help with auto upholstery

[hitest1024]

Hi-
I just had my classic car (68 caddy convertible) reupholstered with gorgeous white leather interior, and it's been a dream except for one thing:  The button caps (or shells) have fallen off of 6 or so of the buttons.   The shop that did it (charged me over 4000 for everything!!!) keeps putting me off (often won't return calls, the guy who does their buttons is in jail, they'll try and get it scheduled next week, etc etc for the last 9 weeks.)     

Is there any way I can do this myself? That would make me feel great.  The button base parts are still in place on the seats, and it seems like I should be able to buy the caps and some white leather scraps to cover them.   Do I need the button making machine?  I saw one on an online supply place.    Any thoughts are welcome.   
Thanks for reading.

[baileyuph]

Seems a good option would be to go to another shop and just have them make new buttons.  Cheaper than buying the machine.

Doyle

[byhammerandhand]

One of my supply houses will make buttons.  I think the last time I did this it was about 50 cents a button, plus the cost of the forms.

[sofadoc]

Even if you had the new buttons, do you know how to install them?
You can't just pop the caps back on from the front.
Can you access the back side?
What kind of business would charge 4 grand, and then not fix something that simple? ANYBODY in the shop should be able to do that (not just the guy in jail).

[crammage]

68 caddy is a great car.   The second car I ever had was 68 coupe deville, white exterior , drove like a dream.  Took it to college but had to sell due to lack of funds.   Hope to get another one some day after my kid is out of college.

[hitest1024]

Yeah, I'm really unhappy with the shop that did the work- even aside from how difficult they're being, the shop is about 45 minutes from my house and they don't want me to drop the car off till they're ready.   I'd really like to never deal with them again.    Trying to be positive and not think about them too much. 

OK, so, the buttons have to be replaced?  And you can't just put the caps back on?  (I believe that- I don't know upholstery- but just trying to clarify...)   I could probably get to the backs of some of them (on the seat bottoms, but some would be really hard for me to get to (the seat backs.)   

And yeah- it's a deville, and I'm really happy with it.  (Or I will be when I get all the details taken care of...)

Thanks for everyone's replies...

[fragged8]

the chefalo guy on youtube makes his own buttons.

basically put a long  thread on a regular 4 or 2 hole button

cut a disk of the material you want to cover the button in
and make it about 1/2 over size all around and by hand
sew a running stitch around the outside of the material disk.

put some padding between the button and disk if you want to
and pull the ends of the running stitch to gather the material disk
behind the button, tie it off and you have your covered button.

rich

[stitcher_guy]

$4K for leather? If that was the cost for a full interio, double check that you even have leather (if it was just the seats redone, more believeable). And if they lied about that, just find another shop. Just make sure it's a reputable shop this time, so they will make an effort to match up to whatever you have on the seats. They're likely tied off around the seat springs. Accessible up through the bottom of the seat back. It'll have to come apart more than likely to get a nice strong pull on the new buttons.

Leather and vinyl is thick for making buttons. Falling apart happens. Kind of sounds like if we saw a picture of the seats, the covers were made without back padding, and the buttons are sitting on top of the covers. They should sink down into the cover and be pulled to where the buttons go flush with the cover and as you get in and out, you don't really drag across them and pull off the heads. If you really crimp it down tight, you run the risk marring the surface of the material. And the others are right, it's not such a specialty that anyone in any shop can't fire you off a few buttons.