Date: 11/16/09 1:56 PM

If you're familiar with old "Kustom" amps and cabinets, you know what I'm talking about. They don't make them anymore -- and when you find a vintage one, they're usually beat up, torn up, cigarette burned, or incredibly expensive if in good shape.

So -- am thinking of covering my own. Am not worried about the speaker cab part, just covering it. Have found some good "roll 'n tuck" tutorials on car upholstery sites and have found good sources of glitter vinyl. The sewing will be done from the rear of the vinyl (will make parallel rows of what will look like the back of "French Seams" from the back. When seen from the front, this should duplicate the tuck 'n roll with no seams or sewing visible.)

The vinyl will be sewn to a fabric backing when sewing the "French Seams" -- end result will be a string of parallel channels that I'll stuff with foam.

So ... what am I missing? There's got to be some significant "gotchas" that I've overlooked!

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Joey
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30% sewing ...
70% damage control

http://www.using-sewing-machines.com

Reply to Joey in Katy
Date: 11/16/09 2:07 PM

If you haven't already, I'd suggest investing in a roller foot. This makes slippery fabric behave while sewing. It's used mostly for leather.

Also, I'd use a microtex needle. These needles are used on waterproof fabrics, and vinyl is that.

P.S. Yes, I remember those amps. I used to use burned out ones for end tables...

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"Having to squeeze the last drop of utility out of the land has the same desperate finality as having to chop up the furniture to keep warm" -- Aldo Leopold
http://tree-sister.blogspot.com
"Don't cry; don't be sad; make happy"--Peggy Jones. Rest your weary body, dear friend.

Date: 11/16/09 2:40 PM

I remember seeing a TV show (or maybe an online video?) of car restorers doing tuck and roll upholstery in leather. I've been searching for an online video, but no luck yet.

What I do recall is that the "stuffing" and stitching was all done at the same time; that is, the stuffing was not added later. They started with backing and the foam that would "puff" up the rolls. Then they cut channels (long V cuts) in the foam and applied glue/cement in the channels. The artist (the guy was definitely an artist) sewed the leather down in the first channel, then stretched and pulled the leather to the next channel and used some kind of tool to press it into the glue/contact cement, then sewed that channel down, and moved across the whole piece like that. The piece of leather had to be longer that the backing piece to account for the ups and downs and ins and outs of the rolls. The V cuts in the foam, and stretching the leather made the stitching mostly disappear between each channel.

I realize that you aren't using leather, with its stretching capabilities, nor is this going to be upholstery that anyone is going to sit on, but if the stuffing for the channels is going to be very full or tight, it might be easier to cut strips of batting/foam/whatever and lay each strip down, then pull the the vinyl over the batting strip and snug up the stitching with a zipper foot, working across the piece channel by channel.

On the other hand, if your goal is not super tight stuffing (this is more decorative than functional, right?), then pulling the stuffing through the channels afterward will probably work just fine. You might want to do a test run on one channel.

I'm hardly an expert on this technique, but I was thinking that it would be very frustrating to have sewn all the channels and discover only then that stuffing them afterward is a PITA.

CMC

Date: 11/16/09 4:34 PM

I found some pictorial show-and-tells -- one neat one stuffed the channels by sticking the foam in between a "sandwich" of two wooden yardsticks! He'd shove the yardsticks with the foam "filling" through the channel, then hold on the foam while sliding the yardsticks out!

------
Joey
-------------
30% sewing ...
70% damage control

http://www.using-sewing-machines.com

Reply to Joey in Katy
Date: 11/16/09 5:26 PM

A bit more web searching reveals a number of tutorials. Is this the Stuffing with Yard Stick tutorial you mentioned? Very clever! This basic technique looks like your best bet to me, too. With proper needle, thread and prep, this could be done on a home machine.

This one is a Channel Quilting Through the Foam technique. From the look of the photos, the foam does not seem to be especially dense or stiff, but that's still quite a bit of "stuff" (fabric, foam, and vinyl) to sew through in one pass; probably requires an industrial machine.

I'm certain the leather Tuck and Roll demo I watched was part of one of those many "restoring a car" TV shows. Obviously, it made quite an impression on me. White leather -- did I mention it was white leather?

CMC