are done for a neeter look. Just an idea!

I think he might have a problem with water leaking in if the seam wasn't closed, I doubt a patch would work. As for what it looks like, I'm thinking visualize a Mercedes emblem, the bars would represent the seams and the very center is wheere there is a small hole - that's how I look at it.

Good point about water infiltration, didn't think of that!

Completed the top, happy with the area where three pieces come together but the snaps could use some tweaking. I used DOT approved clear vinyl for the rear window. Couldn't think of an advantage of zip in window so kept it simple and large (functional).

That came out great

Thanks, but the sun warmed the vinyl and the top loosened a bit. No flapping at highway speeds (at least up to 80 MPH).