cupra20v.t - mk3 leather retrim

[jv]

here you go

[cupra20v.t]

Thanks to Jv for creating this post for me.

after looking at last months performance vw mag i thought to myself "i'm going to have a go at retrimming my seats".

I allways remeber the recaors i had in my escort rstand they were great for strength, hugyness etc, along with being easily available for next to nothing.

So I found 2 RST recaors on ebay for £50, I prefer these to normal vw recaros as the ford ones have a moveable bolster at the bottom of the seat base so it comes in handy supporting the hamstrings when in traffic jams. .

I got them home and dismatled the back rest from the seat base then got to work on removing the fabric from the foam. i removed the fabric from one seat and kept it intact so I could follow the stich layout further down the line, on the other seat I removed the fabric and cut all the the stitching apart so i had templates to copy.

separating the the upright from the seat base


fabric removed from seats


the seat covers removed from the seat



I borrowed a sewing machine from a nice lady in work


Lreather needles were required so I purchased some needles from a local sewing shop

Then came the question of what cotton I use to stitch it, I popped to a near by leather retrimmer who used nylon cotton which was a really strong cotton on a bobbin/reel of about 500m.  I looked everywhere for this cotton but could not find it, I then went back to the local sewing shop and bought some extra strength guttienger 3 filament cotton for stitching denim and leather. The only problem is it's sold on 100m reels for £3 a pop and one real will cover about a 2 metres of my sewing as im not the best and get a lot of waste due to the machine gathering cotton in the internals etc. 

The colour scheme I am going for is black leather with cream inserts, the black leather will have a grey outer stich following the joins of the 2 pieces of black leather. I looked on ebay and found a guy who sold leather hides, he did me a deal on the the hides so i had 2 full black leather hides for £110 and one full cream hide for £95. A full hide measures roughly 9ft by 7-8 ft but the edges aren't cut straight they are wavey

Once the leather arrived I decided to start with the cream leather so I began to trace the templates for the back rest inserts, I modelled the pieces together then stapled them to one another so I had a mock up of what the insert cover should look like.  I then drew a line where I needed to stich, which was roughly 1 cm from the edge all the way around the leather. ( this is all done with the leather inside out so no stiching or pen lines are visible.)  I tried to follow this line as best I could. once I had finished sewing I placed the cover over the foam to check it fitted ok, once I was happy with the fit and stiching I used adhesive spray and lightly tacked the leather to the foam.

After about a week of trial and error, very mind numing and at the time unsolveable impossible faults with the machine and about 4 packs of 5 needles and 2 reels of cream cotton i finished the 2 back rests and placed the recaro badge on them.




I was well happy with the end result I have never used a sewing machine beofre, I had a quick tutorial in the office from the lady who lent it to me and any problem I encountered I had to resort to reading the user manual ''troublershooter'' and from the age of the machine and the look of it the instructions aren't the most descriptive. most nights the misses moans as I always find something to do to avoid doing the washing up

here is the seat base cover laid on top of the foam as you can see the edges are hanging out so these were pulled taught and tacked to the foam so the leather has minimal creases etc.pics of finished base to follow

[Iimghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v285/shayneperry/seats/DSCF0203.jpg[/img]



seat base to go here once done and then the yellow foam will be covered in black leather


If anyone knows someone a mum/dad/sister/brother/grandmother/grandfather/aunty/uncle, in laws etc who can supply me with or can let me know where i can purchase a bobbin, reel of strong nylon or waxed cotton suitable for sewing leather about 500-1000m worth on a real in black, please pm me.
anyone wanting to get some info or has info for me feel free to pm me.

[cupra20v.t]

progress from last night 13/6/06

cut all the shapes for the other seat base and stitched the seat base together, tonight i will be stitching the bolster together and attaching it to the seat base and making sure the leather fits snug as poss.  the only thing that takes me ages it that the hidden bits of leather that go under the seat have a black strip that is sewn to the edges, its like a tongue and grove like fitting which push fits into channels under the seat.  this strip is quite thick plastic and using the machine electrically keeps snapping needles like fun so i have to stitch it by turning the machine by hand and lining the needle with the existing holes so it takes about half an hour to sew a 30cm length

here are the shapes cut out ready for stapling together, fingers crossed i should be starting on the black leather tonight.

[cupra20v.t]

haven't posted for a while, but made quite a bit of progress, was suppossed to get a replacement interior whilst at gti international but probems prevented the seller from turning up with the goods.  anyway had a few days off work and cracked on with sewing. im happy with the end product but the only thing that bothers me is that the joins between the leather are crinckled and i cant get it to sit smooth over the foam. the pictures i have show the black leather to be a bit ruffled but they were taken before i had clipped everything together and it was all pulled taught.

only on more front seat to go now and then the back bench which should be easy.  i have allready got the cream of the 2nd front seat done so next week i should have all the black parts done and then i got to weld the subframes on

[cupra20v.t]

i havent posted for a while as i have a hundred an one things going on with this car when will i stop i never know.

anyhow i have now completed both front seats and they look pretty good for a homemade diy effort.

I have also started on the back seats and with my leathering skills coming on in leaps and bounds I had the lower part of the bench done in 2 days.  I will be doing the upper half of the back seats on the weekend and the next week as i have some time off work.  not too sure on how to get the seats out yet but shouldnt be too hard.

[cupra20v.t]

got the last of the rear bench out of the car and cut the cloth from the foam, copied the shapes and stiched together. ive only done the smaller half of the folding rear bench as ive run out of thread and the shop i get the normal stuff from has stopped selling the one i need to so i tried this extra strong thread but its too thick and doesnt like passing through the machine so ihave to find some tidy stuff from somehwere so i can crack on and get the retrim completed. 

if anyone has a custom trim can they pm me with how the door cards were trimmed as mk3 door cards are sealed and one piece so i dont know how to go about trimming mine,  i saw a mk3  custom door card and the retrimmers had used some sort of beading for the top and bottom edges but need more info on this so i need to speak with some retrimmers for tips on dealing with sealed door cards.  will get a picture of the back bench covered soon. but now some "in progress" shots

[cupra20v.t]

ive been working flat out since i got home tonight sewing the last half of the split rear bench and.....

I HAVE NOW FINALLY FINISHED RETRIMMING THE SEATS IN LEATHER..  WWWWWWOOOOOHHHOOOOOOO


My other half found me some suitable thread to use for the sewing as the last roll i bought was too thick for the machine and i soldiered on tonight to get it done.

i'm waiting for the last 2 of my four recaro headrests to come back from the trimmers, these 2 will be fitted to the rear seats, so by the time i get them back i should have the door cards finshed somehow!!!!!

got "a touch of class" to do the door cards.

[cupra20v.t]

right got the whole of the interior installed my mk3 subframes have been cut and welded to the recaro subframes and they fit perfect.

I have retrimmed my roof lining and all pillars in alcantra/ seudette material aswell to darken the inside and make it feel unique ish.

[ben1.8T]

You done a good job on the seats mate. I have always like the Ford Recaros. Looks