New Skills

April 02, 2016

This week I went on a 2 day car upholstery and trimming course held by J.A. Milton Upholstery supplies in Ellesmere.

There was 4 of us on the course and our tutor was Patrick Wood who has had more than 30 years in the industry. Day 1 was spent getting to know the sewing machines and learning basic techniques used in car trimming. We learnt basic machine stitching, how to make and attach piping to our work and how to make fluting as well as what materials were needed for each job. 

Day 2 was what I had been waiting for, a chance to start our own projects :-) I am recovering an old car seat. I had already stripped it down in preparation for the course so I could learn the maximum amount I could. I was surprised at how difficult it was to take the old one off the chair and how much metal work there was built into the foam of the seat to keep the covers in place. Any way onto making a new cover! I have chosen to use black and red vinyl for this cover with the red used for the piping and the centre piece of the seat.

First thing I had to do was photograph the cover that I had taken off and mark out where each part joined another - this is to help when rebuilding the new one. Once I had done that I could start unstitching bits! 

We made the fluting for the seat first as this is what the rest of the cover will attach to. Once that had been marked up, machined and finished we could get to work on the sides of the seat. As the original seat was made from fabric we had to alter the patterns a bit to get the vinyl to sit right. Once we were happy then these were machined on. We marked out and attached the font in the same manor.

Next I made the piping that will go around the top part of the seat, as its red it really stands out and looks cool! Once this was done I could attach this to the rest of the cover. We then got to work on the remaining pattern pieces for the seat, unfortunately this is where we ran out of time :-( so I wasn't able to finish this part of my project. 

I have learnt a lot on this course even though it was only 2 days, Patrick was such a good tutor and a fountain of knowledge. I am now off to get my own sewing machine so I can finish this seat and get started on the next ones!

 

 

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