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 So boating season is almost upon us, and I can tell, just finished my 3rd boat for this year, I have 2 boats in the shop right now, 3 on the calender for next month, and have appointments to quote 4 more on Monday...of course they all want the boats done by Memorial Day...why cant boat owners get this work done over the winter...I only had a couple during the off season to work on, if they would just beat the rush by getting it done off season!

All complaining aside, I am glad business is this good, but jeeze, it can get overwhelming when you have so many to do

Had a job come in and after removing the cover found that this seat has air bags in it, there are no markings on outside showing that it has air bag so caught me completely unawares...anyhow I read on here once that you should use" air bag thread when sewing covers on seats with bags...does anyone know where I can get this thread? none of my suppliers carry it

After a fun phone call to the doc, I figured out I had forgotten one piece of the puzzle..once I got that attached it went together fairly easy..anyways told Sofa I would post a pic so he knew what I was talking about....mind you this is still not finished (tomorrow I hope)

this chair was a jig saw puzzle, fun really, albeit frustrating at times

Got called to do a warranty repair on a month old recliner...customer complained that the mechanism does not work....I get to the house and proceed to test it...works great....customer of course begins to get pretty mean about it and shows me how it does not work....she would not push at all with her feet to get it started, and was trying to man handle the mechanism using the lever alone... I told her that there was nothing I could do, as the mechanism was not broken, I did let her know that perhaps an electric recliner would suit her better.....she got mad at me and I tried to explain I was just the upholsterer and had nothing to do with the sale

To top it all off...on my way out the door, her dog bit me!

this is my first attempt to do some custom free hand work on upholstery...actually I guess it is my second because it took me 2 tries to get it right (well right enough I can live with it)

I took a rubbing of the logo off an old Ford Tractor, then transferred it to the vinyl so I could sew it.



this is going into an late 60's Ford truck, it was definitely a trick and hope that one day I can master this particular art form

Just got a job redoing 43 14' long church pews, I gave the church a good deal, and will still make out alright, so hopefully 2013 continues on this good start. I have also already brought 4 other jobs into my shop since the new year, of course those are smaller ones, but hey it all adds up!

how has everyone else' first month gone? Hope it has been as good!

I am redoing a 2008 Club Car Golf Cart...the cushions were molded into the existing vinyl and that unit was glued into the plastic back/base....what glue would you use to achieve this same bond?

This is a Chevy Silverado SS Driver's seat, the customer did not want any vinyl going back into it, so we could not just order a kit, did a complete rebuild with all leather, even the banding



my new upholsterer took the lead on this job, but I learned a lot from him....looking forward to seeing more work like this leave my shop

Customer had me look at a couch that they were sinking into....they bought it used, and it quickly began getting weaker, so today I took it apart fully expecting to be doing a spring replacement, but I think after seeing this that just putting a proper spring clip in place will do the trick

There are about 6 springs in a row that were fixed like this



they used 1-1/4 staples to hold the springs on and added a washer and screw....you guys think doing proper clips will help, or should I still do a replacement of springs

this corner cushion has been giving me grief since the start...originally tried to pattern off the existing vinyl, but that did not work, ended up having to pattern it from scratch, fits a lot nicer now....



http://s1087.beta.photobucket.com/user/jdackerson/media/Strobbe/11162012312.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0



http://s1087.beta.photobucket.com/user/jdackerson/media/Strobbe/11162012311.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

A while back I said I was picking up an old singer long arm walking foot, but wasn't sure the model. I have it in my shop now it is a model 144W204, hooked it all up and hums like a kitten...it does have a clutch motor, which I AM NOT used to....I had a heck of a time during the test drive this evening, but given time I am sure I will have no problem



http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j467/jdackerson/11132012300.jpg

image thumbs dont seem to be working on photobucket...go figure!


