Mid century slipper chair - leather

[65Buick]

Hi everyone. In a pickle here.

I am trying to do this seat. On the left side of the boxing, I get puckers. I tried more/less padding and that didn't work. When I sew, I start in the middle and do one side, then the other. That's the only thing I think is causing this issue since it's happened to me before.

http://gdurl.com/u0wP

Here's what the chair looked like before

http://gdurl.com/sclh

________


Couple more things:

First, I really don't need to start sewing in the center for this type of seat cover. So tomorrow I will sew starting at one end and go all the way through. That should help since it won't be slightly different tension for the bobbin thread, causing puckers.

Then, from what I can see the welt is sewn such that it gets tighter towards the back of the seat. That way when it is upholstered the front boxing can remain tight all the way around the front corners.  I will do my best to slightly arc the boxing for the same purpose.



That's all I can figure out for now. Any help appreciated.

[MinUph]

65,
Try sewing the welt on the boxing first. Or see all three pieces at once. It looks like your machine is out of adjustment for this task.

[SteveA]

I would hope that when you pull everything tight and staple down it will look much better. 
When you're sewing do everything you can to keep the pieces aligned, and the stitches on track.
SA 

[65Buick]

Here's the situation now:
http://gdurl.com/3Xrk7
http://gdurl.com/VZ8h


Happy with it but still not sure what to do about those front corners.

[MinUph]

The corners look like they need to be pulled down a bit more.

[65Buick]

Paul - agreed.
I started out the seat with 2" HR foam. This is with 1/2" then cotton.
Now I think it needs 1" plus cotton. I sat on it and it's not that comfy. It has zig zags.
Originally it only had cotton. To me it's more of an artistic piece than a true sitting chair. Maybe something you'd sit on the edge if you were having a quick conversation with someone.

What kind of padding would you guys use?

[MinUph]

I think I would have put a layer of rubberized hair pad of the burlap then 2" of foam and a layer of cotton. The hair pad will hide the feel of the springs better than foam. You want the seat to be around 18-19" high, that's a good guide for filling thickness.

[gene]

That can be a difficult chair to do, or at least for me there was a big learning curve. I learned to measure the height of the welt cord from the floor before I take off the old leather. That way I know how far to pull down the new cover. If you are adding additional padding then be sure to compensate for this.

On your first pictures it looked like you needed to cut a bit more relief in the top panel at the back so the entire seat cover could be pulled back just a bit more. Is that what you did?

Also it looked like you might have a bit of gathering of the leather side panel. Did you sew the welt cord on top of that side panel?

Another thing I found is to slightly taper the front corners of the top panel. This seems to keep that "air space" from occurring on these corners.

I love that blue color.

gene

[65Buick]

It has been a steep learning curve.

Gene, when you say taper the corner, specifically what do you mean? Like 3 stitches instead of one? The front edge is slightly arced.

Then, because the of the crown, I am confused about how to make the corners hug the frame tightly. If I pull them first, then the front has to much slack. And vice-versa.

I'm going to switch out the padding and see how that works.

[baileyuph]

You are looking better.

Regarding your interest in the two front corners:  Can you take a picture of the cushion top panel that
would reveal the original corner curvature?

You do well with the camera, I am sure you can.  Either hang the original material vertically and do a
picture from 90 degrees or lay the original material on flat on a floor/table and do a photo looking straight
down.  Which ever you think would best to reveal the original corner cut/sew shape.

Like I said;  Your not looking too badly now.

Doyle

[gene]

Tapered corner. https://sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/quick-tip-how-tapered-corners-make-square-pillows

Picture #7 on the above link shows the small amount of fabric that is cut off. Other's may not do this but I've found whenever a fabric panel is not going to be flat this can help it look a bit less like the corner is sticking out too much.

On another note I was asking if you had to cut the back of the top panel some more to allow the entire cover to slide back just a bit more to help make those front corners snug. The first pictures you showed looked like this might be what you would need to do. There have been a few times when I cut too much and I had to resew the entire cover with a new top panel.

As Doyle said, it is starting to look like you're getting there.

A memory from the past: When I started upholstering I bought a set of DVDs from Merv Knutson, a retired upholsterer probably in his late 70's at the time. He has since gone to that great big sewing machine in the sky. At one point in the video he's sewing a small box cushion cover that is giving him a bit of trouble, and he says, "I think I'm winning." I often say that to myself when I'm spending a lot more time on something than I would like.

gene

[65Buick]

Had to set this one aside for a bit.

Here's what I came up with. Got into a pickle, the seat has dense felt, then cotton, then dacron.

http://gdurl.com/m-QF

[65Buick]

Need some advice here. I'm ready to put the outside back on. The transition from the backrest to the seat isn't the smoothest. I have both ply-grip and the other straight tack strip.
What would be best here? Ply grip all the way or tack strip?

This chair was from the 50s so they used cardboard strip and tacks.

http://gdurl.com/WF-6/

http://gdurl.com/IEib

[MinUph]

Why do you have all that dacron around the edge like that? Try to kill all filling at the edge. A nice sharp clean edge is what I like. No bulk. I know many giys will rung the filling around the edge. It gets my goat LOL. You will be best with metal tack strip when closing. But kill the dacron, the welt cord on the band and as much vinyl as you can without showing any raw. You can kill a lot of bulk and it will lay flatter.

[kodydog]

And to add to Paul's comment. I've taken apart and repaired plenty of tack strip edges that failed because the spike could not be driven deep enough into the wood and did not hold. I do not know why some folks like to wrap the padding around the edge but have seen it plenty of times.

Using tack strip is a skill. I've met upholsterers who have never used it. In its place they use ply grip. Once mastered tack strip is a true time saver and makes the overall job look neater.