DIY 78 seat upholstery, my way

[blazer2007]

It was fairly easy and alot cheaper, maybe a $100.
You need a old sewing machine, a walking foot for the machine which you can buy online or at a sewing machine store. Some good polyester thread and some denim sewing needles, cheap can of Elmers spray glue also material of your choice, make sure is good quality, On my first seat I used med. priced vinyl and other seat I used expensive marine grade vinyl about $40 a yard. when you make you patterns check to see which way it stretches ,it only stretches one way so keep the stretch going all the same so when you stretch it onto the seat frame. You need some sew foam if your going to make pleats like mine. You can get sew foam at a upholstery shop or make your own by gluing some thin material on the foam. This stops the thread from pulling thru the foam when making your pleats.
Take tour old seat cover off nicely and separate all the pieces so you can make a pattern.
For my seat I measured across bottom seat and divided it into 5 sections. On the little 5" end caps make a template off the curve to trace on your material, don,t forget your 1/2" allowance After you have your measurements add 1/2 inch for seam allowance, this will be where you sew, so the bottom seat section measures 22" high x 17" wide so you will cut the piece 23"x18". Depending how many pleats you sew in will affect the width so make your 4 panels, top and bottom where you sit a little wider. Do these 4 pieces first and then you can adjust the center width so you come up with total width which is 58" on 1978 seat, 81 seats are a little different. Now cut your sew foam to fit inside these 4 panels but don,t cover your 1/2" sewing allowance as is harder to sew when you start sewing the side panels plus if you draw your 1/2" allowance on your material you can see it when your sewing, we are not pro,s now glue your sew foam in place but make sure your not gluing the backing of the sew foam to the material, you want the foam part glued to the material, hope you understand. Let it dry over night with some weight pressed on it just incase. Don,t want any glue residue clogging you needle. After it dry's you can sew your pleats and the rest of the panels together. Next we have to make the side panels.

You need to save the front wrap around panel as it has a funny curve to it and make a template, mind was in 2 pieces. Save the back as well for template, is one big piece. Once you have seat covers all done and test fit to see how wide to make you seat pulls which are canvas strips with cord sew in so the hog rings can attach to seat frame and make a nice tight fit. You can make them long and cut the ends off later. After your happy you can glue in foam on the center panels and end caps and do you final install. Now just stretch and hog ring into place. Make sure the top and the bottom seat pleats line up, I didn,t and they don,t line up straight when seat is put together. Hope I didn,t forget anything. Hope this helps you Gregski and others

[blazer2007]

More pics. sorry for some of the quality and I don,t know how to insert the pics in my paragraph's. This was a little work, I now appreciate some peoples long threads or posts. When you get your machine learn how to set your tensions on your bobbin and upper thread and practice on some scraps. Set the stich length to a long setting, too close and the material will rip. Lot,s of u tube stuff on setting up your tensions and don,t forget to get good strong thread . This is a good video on doing a seat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CamnznmHZDA