# Where to get seat covers/templates?



## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

I am looking to redo the seats in my car. Can you guys recommend where to get seat covers from? Ive been looking at Wetokole and Iggee...

I am also looking into reupholstering the seats myself. Any good place for information, maybe templates, any advice whatsoever on this? My girlfriend will be doing the sewing part.


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

once you rip your seats apart you can trace you old upholstery and make you own templates. No one is going to have pre-made templates you can buy. I think that is what makes every upholster different, their fitment of their final products. Do not expect close to perfection the first time out. 
Kevin


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

yea i know, just hesitant on ruining the seats only to make a bad cover. Is it simple enough to join the pieces together? Seems like it gets tricky with the curves and as it becomes a big piece.


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

riotburn said:


> yea i know, just hesitant on ruining the seats only to make a bad cover. Is it simple enough to join the pieces together? Seems like it gets tricky with the curves and as it becomes a big piece.


 It sounds like you are not ready to tackle your interior on your own, but you never know until you try. I think you said your GF is sewing it up for you. Does she have an industrial walking foot sewing machine, has she sewn upholstery before? Doing an interior will not work on a regular home machine. A number of people think it is simple to cut out some material and sew it it up, and it is in some cases. It comes down to "what do I want my finished product to look like". Something home made or something factory. 
Here are a few of my interiors installed by customers. I used leather perforated centers with factory style thick thread/ solid leather on the bolsters. All my french seams are done with a double needle machine same with the black seats. This could not be achieved without the right equipment. 
Kevin


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

no she doesnt have upholstery experience, made my shift boot though. She has a kenmore 385, non-industrial, but we were going to buy a walking foot for it. And to do the french seams we would do one side at a time similar to how cechaflo shows on his videos on youtube. I want to use microsuede. Do you think her machine would be able to handle that? 

There is a shop in long island that said $280 for the front when I called. There is also automotiveinteriors.com that shows $180 for the front plus you can send them your own material, though i can't find any reviews for them.


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

Her machine might but then you have thickness of thread etc. $280 is cheap if they do good work I would try that route. 
Kevin


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## Zorba2.0 (Jan 28, 2005)

I redid mine on a home machine. I had no prior experience before diving in. I really wish I had had a walking foot for the machine or even what settings did what  Live and learn though. I've seen that guys videos also on youtube just this week and really want to redo the other seat now. 
This is what I started with 








the machine i used 








and how they turned out 

















They fit much smoother now after stretching in the summer sun, but I should have brought the templates down a size and then use a clothing steamer to stretch the material as i put it over the foam. I will also have a walking foot for the next go around to better control the stitch length.


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

Zorba2.0 said:


> I redid mine on a home machine. I had no prior experience before diving in. I really wish I had had a walking foot for the machine or even what settings did what  Live and learn though. I've seen that guys videos also on youtube just this week and really want to redo the other seat now.
> This is what I started with
> 
> 
> ...


 Great job I am self taught bought an industrial machine 7 years ago to do 2 of my Bimmer's. 
I learned to sew when I was younger on a home machine as my mom was head of a fashion college. Myself and my family has an Architecture background so measuring and patterning came easy to me. 
This side business turned into a full time gig 3 years ago. Sewing is part of it, but patterning is very important. All my kits are installed right out of the box no steaming required as I made sure my fit on all my kits is spot on. 
Kevin


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

Wow nice job. Me and her just decided to go check more into having them made and you now i see your post and it gets me pumped up again. 

About how long did it take to do the seat (zorba) ? 

Also Ill trade those recaros for my stock


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## Zorba2.0 (Jan 28, 2005)

Thanks for the kind words Kevin. I'm trying to get a deal on an industrial machine pretty soon from a friends mother in law who has no use for hers anymore. I totally agree that Patterning is key! 

The seat took me 2 full days in the summer. One day to rip the old seats apart, trace, and cut out new material, the next day went to town sewing in front of the tv. Sorry, no tradesies  Their gonna go with the corrado rear bench I'm redoing this spring :thumbup:


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

Once you get your industrial take your time and practice. There is a huge learning curve using one compared to a home machine. Most home machines are 700 stitches per min. Industrials are 2.5 to 3k per min, just be careful. These older Recaros or tough to do, as the foam is not always uniform. I have only done 2 sets of these older LS and I even had some wrinkles. 
Kevin


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

recaros are sweet. 

euro323: to make the channels is it as simple as gluing the fabric to a 1/2 inch? piece of foam and then sewing two lines a cm or so apart? Also im not sure and it doesn't seem to make sense, but i believe i saw in some videos/writeup that before you sew the patterns together, you stitch them to the foam around the perimeter. But that sounds wrong, should just be glue right?


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

riotburn said:


> recaros are sweet.
> 
> euro323: to make the channels is it as simple as gluing the fabric to a 1/2 inch? piece of foam and then sewing two lines a cm or so apart? Also im not sure and it doesn't seem to make sense, but i believe i saw in some videos/writeup that before you sew the patterns together, you stitch them to the foam around the perimeter. But that sounds wrong, should just be glue right?


 Everyone has their own style I personally do not glue my centers to the foam, all I do is sew the border and stretch my top materials to get them taught, Then I comeback with my top center stitching. If you do not put down a even layer of glue it seems to pucker at times. As stated it is just my preference. I do things by doing. I have yet to read a book or watch a video on upholstery. I figure things out by looking at it plus I have done several hundereds of kits/interiors and am very comfortable on the machine. 
Kevin


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

so you say you sew around the border to attach it to the foam? And then sew over that to attach the pieces?


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

riotburn said:


> so you say you sew around the border to attach it to the foam? And then sew over that to attach the pieces?


