Where is this Puffiness Coming From??

[jojo]

Hi guys,
Working on Bayliner back to back seats. Here is one of the covers not pulled tight over the foam:



Here is a close up of the puffy bump i keep getting:



Not sure if this matters, but I put the welt on the gray curvy piece first, then sewed it to the blue. I did clip the curves of course, but still have this problem.
What am I doing wrong??

[jojo]

Here's the link to photobucket in case you can't see it:

http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd509/stitchbiatch/WP_000062.jpg

[trimmerkenny]

Sometimes the vinyls have different stretch. Especially colored vinyls versus the whites. I always try to get the same kind of vinyls. It might be easier to use sew foam and sew it to the vinyl before you sew the pieces together. It helps hide inperfections.

[scott_san_diego]

Could be your pieces are a little to big.  If you didn't replace the foam you might try steaming the foam out first then putting the cover on.  You could also glue on a piece of 1/2" foam on top of the old foam and then put the cover on.  That should help fill in the void.

[Peppy]

Not to sure what we're looking at. Thats the wing of the seat? Probably the foam is cut on a wedgie ( beveled?) and the poof is where the foam is supposed to rise up and fill it. Your copying the old skin may have exagerated the hump and the foam may have lost it's hump. Steam the foam to see. Once steamed, stuffing some batting between the foam and the wood might help. It'll raise the foam to fill the poof with out making ugly batting balls under the skin.

[Mike8560]

I'm with pep the vinyl isn't pulled tight maybe they will pull Out once stapled and the pulls are stapled down there must be some between the colors as as pep said it looks like the bevered pard of the seat
I'd normaly use foam also. I glue it also to the vinyl first

[Can-Vas]

Are you applying heat to it?

[jojo]

Thyanks guys,
Peppy,  these are the way they will look finished:



I'll try steaming the foam, but when I compare my finished cover to one of the old ones, (off of the foam) only mine has that bump. I did try heat, but no luck.

Maybe it's my sewing?? There is a lot going on in terms of seam allowance, what with all that welt.
Mike, I tried gluing foam to the vinyl, but it just won't lay flat. Bummer.

[Mike8560]

I meat I'll glue the sew foam to the vinyl or 1/4" foam to the skin. Not to the seat foam.

[jojo]

Right mike, that's what I tried (with 1/4 foam), but it still looked goofy.  :'(. It must be my sewing....

[JuneC]

Can we see pics of the other (wrong) side?  Maybe your clips aren't deep enough, or spaced closely enough together.  Sure looks to me like either a clipping problem or maybe sewing machine tension problem, or even possibly a fit problem.  You have any more to do?  If so, lay out the cut vinyl as it will be sewn together and give us a pic of that to analyze. 

Fitting curves together can be VERY tricky.  Honestly, Jojo, you've tackled some of the most difficult sewing tasks for starting out.  Once your get through all this, it'll be all downhill from here.  Sure is a frustrating learning curve, though....

Last set of boat seats I did was a PITA - carbon fiber stripes in  plain white vinyl.  The carbon fiber is quite stretchy compared to the white.  I would have made my life a lot easier if I'd simply cut it smaller/shorter by an inch or more on all my work.   

June

[jojo]

Thanks June,
Yeah, the curve thing is tricky, but I've done this type of thing before; I was a quilter in a previous life. I think trimmerkenny is onto something with the stretch. It turns out the gray stripe is the only color that is a different brand than the rest of it. 
I've tried clipping every 1/8 inch or so along the curve, which didn't help much, so then I tried trimming the seam allowances really close where the curve is.  Still no change. I will practice some more, or just make it work somehow.
Don't know why everyone is bringing in the most challenging stuff....can't I just get a square cushion for once?? Also, they're bringing in boat seats from the 70's and 80's and want them done as original. Sheesh!

[lc]

Sorry I'm not too sure either but it may be that you need to notch or snip the seam area on the curve to let it ease into the shape..its got a good curve to it...heat gun works wonders but not too close . Don't want to melt it.. heh heh.

Lc

[fragged8]

i'm thinking you're tugging on the grey a bit too much ?

[lc]

Another thought is ., you may have been pulling the vinyl making it stretch as you sewed..easing it gently without stretching it will eliminate that