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This is not upholstery related but many folks on here work with autos all the time, both upholstery and repair.

I bought some brake parts from AutoZone. I got in the car and looked at the receipt. They had sold me some items that I did not ask for and that they did not mention. They just put them in the bag and charged me for them.
I went in to get my money back. They told me that the computer automatically adds items to the receipt and sometimes the clerk forgets to mention it. He certainly remembers to put the items in the bag.

2 years ago the Postal service increased revenue by millions of dollars by taking the 3rd class postage rate off the computer screens at the post office. When you ask, "What's the cheapest rate to send this book", they look at the computer screen and tell you the cheapest rate on the screen. You will get the 3rd class rate if you ask for it, it's just not on the computer screen. Many postal workers complained to their union about this which is why it got into the news.

I watched over the last few years as my Verizon bill increased every month or so by a penny. They were recently sued for stealing money. There was no reason for these pennies other than it was free revenue for them. The last I heard the attorneys were seeking class action status.

I sent an email to Autozone asking them how they expect not to be sued from what they are doing. It seems to me that if you take my money without me knowing it, or through an act of deceit, even if you give me something in return, that is still theft. How about class action for the civil suit and Rico specifications for the criminal complaint?

Who would have thought "Let the buyer beware!" even with Autozone.

gene

Thanks Big John.

Do they still make Schmidt beer? That's a name from my past.

I've always told my kids to never drink lake water because the fish pee in it.

Have a great week if that's what you put on your calendar.

gene

I have worked hard to come up with this attitude, and sometimes I still have to work hard at it, but here's what I do:

I remind myself that I had to deal with this person for a very short period of time. They have to deal with themselves every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year of every decade of their entire life! I got a much better deal than they did, and I feel grateful that I did. I still find it amazing that people like this can evoke a sense of gratitude in me.

gene

This is true: I saw an interview on TV where this couple had been married for 75 years. The interviewer asked what was the secret for their long marriage. The wife said, "When we got married we decided that he would handle all the big decisions, and I would handle all the small decisions. So far, we haven't had any big decisions."
The husband was sitting there shaking his head 'yes'.

Also, I almost failed my first quarter of college, but then I realized that I was using a black highlighter.

Thanks for the pick me ups.

gene

Chris,

A few years ago I flew Delta into Hawaii. The flight attendant let us all know that the pilot was retiring and this was his last flight.

I know for a fact that he banked that plane farther than FAA allowance when he came in to land on Oahu. It was awesome!

Thanks for the chuckles.

gene

Thanks for your replies. It's always encouraging NOT to get a lot of "Been there, done that, don't waste your time". Although, if that's the case, I would still appreciate knowing it.

Taking a picture of the item before I strip it down was to help give the customer an idea of what it looks like upholstered. Taking a picture of the frame would show the customer that all the nasty fabric and stuffing is gone.

I will keep you informed.

I wish I lived in England so I could call the frame a 'carcass'. But then, folks might think I do taxidermy and I'd show up at my shop some day and a guy would be waiting for me with a dead moose. I'd ask him if he wanted me to put a faux alligator leather on it???

gene

I didn't have time to reply yesterday, hence my failed attempt at some humor.

I did a slip cover for one of these in January. I call my slip covers "Custom Fit Slip Covers", so they are made to fit like a glove and they often times look like upholstery. I only do these high end slip covers because I can't compete with Wal Mart or the semi custom fit stuff you can get on the internet.

I did mine like Dede explained, except I did have a horizontal seam between the top two back cushions and the bottom two back cushions. So, there were 4 separate pieces of fabric for the inside back. Think of a bra with 4 cups. The seams are recessed into the sofa creating the cups. The seams all have welt cord. This seems to help hold in in place better, but this may just be my impression about it. I used pleats instead of gathering, but either will work depending on the fabric that you have.

I also ran welt cord along the bottom of the inside back to help hold everything together. I then sewed an additional piece of fabric across the bottom for my tuck in. This is sewn to the deck tuck in to make a nice big tuck in.

The top of this inside back 4 cup bra was attached to the outside back with welt cord right over the upholsterer's welt cord.

I also ran welt cord up the left and righ sides of the inside back and then added fabric for my side tuck ins. I use at least 3" tuck ins to make sure it stays tuck.

I tell customers that the best fabric is one that is similar to blue jean material: that thick and that flexible. There are a lot of fabrics that are too stiff in general, or too thin, and stiff fabrics will really drive you crazy with a sofa like this one. Sometimes it just won't lay the way you want it to.

