How to Make a Homemade Leather Bench Seat Cover

[coloradosean2009]

This weekend was productive. I started out by punching rivet holes along the seam that will be used to attach the cover to the frame. The idea is to create a pocket in the leather that will allow a wire to pass through. The wire adds strength to the connection to the frame. This seam will not show and needs to be strong. I decided to use rivets because they are fast and strong.

While I was punching the rivet holes I also punched some holes to allow the hog rings to catch the wire. This is an extra step that I decided to do on the bench bottom only.

Next I added a layer of poly batting. I bought the batting at a hobby store on sale with a coupon for a grand total of $6.50. I used the batting to add a little life to the foam core. On a side note, when I did this project on a 1972 mercedes that I used to own. The Germans were still using horse hair in 1972 and the project was very messy. The foam pad for this bench is a dream to work with compared to the horse hair.

Finally I sewed the bench cover together. I use only nylon thread for leather. Any other thread is crap and will fail. Be sure to back stitch the ends of the seams as you will need to tug like crazy to make the cover fit tight.

The last photo is a test fit before riveting the wire seam at the bottom.