I had that thought, too, that a larger needle might be necessary to poke a larger hole thru the plastic to make it easier for the thread to pass thru. Thanks for the confirmation of that.
Yes, I reused the plastic off of the old seat cover. I looked for something similar online thinking new plastic might be a little softer and easier to work with, but I decided without knowing what type of plastic it was that I was looking for buying something sight unseen would be foolish. There's a store in a city not too far away that carries surplus industrial goods like plastic (and you name it) so next time my travels take me there I'm going to stop in to see if they have something similar. I checked at an upholstery supply store and they don't have anything like this plastic strip.
Yes, I reused the plastic off of the old seat cover. I looked for something similar online thinking new plastic might be a little softer and easier to work with, but I decided without knowing what type of plastic it was that I was looking for buying something sight unseen would be foolish. There's a store in a city not too far away that carries surplus industrial goods like plastic (and you name it) so next time my travels take me there I'm going to stop in to see if they have something similar. I checked at an upholstery supply store and they don't have anything like this plastic strip.