ok well this is the first time i ever ever reupholstered anything in my life. so you pros out there dont beat me up.
first i wanted something gotti so i decided to do a deep maroon with white raised diamond stitch pattern.
**** this is not possible with a home sewing machine. i was fortunate enough to have an aunt with an industral sewing machine to be able to do all this. u will not be able to sew through all the material. you cant even use the kind of threat i used.****
so what i did is went to Joanns fabrics and picked up some marine grade vinyl. they have a ton of different colors!! i went with a dark maroon.
my aunt had some thick white thread u use on the big industrial sewing machine so i couldnt tell u what kind it is
then i wanted the diamond print to be raised from the pleather so i used some fabric backed foam and sewed the pleather and fabric backed foam together to get that raised print.
**the reason i used fabric backed foam is because its so hard to work with foam sheets or just foam. with the fabric backing its way easier for the needle and thread to just catch the fabric so it dosnt just rip or cut the foam. its easier to use with a sewing machine.**
i used a stencil i made for the diamond print after i got the size and shape i wanted. then i put everything together and sewed the diamond print stitch on the pleather with the fabric backed foam.
next is the seat!
take apart the seat with a razor blade, flat head and philips screw driver (this is if u can actually unscrew the seat strap off)
go around the pan and take of the chrome stripping and save it if urs is still good. mine was destroyed. then take the flat head screw driver and pry pack the clips that hold the fabric.
then i slowly and carefully pulled the foam off the pan so i could inspect the pan, clean and paint it.
i couldnt get my strap off so i had to cut if off and cut around it
i had to take a grinder and cut the bolts off and the bracket since i dont need it anymore
after this i cleaned up the pan and took off all the rust
clean
then i gave it a quick soap wash, a nice dry and took some black spray paint and painted the pan to stop any further rust
after the pan was ready i took some locktight spray on adhesive and sprayed the seat pan and foam and re attached it.
after that i cut down the foam with a bread knife and an electric turkey cuter thing
i wanted the seat flat and having a lower profile at the cost of my butt
the back of the seat the foam is quite high and the front was a little low since i had to cut off alot of broken down rotten foam. so i took some of the good foam from the back and placed it in the front.
then used the same spray adhesive and sprayed down the extra piece of foam
now the foam and seat pan is ready plus the fabric.
now putting everything together
first i stretched and held the fabric to get and idea of the shape i had to cut. then i sewed a border around the fabric so the diamond stitching wouldn't fray
after getting the general shape and lots of measuring i sewed the corner triangles
this is how it came out
this was surprisingly hard for me anyways and now u can kinda see that this is my first time
then i stretched the new seat cover over and secured it with the stock tabs.
back
front
the only thing i have to do is buy some of the rim strip that goes around the rim of the seat to further secure the fabric down.
i will be sanding off all the chrome and then spraying the stripping black. or maybe i might keep the chrome look and see how it is.