It is older but still seems to be in top condition and sews nice, I think it will make a nice addition to my shop for canvas and pleating work

I posted this question in my project page, but figuring not many are following my work so figured I would ask this in a new topic, might be useful to someone else this way

I nicked my arm and did not move fast enough so dropped some blood on the couch I am recovering...I cleaned up most of it with cold water, but it is still there...

it is a fairly small drop, but on this light fabric it stands out pretty bad...

anyone have any idea how I can clean this off, I would really prefer not to have to remove the entire inside back because of 1 drop of blood, but I will (using the inside back for other pieces of course)



Thanks in advance for any advice

So there was a very well thought of upholstery shop in my town that closed down about 4 years ago...after a tornado came through....the building is fine so not sure what the story is why he quit doing it. He has a 4200 square foot shop in which he used to have 6 guys working and kept multiple jobs running at all times...anyhow he stopped by my shop today to let me know he still has all of his equipment and was wondering if I would like to buy any of it

Since I do not have a lot of money, I cant buy any big ticket items, but am interested in some of the stock and smaller machines, staplers, button press, etc.

after a conversation he brings up the idea of working together, while this idea does appeal to me because it is a good chance for me to learn from a more experienced upholsterer, I have some hesitations. Why would he want to work with me, in my shop, when he has a fully stocked shop of his own. the answer he gave was that he got burnt out...

while I do see a lot of possible advantages, I also worry about things like rekindling his passion for it and having him decide he is ready to reopen his shop, then I would lose a lot of business because people around here liked his work and reputation. this could also be a boon for me, more production, more customers (people hearing he is working again) but again, if he is working with me then it will most likely not help my reputation because people will assume he does all the crafting...

Any thoughts on this type of arrangement if it was presented to you?

Here are some pictures from my latest project....its a reupholstery of couch, love seat and rocker, the current upholstery is still good but does not match the customers new house (who woulda thunk it with that pink?)







and of course this picture is for Sofadoc because he said my shop is not cluttered enough



will post some progress pics and after photos as I go

Finished my first full pontoon cover and got it installed today....I was pretty happy with the fit, but more importantly, the customer was happy with it



it links to album so you can see other angles as well...let me know what ya think of my rookie job!

Ok, so one of my repeat customers, the folks who refurbish old travel trailers, came back to my shop today with another scissor couch and some dinette cushions...the scissor couch remained the same price as the last one, but I had to give them an estimate on the dinette cushions.

I looked them over, 4 cushions, 46" wide, bottom 24" deep and back 18" tall....I gave an estimate of 160 in labor plus material so roughly 200...they told me they had a gal in louisianna that did them for 80 plus materials....

Being new still, and just learning as I go I questioned my price, and let them talk me down to 100 bucks in labor plus materials ...



Thats 1 set finished, it took me 3 hours to do, and still have the other set, so looking at learning curve the next should take another 2 hours...plus I had to drive 120 miles and 3 hours of time to go get the material because they wanted it to match the scissor couch I had done for them earlier.

So my question is, how long would one of you pros take to do something like this and could you charge less than a 100 labor and make a profit still?

Tried to get a wholesale account set up today, and the place said they needed 250 bucks to set it up and send me sample books....I said I could not afford that right now, they said OK, lets set you up an internet account...you can look through samples online and order swatches if you need them,,,I said sure that sounds good, they said OK that would be 100 bucks....

is this common practice among suppliers? I have to pay them so I can buy from them?? makes no sense at all!

So I was just practicing a few fun things and using scraps I had around my shop...I did not have enough of any one color to do the whole chair....

This is the Before



This is the after



at least it is patriotic....was having fun with sew foam and my new machine, learned alot about my machine doing this and got a feel for it more before I have a customers item under the needle

So I did this job, an RV couch and a custom shaped mattress for an RV, they got the estimate, left 150 dollar deposit, and I did the work...I called them Wednesday of last week to let them know the job was done and they said they would be by on Thursday to pick it up...I have not been able to get them on the phone since, left several messages with no returned phone calls yet...I haven't hounded them, called Friday, then again on Monday, and once again today. I am not out money on this job, and still have their items, but I am beginning to get annoyed, because if they cant pick them up they could at least call me and let me know when!

How do you guys deal with this when they just drop off the face of the planet, but surely they will be coming for their stuff, they paid 150 bucks up front (cash; not check at least, or I may be a little more worried), so it just has me confused and annoyed!

Had to do a zipper so broke out the zipper foot for my new machine, and went to work.....the zipper foot kept cutting my thread, as if the needle was too close to the foot, I was using a size 20 needle and 92 thread...I eventually reverted to my old singer to install the zipper and then used my consew to do the rest. Anyone else have this issue before or a workaround for it? I am new to the whole walking foot, but after changing back to welting foot for the rest, it did not cut a single thread, so had to be something I was doing wrong with zipper foot