 This will give you a better idea of what I am describing. See the stitching on the outer edge of the center section, then you can see the horizontal top stitching. As for the bolsters I very rarely use foam but I would treat it the same way. 
Kevin 








bolsters


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

Ahh, ok thanks! What size foam do you use 1/4 or 1/2 inch?


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

riotburn said:


> Ahh, ok thanks! What size foam do you use 1/4 or 1/2 inch?


 1/2 in the centers if I need to use foam on the bolsters 1/8" 
Kevin


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

thanks, sure ill have questions a plenty if we decide to make it.


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## blazinnate (Oct 17, 2008)

Euro 323i said:


> Everyone has their own style I personally do not glue my centers to the foam, all I do is sew the border and stretch my top materials to get them taught, Then I comeback with my top center stitching. If you do not put down a even layer of glue it seems to pucker at times. As stated it is just my preference. I do things by doing. I have yet to read a book or watch a video on upholstery. I figure things out by looking at it plus I have done several hundereds of kits/interiors and am very comfortable on the machine.
> Kevin


 i have tried gluing, and not gluing. one of my teachers stands by glue like crazy, one doesn't hardly touch the stuff, so i got to try both methods to see what would work for me. when i did my diamond inserts, i LIGHTLY glued the vinyl to the foam, just to hold long enough to get my first few topstitches in. also, i prefer to sew the center topstitching first, and then boarder stitch once i'm done with the insert. i usually do the center first, so i can make sure to keep the vinyl held down tight while i work my way to the outside. once i got the inserts done, i didn't glue anything else. i made sure to keep the vinyl tight while i did the boarderstitch, and then started putting the pieces together. if your patters are spot on, you will have a nice looking seat with no wrinkles. one of my backrests i actually almost got too tight, could barely get j hooks fastened on the seat, but i did get them in, and it was nice and tight with no wrinkles at all. 

edit: also when choosing foam, consider what you want it to look like. i went with 1/8" on the inserts and collars, as i didn't want my diamonds to look puffy at all. i tried with 1/2" when i was doing all my test inserts, and after getting all the diamonds sewn in, it just didn't quite look right.


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## beatrixkiddo (Apr 26, 2008)

man, i know you guys have businesses and aren't trying to create competition, but we need some good DIY's up in here. you guys definitely know your trade. thanks for the advice so far :beer:


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

went to the shop, show the guy my car, goes in the back for second and says 3560... 

280 was for some neoprene ****. Apparently my grandmother has a sewing machine, which means its probably some old niceness. Doing it ourselves is becoming more likely, where do you get your supplies from midwest?


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

riotburn said:


> went to the shop, show the guy my car, goes in the back for second and says 3560...
> 
> 280 was for some neoprene ****. Apparently my grandmother has a sewing machine, which means its probably some old niceness. Doing it ourselves is becoming more likely, where do you get your supplies from midwest?


 So $356 that is cheap. As far as suppliers that is what I keep under wraps. I have several suppliers in the states and 2-3 in Germany and the UK. 
Kevin


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

no 3 thousand! yea....


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

riotburn said:


> no 3 thousand! yea....


 What seats do you have? I do non oem vinyls for my bimmer customers for $625 shipped fronts and rears add micro suede inserts for $150 more. If I had your covers I could pattern and make a set for you. This was my first set of e36 seats, a customer sent me his covers. 
I made the patterns, sewed them up and sent them out. He never did an install before, he did a great job with it. 
Kevin 
As you can see my patterns were spot on.


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

Your price is good, but I think I'm going to do it. Im looking into buying a seat for cheap so I dont have to worry about ruining mine.


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

I don't get something. You cut out the pattern glue to the foam, then sew around the perimeter. Why do you leave barely any border whatsoever for joining the pieces together? How do you do a french seam if you dont have enough material to fold over and sew down?


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

riotburn said:


> Your price is good, but I think I'm going to do it. Im looking into buying a seat for cheap so I dont have to worry about ruining mine.


 No worries thought I would offer, good luck with your project.


riotburn said:


> I don't get something. You cut out the pattern glue to the foam, then sew around the perimeter. Why do you leave barely any border whatsoever for joining the pieces together? How do you do a french seam if you dont have enough material to fold over and sew down?


When you make your patterns add 3/8" or 1/2" allowance so when you sew your pieces together you have enough material to fold.
Kevin


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## FL_Jetta08 (Jul 2, 2008)

Interesting read....

Just recently I bought a VW Eos and the seats are solid color. If someone were to make covers for them based on Europes "executive" style... two tone with pipeing, I bet many owners here in USA would be interested. Maybe even CC owners as well.


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## Euro 323i (Nov 29, 2005)

FL_Jetta08 said:


> Interesting read....
> 
> Just recently I bought a VW Eos and the seats are solid color. If someone were to make covers for them based on Europes "executive" style... two tone with pipeing, I bet many owners here in USA would be interested. Maybe even CC owners as well.


Hold tight I am getting ready to do my wife's 2010 Eos it is thunder blue with gray interior.
Thinking gray micro blue diamonds, gray leatherete and blue french seams. Not sure yet, will be doing it in the spring.
Kevin


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## MYGTI_MA (May 3, 2010)

subscribed :thumbup:


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## riotburn (Feb 16, 2009)

I just got skins off someone that are identical to my seat so I can use as templates. On the bottomside on both pieces there are metal rods in channels. What are those for? Do I have to transfer that onto the covers I make?


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## blazinnate (Oct 17, 2008)

pictures would help, but if i'm seeing it in my head correctly, those should be used to fasten the seat cover to the frame....the first seat i did in class had metal bars on the sides and they slid into little channels on the frame to pull it tight.


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