Another Upholstery Job

[Woodonglass]

So a guy called me a few weeks ago and wanted to know if I could re-cover his 1989, 22ft Cobalt seats. I said I'd come take a look and give him a quote. I got there and the boat was covered with a nice custom cover soooo I figured it was not gunna be to bad. WRONG! The cover was put on AFTER the seats had been destroyed. This is an open bow boat with seating for 6, has two very large Back to back seats and then two seats on either side of the doghouse. Before the cover, they were exposed to the weather and all of the plywood backing was wet and rotten. Foam too!!! I also had a 12" x 81" hatch going across the stern just behind the dog house. He wanted me to make a custom hinged cover for it too. And like most of us he was on a Tight Budget!!! Wanted to know if we could do it in Stages and I said yes. Soooo we decided to do the two seats by the dog house, the padded back on the dog house and the custom hatch. He removed all of that and brought it to me. Here's a sampling of what it looked like when I started...


More on next post!!!

 

[Woodonglass]

Oh did I mention that all of it was 2 1/2" Pleats!!! Also did I mention I HATE PLEATS!!! Corjen IS the Pleat Master for boats. I need to take lessons from Him!!!! Anywhooooo, I removed all the Old vinyl and removed the rotten plates that were GLUED to the wood. Fortunately it was so wet it peeled off with very little damage to the foam. The foam on one of the seats had a big gouge taken out on the corner and I glued in a scrap piece from my pile and then reshaped it to the proper contour. Here's some pics of the new Backer Boards saturated with the OTR and 3 coats of Marine Poly.

And finally here's some pics of the finished Backs and Bottoms and the custom Padded Hatch.



He's bringing the Dog House and the Front Seat Bottoms next. I'll try and post some of the actual sewing etc... on the next post. Using 32oz marine vinyl with 1/2" scrim foam glued to the back. I think I need lessons from Cordell but he's too BIZEEE doing his fantastic work to mess with this Old Dumb Okie!!! One other note the original vinyl was glued to the foam to conform to the contours. I thought I wouldn't need to but...I was wrong!!!

 

[gm280]

WOW WOG, I've been away from these forums for a while, but this looks really good. Nice work. I take it the pleats are sewn and not bought that way. Do you attach the pleated sections to the backing board or just pull the sewn pleated material in place and staple it? :thumb:

 

[Woodonglass]

The pleated sections were glued to the foam using 3M Super 77 spray glue. Then the sides were stretched and stapled to the underside of the new plates.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Nice work WOG. Any chance you want to vacation in Florida for a week....

 

[sphelps]

For some ODO who hates pleats it sure looks like ya got the hang of them ... :hail:

 

[Woodonglass]

To all the iBoats Members I say...

 

[Bkok33]

Nice job, looks really good. Very impressive, look forward to your next job.

 

[Woodonglass]

For those of you who are just starting a Sewing job, THIS IS the most important issue to understand about any Sewing Machine. Setting the tension appropriately for the Material you're working with and the number of layers being sewn. I ALWAYS use a piece of scrap material at the very beginning of each project to do some TEST sewing to make a mental note of what tension is needed for 2,4, & 6 layers of material. It DOES change and you need to make those changes in order to ensure good tight stitches.

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4302/understanding-thread-tension/page/all

 

[gcheves]

When it comes to my rebuild and interior work, I just might have to take a lil trip up the turnpike and get some classes from ya WOG!!

 

[Woodonglass]

You're welcome any time

 

[Corjen1]

DONT let WoG BS you guys....he taught me most everything I know about the ways of stitching!!!! Or point me in the right direction to learn on my own!!! including troubleshooting my machines via text or phone when Im getting my butt kicked...


I HATE pleats too, not because they are particular difficult, just tedious, time consuming and they eat a ton of material. On tuck and roll style pleats for a 1 1/4 pleat, it takes 1/2 in more material per pleat... if your only using 1/4 foam backer.!!! More if its thicker foam!!!

Regular top stitch pleats, dont use as much, but still take quite a bit extra.

Here is how I do T&R style:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...nd-rolls-and-pleats-and-a-small-panel.372599/


Great work as usual WoG!! I cant wait to see more!!!

 

[bruceb58]

On tuck and roll style pleats for a 1 1/4 pleat, it takes 1/2 in more material per pleat...

Only 1/2"? You only using 1/4" seam allowance on both sides?

EDIT: Sorry..wasn't thinking! You aren't doing seams. At least standard seams

 

[Woodonglass]

I got the dog house and bottoms of the bow seats. More pics to com

 

[Corjen1]

Only 1/2"? You only using 1/4" seam allowance on both sides?

EDIT: Sorry..wasn't thinking! You aren't doing seams. At least standard seams

Yep....that for shallow valleys between pleats...

 

[bruceb58]

I have never done pleats and can't think of a reason to start.

 

[Woodonglass]

Here's some pics of more work on the Cobalt...as you can see I've Taped the top of the vinyl to serve as a guide for my sewing foot. The Pleats are 2 7/8" wide so placing a "Tick" mark with a pen on each end makes it easy to stretch the tape between them to create a straight stitch line. The outside edge of my foot is 3/8" from the needle so I offset the tape by this amount. I like doing it this way cuz it seems to me like I get better stitching sewing on top of the vinyl. Most people do pleats by marking and sewing on the Scrim foam backside. You can do it either way, I just like this method.


This is the one piece DogHouse with seats on either side. Carpet halfway up and then vinyl over the midsection with a wooden "Table Top". Not a good picture to show all of this. I'll try and get a better shot once I get it covered.
That's it for today. I ran out of vinyl so Have to get 2 more yards, to finish her off

 

[gm280]

WOG, two questions. When you buy the vinyl does it already have the foam inside the two vinyl pieces? And when you install any carpet, do you use only glue or glue with staples? I will hopefully soon be installing the carpet on my boat project and was wondering. I can see glue on most things, but was wondering if you use any staples as well? :noidea:

 

[Corjen1]

Nice Work Mike....how come you never told me about the tape thing.....You old timers always hide the secrets !!!!

 

[Woodonglass]

Nice Work Mike....how come you never told me about the tape thing.....You old timers always hide the secrets !!!!

If I told you EVERYTHING, then you'd be an OLD DUMB OKIE just like me!!!!
Actually, YOU were the one that stimulated the thought of How to sew Pleats on the top side without having to mark them with pencil etc... YOU said your machine did a better job on pleats if you sewed on the good side instead of the scrim foam side. Soooo...it got me to thinking of how to do it, and...This Old Dumb Okie came up with using masking tape. It works GREAT!!! Sooo, thanks for making me use my noggin for something besides a Hat Rack!!!!