Upholstery

[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

I did my own upholstery in the FM during the Z71 conversion in 2015-2016. I love to do all I can myself, and this is no exception.
My mother was a self-taught amateur upholsterer, and I learned from her. So I know just enough to know that it is possible.

I'm not going to go into step by step detail. There are all sorts of tutorials on the web. But here's the run-down:

Take the seat apart enough to remove the coverings. Take pictures as you go. Capture plenty of detail. Most are held onto the frame with hog rings. Spread those and throw them away. You will need to use new ones, with hog ring pliers, to reinstall later.

Take the upholstery apart in sections. Take plenty of pics. I use a seam ripper to cut the thread, and separate the panels.
Take the time to study how it went together, and ponder why. That's how you develop a plan of how to recreate it.

Buy material. trace the pieces, and mark out any lines that will need stitching. make reference marks. Take note of which direction the seams are facing.

If there was welting around the seams, you can either reuse it, make new, or eliminate it. Welt hides the seam and gives it a finished look. Some is extruded vinyl, and some is material sewn over cord.

Sew your panels together into sub-assemblies, then stitch the assemblies together inside out. Then turn it right side out and install it.

Here are a ton of pics:

Cheap machine


Seat bottom showing frame


Old stuff






There are runners with metal rods in them. They get hog ringed to the seat frame to hold parts of it down into the foam. That's what gives it that bucket seat look.



Separating with a seam ripper











Welting that I made

[mike.zeiderman [Veteran Member]]

That's awesome, showed it to my wife.......she hates you. On a positive though she wants to know what type of material you used.

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[zachcrosby [Veteran Member]]

I want to know that too. I've recently started teaching myself our sewing machine. I wonder if it would hold up to sewing through leather or pleather


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[Csm Davis]

I want to know that too. I've recently started teaching myself our sewing machine. I wonder if it would hold up to sewing through leather or pleather


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Zach I know enough to get in trouble, but to deal with heavy fabric and leather you want a heavy machine generally an old one will do better than a new one and you can tell by how much they weigh because your better ones will be made of cast iron on most good old machines you can up grade the motors if needed. We had a seamstress at a place I used to work that could burn up a good commercial machine in about 8 hours, she ended up with a oil cooled motor that had a car transmission cooler and fan on it to keep it alive, man could she sew, she only worked 2 days a week because she could sew a weeks worth in a day and a half.

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[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

I used tweed. It is not stretchy in any direction (bias), which keeps it from bunching under your butt. I bought the tweed and the marine-grade vinyl at Hancock Fabrics in Hattiesburg. (Next to Gander Mountain)
The foam is just upholstery foam that I bought at Walmart. I also bought the duck cloth there.

Welt requires an offset foot. Find a good tutorial on that, and practice by making a simple throw pillow or three. Old flannel shirts and such make great couch pillows.

For vinyl, use a straight stitch. Uses a fairly long stitch, too. A short stitch makes too many needle holes too close together, and makes the seam prone to ripping.

I've sewn leather with light machines, but not much. This Brother is weaker than my older Kenmore. Seems like the older, the better.

[Csm Davis]

Kinda like us Res, the older the better!

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