The Upholstery Forum

Has anyone use any of these stitch template for top and double stitching? Seems like I would save a lot of time marking and measuring out patterns for inserts if I used these. Also what about there pen? Looks thinner then the standard space pen.

I have not used any of these (very nice) templates, but in relation to the pens, they seem very similar to some "silver pens" that I purchased in Aliexpress because they are not found locally in my country, and they have a narrow point that would grant easy access to this template. If they are used in automotive leather, they can be easily be cleaned/erased with a moist rag

I have seen those too but really think for myself I need to keep up my own skill at measuring and line drawing. I like OLD school.

I have seen them but have not used them. I think they could be useful in some situations. I thinks the price is crazy for a sheet of plastic. Any one that has watched any of my top stitch videos knows that I personally don't like it when things don't line up. That's why I usually take the extra time to calculate everything . For example getting your diamond points line up nicely on the edges of your insert. Or making sure you have exactly the same size pleats on your entire insert. This is not usually possible with the templates unless you get lucky. But some customers probably don't care about the little details like that. In witch case these will save a lot of time.

I not saying anything bad here. I have huge respect and appreciation for everything upholstery related. but I think all these new crazy stitch designs are a little too much and its just a fad for a few years. I think people should focus more on designing better interiors by creating more interesting and fluid shapes, rather than witch crazy stitch design they can put in every insert. When I design my Interiors I focus on making them timeless. I want it to still look nice and classy in 20 years. Not just this year. That being said I do think there is a place for these designs in upholstery. Haha I just think the needs to be used a little more tastefully. Also even with these templates and one that has done honeycomb of some of the other stitching know how ridiculously time consuming it is. A lot of times its better to send it of to someone with an automated sewing machine.

You should be able to use any space pen with the templates. If you notice in the video he removes the pen cartage from the pen body to allow enough room to work with the template. You should be able to do the same with other pens.

I agree 100% with you @John on staying away from fads and keeping it timeless. There's nothing worse than looking at something that was done in the past and thinking what a time warp! Shag carpet from the 70's, heartbeat pinstripes from the 80's and I could keep going but I won't. Lol

Don't forget Tweed

Does anybody know where the thick thread TOP stitching originated? When I see these threads it always reminds me of thick threads on industrial tarps that are subject to abrasion and fall apart sooner than they should. How long owuld a cover last if the threads were tucked in nice VS thick and exposed?

John wrote: ↑Thu May 31, 2018 7:57 pm Don't forget Tweed

Yep. I knew that was your pet peeve so I let you have that one.

BigRig wrote: ↑Thu May 31, 2018 8:42 pm Does anybody know where the thick thread TOP stitching originated?

I edited because I totally misread what he was getting at.

John wrote: ↑Thu May 31, 2018 6:48 pm I have seen them but have not used them. I think they could be useful in some situations. I thinks the price is crazy for a sheet of plastic. Any one that has watched any of my top stitch videos knows that I personally don't like it when things don't line up. That's why I usually take the extra time to calculate everything . For example getting your diamond points line up nicely on the edges of your insert. Or making sure you have exactly the same size pleats on your entire insert. This is not usually possible with the templates unless you get lucky. But some customers probably don't care about the little details like that. In witch case these will save a lot of time.

I not saying anything bad here. I have huge respect and appreciation for everything upholstery related. but I think all these new crazy stitch designs are a little too much and its just a fad for a few years. I think people should focus more on designing better interiors by creating more interesting and fluid shapes, rather than witch crazy stitch design they can put in every insert. When I design my Interiors I focus on making them timeless. I want it to still look nice and classy in 20 years. Not just this year. That being said I do think there is a place for these designs in upholstery. Haha I just think the needs to be used a little more tastefully. Also even with these templates and one that has done honeycomb of some of the other stitching know how ridiculously time consuming it is. A lot of times its better to send it of to someone with an automated sewing machine.

You should be able to use any space pen with the templates. If you notice in the video he removes the pen cartage from the pen body to allow enough room to work with the template. You should be able to do the same with other pens.

So true John, I like building timeless vehicles for sure. Even in my custom audio builds I do, I keep mostly everything hidden and oem like. I just get people these days that like all these crazy designs. So people expect these types of here today gone tomorrow type of top stitching. I get what your say. They are very expensive just for some acrylic, I already have a good bit of router templates from mobile solutions for car audio design layout. Maybe I will use some of those when I want to do something cool and timeless.

