as work is now progressing on my bus .......at last ;D we're starting to think about the finishing touches. so I wanted to know if any one knew of any upholstery/trimmers courses in hampshire as Mrs Diddymen really wants to learn all the tips and tricks of the trade so she can do all the interior trim/seats etc. any advice greatly appreciated
I've had a good search and theres nothing specific to vehicles. Theres a few furnature upholstery courses or theres a 2 or 5 day course in Bournemouth ......but was hoping for some thing a bit closer
Do you or your Mrs have any experience with a sewing machine to start with? If you do, you could have a look at these... I know it's not the same, but we checked out some videos by some american guys called Young Guns, which were very informative... http://www.youtube.com/younggunsfab And there is a blog by a guy called Colin Rouse in Cornwall, who really gives away a whole load of hints and tips if you trawl through all the posts! The one that made me go "that's a good idea" was stapling any horizontal bands to door cards before wrapping them round... http://www.autotrimvw.com/blog.php We haven't got far with our interior yet, but the first panels look good... (I'm not pimping my mrs out yet though!) We went shopping for a new machine and learnt that "Industrial" is a catch word for lots of machines, but they are generally heavy (used by sailors as ballast in boats!), very noisy (a consideration for our terrace house) and generally don't have variable speed. Domestic machines will not go through much more than 3 layers of vinyl (which rules out piping) without struggling. We ended up buying an expensive Juki machine from a shop in West Street, Fareham, the guy was very helpful and will also help with a few hints and tips on using the machine and set up.
Thanks Andy, I was browsing through your resto thread last night as I rememberd you were doing your own trimming, and making a very good job of it Mrs Diddymen can find her way around a sewing maching, she can do curtains, cusions and other soft furnashings but for some reason she has cold feet about doing vehicle stiff (I know the principles are similar) so she was hoping to go on a course to get her confidence up and she learns better with some one showing her how to do things rather than getting it from books........was it you who meantioned they had got a good book on how to upholster? .....I know it was some one on here but cant remember who? we will definatly check out the links tonight
I don't think I mentioned it, but we have a custom car interior book I borrowed of my brother (he taught himself too). The thing that has Nicki worried is getting round right corners with heavy material, which I think just takes practice.
Just get yourself an old 50's singer machine (mine looks like it should be in a museum rather than sewing seat covers) and some material and start playing. It's really not that difficult to get some basic sewing tips online and then just build up confidence as you go. My first seat cover practice was about the size of book and seemed to come out ok so I just started. Hardest bit I found for a noob was getting straight lines, they worked out ok for the seat covers but the panels were proving problematic so I just decided to throw scrim foam under them and leave then flat. Maybe I'll revisit another time. Good luck Stu
I thought about this then looked about for prices. I felt that by the time I'd paid out a hundred quid for the vinyl and piping etc, ballzd it up a few times I'd be better of getting someone lest to make em. Anyway haven't got that far yet so still time to ponder! Looks great what you've done though!
tip for straight lines, especially if you use fabric with a pattern that's tricky for a chalk pen, is to run masking tape along the line you want to sew and use it as a guide.... then practice!!
Me? Lucky find in the local upholstery shop. They get end of end of rolls and discontinued stock, we kept looking and got lucky one day! The vinyl is marine quality Nautilex which we bought from CJ Marine in Chichester
