Upholstery Continued (from RV-10 list)
 

Doing the seat backs for the rear seat posed a couple of problems for me - I wanted to cover the aluminum seat back as well as the cushion, but make the cover in a way that it can slip over the whole seat and yet be taut when finished - and be removable for cleaning/repair/replacement. I also wanted to cover the bottom of the cushion but not go up too far, and of course leave room for the hinge pin.
A car seat has room and hardware for listings to pull the cover down into the cushion and give the seat shape, I needed a way to do this too. On this version I put several stitches through the seat cover and cushion, but that ends up making dimples instead of a smooth back, so next I'm going to try either Velcro (but I'm a little concerned with the bulk showing) or cement the cloth portion of the seat to the foam and use the rear cover to provide tension. I'm thinking it might be nice to have a seat back pouch on the seat next to the baggage door for stuff, but that can be added later.

Here's the front view with the cover not completely taut - the Velcro on the back is too thin and just basted in place, which turned out to be almost worthless as a test. Note the dimples...



this shows the back, the not so swift Velcro, and how the cover is put over the whole assembly:



This shows the bottom of the cushion cover (and a couple of unfinished edges):



I will say that making the pattern for this took way less time (I must be getting some of that education) and the actual sewing takes less time than the layout and cutting, unless you get stuck, sew in the wrong order or have to remove a seam.

==dave==

looks great
 

Wow your first attempt at upholstery looks great. And you should have a great sense of accomplishment having done it yourself

Thanks...
 

I appreciate that - your -10 and Brian and Brandi's are a lot of the inspiration to try doing the interior myself. I think the seat bottom looks pretty good, but the back needs some tightening up - we'll see when I get started with the actual material. BTW, the sheepskin you have - tell me more about how it's attached - I wasn't sure if it's like a cover or if it's the top layer of the upholstery. ...

==dave==

Final Rear Seat Cushion
 

The material came in and I really wanted to see how it would look - so I cut out my pattern pieces and attached the fabric to the foam.



Getting the cushion inside the cover and arranged correctly takes some time and effort (still a little jostling left to do).





I'm glad I used cheaper fabric to practice with, but this material was thicker and a little stiffer in comparison. I like it!

==dave==

Looks great Dave!!
I plan on rolling my own also, so this is great you are showing your progress and improvements.

Sheepskin
 

Hi Dave,
The sheepskin that we used is built into the seat cover. I have a commercial machine, but not one made for leather or sheepskin. It was a challenge to keep the feed even with the sheepskin. The good thing about the sheepskin is
You don't need to make the top cover in pieces as the sheepskin is attached as one piece.
Carol

Rear Seat Back
 

Here's the first rear seat back stitched up with the 'real' material - I have not glued/velcroed or otherwise secured the fabric portion to the underlying foam yet, so it is still a little poofy. This took a little longer as I underestimated my ability to not get the pattern exactly correct. That turns out to be somewhat of a spatial problem with compound angles and remembering the difference between where the seam is going to be vs where the seam allowance is. I also wonder if this version has too many pieces or if I need to trim the seam allowances down, as there's quite a bit of excess baggage under the cover. Not sure what the professionals do, but I'm going to have to try something - I guess another option would be to sew the flaps down, but that introduces extra stitching on the outside, and the inevitable chance of having crooked lines...

Anyway, not excellent but serviceable:



And a peek at the inner works with all of the seam allowances:



==dave==

Dave
you can trim the seam allowances.The vinyl will not fray.I wonder if you should have used the same thin foam on the back of the vinyl that you used on the fabric and incorporated into the seam. I think I would try glueing a strip of the thin foam to the back of the vinyl right up to the seam allowance on the front pieces and possibly the sides and top if they seem loose as well.
It is hard to tell without seeing the whole cover in place.

That sounds like a good idea (wish I'd had it) - Thanks. I'll give that a try.

==dave==

Seat back done...
 

Here's what they look like together in position:



You can see the lump from the lumbar support cushion (and associated wrinkles). I may try a little heat to tighten it up some, after practicing on some scrap. I did end up using adhesive on the cloth portion of the seat back, and added a piece of the sew foam under the top forward section of vinyl (thanks Carol) after taking in the seam about 1/2 inch. Total material used for the two rear seats 1 yard fabric and 3+ yds vinyl with some pieces left over. The back is closed off and pulled tight with a Velcro cover:



Now on to the front seats...

==dave==