Messages

Looks good
How do you hold the cover to the car?

Allan

We mainly use magnets inserted in to the binding at the top, however, if the car is fiberglass we use straps, sometimes grommets if there is an existing bolt to attach it to - this one has a magnet tab on the front and then 2 straps on each side.

How do you deal with the seams being uncovered by the fleece? Doesn't sound finished this way. It seems something like this should be lined with all seams on the inside facing each other. Maybe finding a better lining material would solve the stretching issue. You could then Make the lining like the topper and line it properly maybe binding the outer edges. And stitching in places to hold it all together.

I'm not sure what you are referring to....the goal is to only have the fleece touching the paint..... in the beginning we turned seams to the inside and finished the seams with a top stitch.   But that is putting sometimes harsh edges of the vinyl against the car paint.  A couple years ago we started using our "whisper soft seam technology"  .. we turn the seams to the outside and trim close to the seam.  Car people are very particular about their paint - many have thousands tied up in a paint job.  Normally I bind the edges with the vinyl, but with this one, i used the fleece and i am binding all of the edges.  However, I didn't finish the bottom edge all the way around.  This one is a mock up to test the pattern - several issues still to fix. 

I'm not really using the fleece as a lining but more as just a backing to the vinyl - so when I sew I am sewing it all like it is one layer, not a layer of vinyl and then fleece.  I did think about using it as a lining that could be removed for cleaning or replacing (anything caught up in the fleece has the potential to scratch paint) but that would double my sewing and cutting time - maybe something for the future

Thanks for the input everyone - we did the job this week and it went off without a scratch :)  Interestingly, they didn't even check the car once we left and never even acted too concerned.  We took complete pictures both before and after though.  The car actually belongs to the dealership.  One of the guys laughed when I made a comment about having been worried about accidently scratching it and said "yea, we were hoping you all would scratch it up so we could send it back to the corporate office".  I guess there aren't many with 400K to fork out for a toy.  We were in a glass garage/display area - had a quite a few people walk by and watch.  The guys working there say they aren't allowed to even touch the car.  It was interesting. 

If I hadn't been so worried about scratching the car, it would have been easier.  Even my husband was freaking out, not even wanting me to put the blue tape on the car.  We were so much more worried about it than they were.  I think they were just giving  us "the talk" upfront - kind of like what you do when your teenager takes out the car for the first time.  The pattern came out ok - could have been better - but, 7-8 hour round trip drive means, ok is good enough - we made 2 trips, one to pattern and one test fit cover. 

I now need some advice about the wrinkles:

The vinyl we use is about 28-30 oz - a decent weight, but it has a white felt/fleece backing on it.  They requested us to add a black fleece to the back.  I glued the fleece on the back of the vinyl on the passenger side but I sewed the edges only on the vinyl I used on the driver's side.  The fleece has A LOT of stretch - unfortunately, I stretched the fleece when attaching it to the vinyl.  I didn't realize how much the fleece could pull the vinyl. 

So, I know that I need to make sure that there is not any stretch in the fleece - but I also can't have wrinkles either.  Should I glue?  Sew?  how do I hold it in place if I sew it instead of glue it.  The fleece has no structure to it.  I am leaning towards cutting out the vinyl pieces separately from the fleece.  I could leave the fleece in oversized pieces and then trim it down after attaching it to the vinyl.  I am just not sure the best way to attach this.    Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks Chris

I will give that a try....I thought about trying to do something with that plasi-dip stuff, but haven't tried it yet.

We have a tag with our name and logo that I sew into the binding on the driver's side - kind of like a large Levi tag.   


Temp insurance, hadn't thought about that...I will check into that.  Their big thing was "do you realize how much the value of this car will drop if it has to be repainted".  I am trying to not let it bother me.  It's almost  like telling your child, "don't drop that"......of course, then, they drop it. 

We make custom wrap-around fender covers  - mainly aimed at the week-end mechanic who lives to work on, rebuild, and spend lots of money on parts to make his car go faster.  They then blow it up and have to work on it more.  (I know this because I have to live with one).  The fender cover is patterned to completely cover the entire front end with a custom fit.  I pattern a 1/2 of the front end very similiar to how you all do a car seat or a boat cover.

Here is my problem:  We had a high end car company contact us to make a fender cover for a super car they sell - the car is very limited and very expensive - 300K to 500K. They only want about a dozen fender covers - they plan to give one to dealership in the United States who has sold one of the cars so that whenever an owner brings their car in to be serviced they will have a fender cover to protect the car's finish.

After negotiating with them for almost a year now, we've come down to it is time to do the pattern.  The closest car to us is almost 4 hours away at a dealership.  The dealership was not involved in the negotiations - that all happened on the corporate end.  The dealership is not all that crazy about us being there.  They have basically told us "if you scratch it, you have bought it". 

