How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

[Last Mohican]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

Again great work. Between your work and my buddies build over on TexasHotBoats I kinda wish I had borrowed Chad's Juki and built my own seats for the Ambassador. Oh well. Hind sight is 20/20

 

[Blue2Green]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

Awesome thread, great job on the seats.

 

[RockyCapone]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

Thanks for the info. Because of your thread it has brought my wife, step son, and myself closer together and given us the courage to buy a "beater" 1989 19' Bayliner outboard Saturday with a trashed Arizona interior, we removed 50% of the interior already.
Im totally out of my element at Joan Fabrics, wife thinks its cute, haha. Now I have to "man up" and go buy a sewing machine.

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

well...if your family is like mine...you might pick up the nickname 'sew manley'

 

[bshattuck87]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

Thanks for this awesome 'thread'! ha

I can't wait until I finish the floor in my boat so I can start working on the seating arrangements. I now feel (almost) confident enough to attempt my seats. I'll just have to do a little bit more research before I feel like attempting this! Thanks for taking the time to do so!

Brenton

 

[6meter]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

well...if your family is like mine...you might pick up the nickname 'sew manley'

People around me have tried to "womenize me" with my sewing. Yeah, I did rebuild the motor and final drives in my dozer, then I to went to Joann Fabrics for some foam and vinyl and made a new seat for it. The piping I had. Looks great! They all thought so too. Didn't get any more attitude from the crowd.

 

[Bige1511]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

Great job can't wait to see the video

 

[dccordell]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

mrdj, quick question on the thread... I'm looking at ebay for "marine thread" and there are dozens of listings which say Dabond Polyester v92 and v69 4oz. Is this what I'm looking for? Any ideas what the v92 and v69 are, perhaps the durability or thickness of the thread? Also, it looks like the thread comes in very large rolls. Was yours on a large roll or the normal small sized roll? I don't know if my machine can hold the large roll.. hmm, any thoughts?

Great job on the videos.. I've watched all 16 more than once to get it all figured out. Thanks for that!

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

they are both polyester bonded thread, UV resistant....the numbers represent size/strength of the thread....v92 is good for up to 10oz fabric....v69 is good for up to 6oz fabric.
the 4oz reference is how much is on the spool....4oz of v-69 is about 1400 yards...v-92 is about 1000 yards...

these usually can be found on 1oz spools or 4 oz spools

my machine couldn't use these spools, so i wound the thread on regular size spools that fit my machine....before i decided to do that, i just stood the spool up next to my machine and fed the thread from there

 

[dccordell]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

my machine couldn't use these spools, so i wound the thread on regular size spools that fit my machine....before i decided to do that, i just stood the spool up next to my machine and fed the thread from there

Yeah I don't know why I didn't think of that... very new to the whole "sewing machine" world, I guess common sense still applies. After I posted on here, I found an upholstery site... they said they use those stands made for the big spools that just sit right behind or beside the spindle on the machine for feeding the large spools. Many said they just use a big coffee cup to set the spool in and let it spool out like that. Nifty idea I guess...

thanks! All materials are on the way so gonna give this a shot next week or the following..

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

I got a dowel that fit the big spool of thread and then drilled a hole in it that fit the shaft on my machine... worked like a charm.

 

[32_d3gr33s]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

im looking at making some of my own seats, but have a couple questions...

where did you get the fabric from? sorry if i missed it.

you say the #92 thread is good for up to 10 oz fabric, but the marine vinyl that i find is 32oz (see here http://www.fabric.com/CategoryDetail.aspx?CategoryID=5a22e5a4-d6eb-430e-a5c5-4beee4582e7e) is that the wrong fabric, or is there a different thread i could use?


1 other question. care to say how much $$$ you have into these seats overall? for the couple lounge style seat im looking at making, im at about $300 for all the supplies, NOT including the sewing machine...
thanks

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

i've always been told that the rule of thumb on thread weight vs. fabric weight is 4:1....so, 10 oz thread should work on 40oz fabric....you just use more, smaller, stitching on the heavier fabric.

i got the foam from ebay....i think the guys store was called "thefoamguys"....
making 1 or 2 seats may no be that cost effective to do yourself, depending on what people charge in your area....but i had/have about a total of 18 cushions to make....so i baought larger quantities of material and was able to save alot of money.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

I did some fishing seats because of what I saw mrd do here on his sight, and I plan on building the bench seats in my boat from scratch. I am getting my foam from a Sleeper Sofa I purchased off of Craigslist for $50 bucks. The mattress was extra firm and is working great. I got my 32oz vinyl from a Dealer on Ebay @ $11.95 a yrd. Bought my Sewing maching a year ago off CL for $35. With a little practice you can turn out some good looking seats.

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

post some pics of your seats on here!!!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

Because you were my inspiration...and you Asked for em.. Here's the before and after

pics of my fishing seats.


Before...

After...

http://forums.iboats.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82292&d=1297019715


I still need to put the Hide-Em Gimp on the edges to hide the staples
Thanks for the Tutorials and the Inspiration.

 

[dccordell]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

Quick question on cutting the foam... should I cut the foam the exact size of the base that I already have cut out, or oversize the foam just a little over each edge?

Btw, I got a black & decker electric knife from wally world for $10 and it cuts that foam like butter! I was really surprised... piece of cake!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

I found out with mine that a 1/2 inch overlap was IDEAL.

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

like wood said...having the foam 1/2" larger really makes them look great...if you have a wood base, the extra foam will help keep the vinyl from rubbing against the wood edges, if you wrap the vinyl around the wood

 

[Darren Nemeth]

Re: How I made my boat seats.....(guide)

Maybe I overlooked something but there is a mention of a series of How-To-Videos on marine upholstery. Can someone post the link for me? I cant find it in this thread.