this sounds a bit of a wierd question but it just crossed my mind scanning ebay.

how hard would it be to re-trim a car seat presuming the person (likely your mum/gran/other half ) is actually any good with a sewing machine?

you see companies that offer to retrim in leather etc but if you bought a nackered set of seats would it be easy enough to get patterns and get you own done 'locost' style?

whats involved - just need pattern for the seats you want?

you get the idea

Mark

I'm thinking not really that easy... with my limited knowlege of sewing machines, I don't think home sewing machine stitching would be strong enough

but, hopefully i'm wrong, and you'll be able to do it

[Edited on 14/3/07 by blakep82]

Depends on the material and the machine.

I managed to stitch together carpet, piping and alcantera using my home machine.

you see, i was wrong!

Key things I found was:

Use the right thread - domestic cotton won't cut the mustard

Go slowly and pin it together properly before sewing.

quote:

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Originally posted by blakep82
you see, i was wrong!

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Always worth doing a test piece on the machine you're intending on using.

Picture below was what the nice lady in John Lewis did for me prior to purchasing the machine..
Rescued attachment testpiece.jpg

was thinking more cloth than leather as didn't think a home machine would do it...

could you get templates anywhere?

No reason why a home machine shouldn't be able to cope with leather so long as you use the right thread / needle. I had to use a leather needle to cope with the carpet....and that's a darned bit thicker than your typical cowhide...

As for patterns....not that I know of...

quote:

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Originally posted by stevebubs
No reason why a home machine shouldn't be able to cope with leather so long as you use the right thread / needle. I had to use a leather needle to cope with the carpet....and that's a darned bit thicker than your typical cowhide...

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Leather really needs an industrial machine but I discovered that Alcantara is quite easy to sew with a domestic machine, but you need to get a strong thread to make the finished job durable.

I got my buggy’s hood altered by a truck cover manufacturer. Wow their machines are tough, even put the needle through the plastic zip without slowing down. Quite scary really, loose your fingers easily.

I have an old singer hand operated one, unfortunately I don't have the instructions and so far have not managed to make the bottom bobbin thing work. I must find someone who knows about these things, as I'm sure it could sew ally plate together it so well built!

I bought my wife the overlocker that Aldi had on offer just after the air tools recently. Nothing to do with the fact that it says it will sew leather

Actually, one of my daughters did say to my wife - "what does Dad want you to make?" And the other said "Is Dad feeling guilty because he bought himself new toys?". They definitely have the wrong impression of me - I will remind them when they want their cars fixed!

I run an upholstery business. I have a machine, Alcantara is easy to sew, you could probably do it with a domestic machine, but you should get upholstery thread as its thicker. John Lewis do Guttermans upholstery threads.

Or find a back street upholstery shop to make and recover the seats for you, bet it would only cost you a small amount.

so it seems sewing it would be easy enough but what about getting the seat pattern? for example for mx5 seats...

A pattern is easy - just use the existing cover. Take it off carefully and if necessary separate the various sections and there in front of you is the pattern. Just make the new material sections the same size and sew them together with the same seam width and it should fit!

The biggest problem is when you are trimming a bare shell and dont have anything to copy. Then you have to risk using your very expensive material and ending up with a second rate job, or handing the whole job to a professional trimmer with a (hopefully) guaranteed good result. This is one area where I know my limits so I put my hand in my overdraft

use some cheap cloth for the mock up stage if you have a bare shell.

[Edited on 14/3/07 by Hammerhead]

so if you have the existing pattern it should be fairly straightforward?

also apart from leather and alcantara what materials should be used for a clothj trim for example that would wear well. what do car makers use for cloth trim?

Usually it is a heavy cloth or vinyl with a thin foam backing. Any vehicle trimmer will sell you the right stuff.

I reckon the fabric in cloth cars is polyester treated with fire retardent chemicals. Best to use leather, vinyl, or alcantara (faux suede) for cars imho.

Didn't some of the open top smarts come with neoprene seat covers? Waterproof is good