Bumping this; has anyone done their own upholstery and can share their experiences?
Any pics taken during the process? Do’s and dont’s? Advice?
I don't know if this helps or not, but I'm 2 seats cushions into doing the upholstery in our boat. I will eventually, try my hand into doing something for my 40 too. I've done quite a bit of research into machines, types of stitching, material,patterning and such. There are a lot of good instructional videos out there on the web on the basics of upholstery sewing. To start, search for videos by Sailrite, a guy named Cechaflo, who is really good, and there's a short article in the Jalopy Journal on tuck and roll along with the one from Cechaflo too. I also found good info from searching threads in the restoration section on Iboats.
The 1st thing to consider is the sewing machine. Most home machines can't handle sewing multiple layers of vinyl. They are usually made for lighter material. Most have plastic gears or the belts slip or the motor may not be able to have consistent material feed or stitching heavier material. Most home machines cannot handle the proper size thread or the larger needles required to do the job properly. There is an old Singer machine 15-91, which you can probably get by with, but the thread size will be on the small side. It has a direct drive motor and can be found for $50 to $125. The machine you want, should have a walking foot and have reverse. It will need to be able to handle a minimum thread size of V69 or V92 and #18 or larger needles. Not all industrial machine can do this. Threads should be UV resistant and polyester. I picked up an old Consew 26-188 for $300 and then I upgraded the motor to a servo motor so I could control the speed better. You'll find there are a couple of manufactures who make the same or similar machine, and a lot of parts are interchangeable. I did a lot of practice making cornhole bags and some other small projects along with repetitively stitching straight and curve french seams because this is the type of seams we wanted on the boat cushions. As Cleg mentioned you put plastic between the foam and vinyl, it does 2 things, helps slip the cover on and protects the foam from moisture, because you are poking holes in the vinyl. I've been using dry cleaner bags, and tacking it down with contact cement. Vinyl can be picked up on ebay, Jo Ann or Hancock fabrics or really anywhere. I found foam locally. If your old foam is ruff you may want to get some thin foam, so the imperfections of the old foam doesn't effect how the vinyl lays down. Once you get used to the machine and how it works, it is not difficult to sew. To start a seam You go forward a couple of stitches, then reverse over those stitches, then go forward, this creates a knot, I then sometimes repeat it again. At the end of the seam you do the same thing. Hope this helps.