I don't plan to scratch it, but accidents do happen. I am close to saying forget it but it is a really big opportunity which would have the potential to put us out there on another level. 

I pattern with plastic sheeting - just like you all talk about using.  I have to use scissors to trim the plastic to make it fit the lines of the car.  I am worried about slipping and scratching the finish. 

Do any of you know of any scissors or cutting tools that have a safety edge to prevent scratching?  I usually use several different types of scissors - sometimes though, I need to trim close and might use a very small, sharp pair of embroidery scissors. 

ANY thoughts or ideas? 
CeCe

Dang....I've been looking for one of those.  If you get tired of it, let me know, I'll buy it :O 

Seriously, how accurate is it?  I was just worried about buying one without trying it out and it not being what I needed.  Instead I bought a 6 x 12 foot mat and I'm using a rotary cutter.  Mat is well worth it.  Makes that rotary cutter so much easier to use and keeps blade much sharper.  But I can only do 4 layers at a time - If I could cut 20 with same accuracy.....hmmmm.....I am a thinking I might start looking again....You definitely got an awesome deal.   

Wow, you all have opened a whole new world to me. I had no idea such tools existed. Time is definitely money.  I've been working long hours 7 days/a week lately. Late nights. I've got to find ways to get
Some time back. Cutting the pieces takes about 1/2 the time.  Putting the pattern onto 1/8 inch plastic board definetlysped things up.   But if i could cut10 -12 layer at a time that would be awesome. Anybody got any experience with using the lower end ones (under $500)? 

We are making custom fender covers for car mechanics.  Business has been growing so we've had to ramp up our work space.  Built a 6ft by 12ft cutting table this weekend with a melamine top.   I'm cutting 4-6 layers of vinyl at a time using an Olfa rotary cutter.  My olfa blades seem to be dulling out fairly quickly.  I have the largest Olfa mat they make but some of my patterns are bigger than the mat.  And, if I try to use the mat and then move it, I mess up my layers. 

1.  Is there a better surface to put on my cutting table to help prolong the life of the blades?  We are sharpening the blades but I know that won't last forever and blades are expensive. 

2.  Is there anything better to cut around patterns?  I have an electric rotary cutter but the foot goes under the vinyl and it won't go up next to the pattern (we've transferred patterns to 1/8" fake wood/plastic material). 

Thanks for any advice,

CeCe

A couple months back I watched a "how they do it" show on TV focused on how they make high end car seats.  I don't remember which manufacturer it was but it was one like Mercedes or Porsche....they showed how they upholstered the seats wwhich included - in one of the final steps - running it through a heat machine - so ain't no cheating going on - even the big guys use heat to smooth the wrinkles.

I just bought a Conair from amazon.com.....delivered free and no taxes....$25.  Compact model but not the travel model.....Worked pretty good for occasional use - wouldn't be happy with it if i was doing this fulltime.  Love me some amazon.

Placed an order last night with miamicorp for the vinyl to do the seats in a 20' hurricane.  I ordered 3 colors.  I just realized that D in seabrook D sea white means that the finish is delustered.   The other two colors , aqua and black, are normal.  I called to try to change it and it was too late - dang those people are fast :-) .  How bad is this going to look or will it be noticeable?

Mike - i have a Hurricane - same seats but different layout....last year, I started recovering seats with some cheap vinyl just to see if I could do it, did a couple of the worse ones and was pleased, so I decided to wait and get some good vinyl and do the whole boat.  Got sick, had surgery, upholstery got put on hold.  I did one of the curved backs.  It was a booger. I ended up building a jig to hold it in place while I stapled skins on.  I had a hard time getting in about the right place. 

How did you do thes dealing with the flimsy back and curves?...they look great.  How much vinyl did you use?

June said she spritzs foam being reusing with diluted bleach -about what kind of ratio?  I take spritz as a light misting?

Thanks everyone - that sounds a lot better - I appreciate the help.

I am finally ready to order the vinyl to recover the seats in a 20 foot Hurricane deck boat.  I did a rough estimate of the seats and tried to draw out the layout for cutting the pieces to try to estimate the yardage.   I came up with a total of about 30 yards - using 3 different colors.  I never would have quessed that I would need this much - is this any where near accurate? 







These are the 3 seating areas, plus there is an oversized captains chair that is completely covered.

Any ideas on if I am in the right ballpark with my estimate  -  I don't mind having extras, just not several hundred dollars worth of extras :)

Thanks -CeCe

I did this just last week end - messed with the scammer not the implant surgery - my husband was out of town at a car show with friends - I kept forwarding my responses to them and I had them in stitches.  I love it!