Is It Me, Or

[jojo]

are captains chairs really, really difficult to cover? This is only my second one, and I can't shake the feeling that I'm doing something wrong. I'm sure my sewing is correct, but when I put the cover on and begin to staple, I get a small wrinkle on the inside back curve. Any suggestions? Should I use glue in that area?

[MinUph]

Captains chairs are some of the most difficult to do. Lots of parts and lots to line up when sewing. If your patterns are right it will fall in place. The biggest this I see some people do is make them too large then you will never get the wringles out. You can try a heat gun (blow drier) to help form the vinyl. But if its too big its too big. I make them very tight so it is very hard to get the skin on. You only have a couple places to staple so it has to be tight. A small wrinkle will works itself out. What happens when you put the seat in? Will it press the wrinkle out?

[Mike]

Can you post a oic of the seat wrinkle? My bigest part getting right was a seat with a 2" (boxing) connecting the front and back had ti be the right curve and like paul said have all the pattern right with alignment mark along the front to back boxing  y
The inside it more critical jot to have a wrinkle. Ut i cut my pattern real tight and have alot of pulling to do  a heatgun help warm it up feal good first
I used to have trouble this is a old pic probly my second bucket  showing the wrinkles on the boxing i got
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy102/Mike8560/Upholstery/Ourwork075.jpg
Here i was much better but you can still see wrinkles

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy102/Mike8560/Upholstery/rinkercapt2.jpg
So dont feel bad just pratice. My customer loved the seats.

[jojo]

Thanks Mike, that makes me feel better.

Seems I've avoided wrinkles in the boxing, but they're on the inside...



Here is the original seat:



They're from a 1976 Baja.

[Mike]

Hou know i see a wrinkle in the old skins too there ill bet the owner would be tivkled with them.  I think it was june that cut the inside  shorter.  It looks to me that the inside cur e  panel is a tad too long creating the wrinkle if you  ur it s little skinnier laying  flat that is  maybe a 1" they should go away. But if your all done  i brt the osner eould be very happy  know what to look for they just see a nice new white seat
But if you realy wanted to id open up the seams just at the 2 curves let the. Inyl streach over and ill bet it would show you could trim it 1/2" on each side and resew

[JuneC]

Mike's right.  The inside is just a little too long.  If you were to rip out the seams, right where it joins your tuck and roll feature, cut off the portion that's topstitched (which would remove about 3/4" on either side), and restitch, starting at about 6 inches from the ends of the arms, you'll get rid of most of those wrinkles.  I find that if the arc in the corners is roughly a 10 inch radius, if you cut the top/bottom boxing with an 8 inch radius it will just about eliminate the problem. 

Having said that, I still get wrinkles frequently enough to agree with Paul in that these are some of the hardest seats to do.  How "short" you make the inside length is heavily dependent on the stretchiness of the vinyl.  I've found many times that I think if I make it 2 inches shorter overall than the measurement of the foam, it'll STILL be too long because stitching it to corded welting all by itself will add an inch and a half.  It's enough to make you crazy.  Just take some comfort in the fact that you're not alone in this particular frustration....

June

[Mike]

Jojo on the right of thebphoto were the inside seam if with the boxing there are wome small wrinkle.i could get fid on thoose woth a heat gun

[jojo]

Thank you guys! You are the best! I haven't taken the heat gun to them yet, so maybe the finished product will look a little tighter. I'm doing the entire boat, and the other pieces turned out perfect and wrinkle free, so you can imagine how this bugs.
Mike, you're right...when I have everything finished, sitting in the sun, they look shiny and nice, and the customer will be tickled. Unless you said he'll be ticked. I never know with your typing skills.

[Mike]

Sorry jono lost the L tickled ;)

[DBR1957]

Jojo - you can fix that without ripping any seams. The tell-tale is the welting at the
front turn down is rolling to the outside and the corner doesn't appear to be lined
up. This is where some muscle comes in. Remember a seam line is thicker and won't
stretch as easy the body of the cover. This is even more so when that seam has
welt.

1) Remove the cushion
2) Remove inside staples. Maybe some from the outside bottom if needed.
    You will determine that as the cover shifts.
3) Get your steamer ready (may not need it)
4) Have staple gun ready
5) Now, with the seat positioned on its' back with the bottom facing you,
    pull the inside welt seam tight towards you on one side. That will cause the
    welt seam to roll to the inside, line up the corner and should pull
    the wrinkles out. Steam the seam from the INSIDE if need be.
6) Tack in place and do the same on the other side. You might have to
    work back and forth a little and smack the boxing toward you to get it.

I would try this before I started taking any seams apart. You might be
surprised.

Another thing I do to help with this problem is cut the seam allowance
down to about 1/4". It gets the bulk off the edge. This generally is more
pronounced if your going to an expanded vinyl when the seat originally
had fleeced back vinyl on it.

[jojo]

Thanks DBR!