The Upholstery Forum

Hi,

I’m Ailsa, this is my first post please be gentle!

My hubby is building a rat rod and I decided to help out by taking on the upholstery. I have done some dress making in the past but have zero upholstery experience so this is a big challenge. I saw some of the lucky needle videos on you tube and figured this was a good place to start. I’m not sure if I should start with the apprentice course or jump straight to seats...

For now here’s a few pics of the rat rod ( it doesn’t drive yet... but getting there :) ) and the steering wheel I wrapped which is my only contribution so far...





The seats so far...


The interior...


Dashboard...


Steering wheel - my first attempt at a wheel cover.. it came out a bit more wrinkled than I was hoping.


My first attempts at hand stitching on the wheel cover.


Clearly I have a lot to learn and a challenging starting place but I’m up for it! Hopefully you guys can help when I get stuck!

I signed up for the apprentice course... starting at the beginning

What a great way to start, welcome.

Welcome aboard. Looks like a fun family project you guys have there. Don’t hesitate to ask questions.

@Ailsa Welcome to the forum!!! Happy to have you here! What a cool project!! I love hearing about husband and wives working together on a hot rod project. I think the apprentice course it a great place to start. I promise you will learn a lot and you previous sewing experience will only help you move along faster. Cant wait to see pictures of the progress!

@Ailisa, more than a great way to start!

Many thanks for the warm welcome

I decided yesterday to try tackling the shift gaiter. Took me a while to work out measurements and cut the sections to size. I ended up going with 5 big flat toped triangle type pieces and a collar section. Used reinforced french seams on them, based on apprentice video learning! Thanks John! On two of them I used a decorative stitch on the french seam to try to match the steering wheel cover i already made. I hemmed a 3 inch opening at the top of the last seam. Then stitched the collar on top of it all and used an old shoelace to tie it in place.

It is by no means perfect! My decorative stitch went a bit wonky in places. Also its shorter than I planned, because I forgot the stick had to move! Doh! But I'm happy with how it turned out.

Some Great vids on youtube, jusr search what you want and a bunch will come up. There's a good one on the wheel, cheflon or something like that.

Cechaflo is what Scott d is thinking. He has a lot of good videos

Looks great! @Ailsa
I would recommend lengthening your stitch length next time. I usually run 1/8" or longer