BigRig wrote: ↑Thu May 31, 2018 8:42 pm Does anybody know where the thick thread TOP stitching originated? When I see these threads it always reminds me of thick threads on industrial tarps that are subject to abrasion and fall apart sooner than they should. How long owuld a cover last if the threads were tucked in nice VS thick and exposed?

I know I see a lot of high end modern custom car have it done by shops. To make the French seams standout. That was my thought, how well will it hold up over Time. I know most guys with these cars, change vehicles every two years or it’s a car they don’t drive much. One of many they have. So I doubt they would get much wear at all.

Bondo497 wrote: ↑Thu May 31, 2018 7:04 pm I agree 100% with you @John on staying away from fads and keeping it timeless. There's nothing worse than looking at something that was done in the past and thinking what a time warp! Shag carpet from the 70's, heartbeat pinstripes from the 80's and I could keep going but I won't. Lol

Why I love my modern Dodge Challenger. Has the old school look, but the modern amenities of today. I try not to add any bolt ons that are fads. Only major things I’ve done so far is added air suspension and nice set of forged 22” wheels and some audio upgrades. Which to me are the perfect size for a car this size. No 24”26” crap I see rolling around. It has the perfect stance and some performance upgrades down th road. It’s 7years old, people think it’s tasfully done.

I just found my next car!

@Trimmerman79 nice another Mopar man! I love the Challengers, I wish they would have brought the Charger back in its true form as well 2 doors not 4.

Bondo497 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 01, 2018 7:01 am @Trimmerman79 nice another Mopar man! I love the Challengers, I wish they would have brought the Charger back in its true form as well 2 doors not 4.

Thanks! So ture, much better in a 2dr than a 4dr. Chrysler knew most 25-40 year old men’s wives wouldn’t let them buy it. Since that range age most are starting families and need 4dr. The guys that had no kids or older kids or money for a second car the challenger made mor sense to get. When I got mine in 2011, not many guys In early 30”s has them. Most of the guys that had them in my area was 40+ and used mostly as weekend car. This was my weekend car also at the time, drove my 300c to work during the week. Now, 2018.....seems everyone has a challenger now. 😂

@Trimmerman79 yeah I hear ya. Its always difficult with the customer. They see something crazy and want it. Don't get me wrong I wasn't saying you shouldn't give the customer what they want. More like try and educate them in the right direction , yes. A lot of guys will refuse to do certain jobs because "it has their name on it" or "it will be bad for my reputation" . I never really fell in to that camp. Ill cover your whole damn car in pink alligator if you want. As long as you write that check. Haha For sure I will think it looks like crap but I promise you it will be nicely done. Now I feel like I'm contradicting my self a little but I guess what I'm saying is, I try to design the a nice interior and steer / educate the customer in that direction. But at the end of the day If they just want a shit load of hexagon or dragon scales everywhere and their gonna pay for it... might as well be you rather than the next guy.

Your car looks awesome too! Bet thats fun to drive. You should post up some pictures of your stereo jobs in the projects forum. We would all love to see them.

I have a pink massage table coming! Not my style but am really wanting the job

John wrote: ↑Fri Jun 01, 2018 9:34 pm @Trimmerman79 yeah I hear ya. Its always difficult with the customer. They see something crazy and want it. Don't get me wrong I wasn't saying you shouldn't give the customer what they want. More like try and educate them in the right direction , yes. A lot of guys will refuse to do certain jobs because "it has their name on it" or "it will be bad for my reputation" . I never really fell in to that camp. Ill cover your whole damn car in pink alligator if you want. As long as you write that check. Haha For sure I will think it looks like crap but I promise you it will be nicely done. Now I feel like I'm contradicting my self a little but I guess what I'm saying is, I try to design the a nice interior and steer / educate the customer in that direction. But at the end of the day If they just want a shit load of hexagon or dragon scales everywhere and their gonna pay for it... might as well be you rather than the next guy.

Your car looks awesome too! Bet thats fun to drive. You should post up some pictures of your stereo jobs in the projects forum. We would all love to see them.

Yeah I get what your saying. I do the same thing in audio when customers want things that don’t make sense for their vehicles. Since I design the audio system around the car speaker locations.

Okay cool, I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to post work related projects or not. Thanks

@Trimmerman79,

I sat outside a Visions Electronics store yesterday looking into the bay. It was clearly their audio system install bay. I liked it very clean and organized. Please post pictures of your work we all can admire the efforts put into your creations.

@Trimmerman79 Yes defiantly allowed to show off your projects. We love seeing and learning from everyone creations. Dont worry. There isn't a lot of rules here. Just be nice and respectful to everyone and try to talk about upholstery related thing but sometimes it goes outside of that range... Lol and have fun