I'm still kicking myself for forgetting to take a picture of my sofa. I wanted it for my picture collection. If I ever get back into that house, I will definitely take a picture and post it.

The other thing I would mention is that this kind of slip cover takes a lot of time. If someone is looking to save a lot of money by going with a Custom Fit slip cover instead of upholstery, they won't be able to do that with me.

Good luck on this. It's a fun project.

Gene

This is one of the reasons I enjoy this site. When I saw the topic, "Punching grommets through webbing", I thought maybe one or two replies.

I have done grommets for shower curtains and a few times for drapes. And once for a tarp that a friend was going to use for camping.

I never knew that it was such an important part of marine work. I must have thought subconsciously that all those grommets came with the fabric.

gene

I had an interior designer who would occasionally find an awesome upholstered piece of furniture at a thrift store, sell it to a home owner with new fabric. She would have me do the upholstery.

She stopped doing this last year when the main stream news media decided to use bed bugs for their latest fear mongering.

Anyway, I keep thinking about all those awesome pieces of furniture at thrift stores: hard wood frames, ornate wood designs on some of them, etc.

So, my idea is this: I buy one of these for $30.00 I take a picture of it as it is. I then strip it and take a picture of the frame only. I put it on my web site with details about the frame, what types of materials I will use to reupholster it, and my price plus fabric.

The worst case scenario is that I will loose $30.00, loose my time and labor to strip it, and I will have a frame hanging on my wall.

Maybe I would go up to 4 or 5 frames at the most until something sells.

Has anyone done this, doing this, or what are your thoughts about doing this?

Thank you for your replies,

gene

I can understand why you only asked Bobbin. I too have learned a lot from Bobbins' replies.

You may want to expand your question to everyone.

gene

A grown man makes a total ass of himself and then he sends his son in to clean up the mess. What a pathetic coward!

There was a topic recently on cutting our finger nails with scissors. The next time I'm in a doctor's waiting room I'm going to take off my shoes and socks, pull out my 18" cutting shears, and proceed to cut my toe nails. I may make a hushed squeal each time I cut, giving the impression that it really hurts. Oh, and maybe I'll have my toe nails already painted with that purple metal flake polish my daughter uses. Before I start cutting I'll put those foam things between my toes that women use to separate the toes after the toe nails are painted.

Or, maybe not.

gene

Is it sea worthy and can it handle a tsunami?

Who would drive one of those things out onto a lake wearing a dress and high heals?

Here's the big question: Do you call the coach/motor home upholsterer, the marine upholsterer, or the furniture upholsterer?

Thanks for the link. It really is impressive.

gene

I was talking to a guy who owns a flooring company. He said the big box companies like Home Depot and Lowes have 40% of the flooring business. There's a lot of DYIing going on, especially in the flooring business.

I don't like people who collect some facts, or "Trade Secrets" as they call them, and then put them together in an ebook or video and try to sell it to unsuspecting folks. We've had a few of them on this site. I remember one who asked outright what trade secrets upholsterers have.

No one will ever get past the learning curve by reading a book or watching a video.

Jimi Hendricks, B.B. King, and Glen Beck were/are not just guitar players.
Yo Yo Ma does not just play the cello.
Frederic Chopin and Vladimir Horowitz were not just piano players.
There are upholsterers who are trade persons, craft persons, and artists. A few are all three.

We know that Michelangelo was gay because if he was straight the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel would have been painted off white. (This has nothing to do with this topic but I just heard a comedian say this and I thought it was funny.)

gene

No, I am not using one of these.

In video #1, he says his motor "will give you more power than any clutch motor or servo motor in the sewing machine market place today." Is this true? Their specs say it is a 1/3 hp motor. Isn't 1/3 less than 1/2? I'm confused.

He also mentions that you will get less slippage using their optional larger pulley. This implies that you will get slippage using your existing pulley, and you will still get slippage, but it will be less, using their larger optional pulley.

Video #2 is about about 'servo motors'. Is he actually using variable speed motors, and not true servo motors?

I'm looking forward to reading what anyone says who is using this system, and what the sewing machine folks have to say.

It is an interesting 'system'.

Thanks for sharing this.

gene

Yes, I did see this machine in person. The guy said 36 were recently installed in a company and they would pay for themselves in 3 months with that increased production. I don't know if they are running 24/7.

It is absolutely amazing what can be automated today.

I wish there had been a forum on line when this new fangled thing called a pneumatic staple gun came out. I would love to have been able to go back and read the comments from all the upholsterers who new only of tacks. It would probably be similar to the horse and buggy owners when cars started taking over the roads.

gene