Making your Own Custom Seats!

[Blitzeclips]

Nice work Jeff! Thats awesome! You got rid of the 420a?!?

I am going to attempt this myself once I complete my fiberglass dash, etc.... One question I have on my mind is very important and I'm sure everyone else has this same question...

*** How much material did you use??? *** This way, we can all gauge the costs based on the actual amount of material, rather then guess as most costs vary based on the fabric chosen. Do you recall how much of the fabric you used? Feet, yards, etc..??

 

[Jeff99GS]

Thanks!

Yeah I got an offer I couldn't refuse on the GS so I sold it, and found a TSi AWD for $4500 and I'm fixing it up!

I didnt use much material for the seats so far....Our roll of vinyl is 4 feet wide.... I would say I used 3 feet off the black roll and 2 feet off the gray roll.

 

[Jeff99GS]

Here is some pictures of the back seat all done...I even put heated seats in the rear too!!! Its cold here in Ohio

Sorry the pictures suck so bad....its my crap camera phone

 

[daygloworange]

I'm really thrilled with the great job you've done! Wow. I did read earlier in the topic about how you wanted to embroider the Eagle logo on the seats but didn't have it. I know that most embroidery setups that do logos need an .eps file, which is a vector-based (math based) file. I found the Eagle logo for you at Best Brands of the World - vector logos, brand, logo, logotype, photos.
Typle in Eagle in the search field, find the logo, download the .eps file and plug it into the embroidery software for the machine and it should be ready to go.

Nice work once again!

 

[Jeff99GS]

I'm really thrilled with the great job you've done! Wow. I did read earlier in the topic about how you wanted to embroider the Eagle logo on the seats but didn't have it. I know that most embroidery setups that do logos need an .eps file, which is a vector-based (math based) file. I found the Eagle logo for you at Best Brands of the World - vector logos, brand, logo, logotype, photos.
Typle in Eagle in the search field, find the logo, download the .eps file and plug it into the embroidery software for the machine and it should be ready to go.

Nice work once again!

Thanks Man that will help out a lot!

Im not sure if I want to do the Logo or just leave it plain?? Opinions are welcome.

What do you guys think? Should I put the Eagle Logo On the front headrersts or not?

 

[jemsoccer]

I did a rear sear in a buddies cavalier, it didn't look too bad when I was done, but I used some ugly ass material (blue flames material). Did you use a heavy duty sewing machine for this? Would a normal sewing machine be able to handle vinyl?

 

[Jeff99GS]

Yeah I used an industrial Sewing Machine at work, But I think a regular one would sew vinyl fine...you might just have to adjust the tension on the machine. Also you have to use a nylon thread so it will hold up to the abuse of people sitting on it...our machine at work is NO diffrent than a regular sewing machine...its just made out of metal and made for everyday use (commercial grade)

 

[KingSwift82]

Damn.

I wish I could do that. Looks f!ckin' sick man.

 

[Jeff99GS]

Thanks Man.

I actually thought everybody would hate them cause they are not STOCK.
But So Far the response seems great!

Its a real Time Consuming process...You need a lot of beer or other substances to get you through it with out getting Pissed and punching the sewing machine . I wanted to go nuts when the damn thread would tangle up in the machine and You have to un tangle it for 10 minutes

Next Im re-doing my shift boot to match! Gray and black!

 

[KingSwift82]

Sweet.

Be sure to keep us posted with the shift boot. Hey, so what if it's not stock, I'm up for anything that gives it a little more kick but not too much,. If these came stock, I'm willing to bet that everyone would be all over it. As long as it looks clean and it looked like it came factory that way, I'm all for it.

 

[mavisky]

No re-contouring of the foam for a more agressive fit?

 

[Jeff99GS]

No re-contouring of the foam for a more agressive fit?

No I didn't re-contour the seat foam. I have the foam and stuff to do that but I like the look of the stock seats. Plus its way easier to copy the OEM pattern than to make my own pattern.

To re-contour the seats we actually carve the foam with a Turkey knife hahaha. You know those electric knives that you use to cut the turkey at thaksgiving ...It works GREAT on foam too!!!! We have to re-foam Mustangs a lot cause ford uses CRAP foam and it literally falls apart

 

[EDM95]

Here is some pictures with the seats back in the car.... I still have to do the Backseats and headrests.

That looks clean man. Those seats would look good in my car with my black/gray interior.

 

[jemsoccer]

Well, I am looking to do exactly as you have done, but want to change the colors up. I was originally thinking a blue suede in the center and a white leather/vinyl for the sides. But now I'm set on painting the car a dark midnight blue and having the hood, roof, hatch, spoiler and mirrors black. So now that might change to a black and blue suede instead! Will def. be doing this as soon as I can get the cash together to do so.

 

[madman]

The rear seat are A+++. Props on the heated seat option also.

Sorry about the "selling them" comment earlier. Didn't mean to get anyone in trouble. I only said that because I thought the qauality looked as good as anything else I've seen and I think it would be hard for someone to tell those weren't stock seat, if they didn't know what it looked like before.

Again, awesome job!

 

[noonan98turbo]

Those look awesome. Great work by the way. Im a big fan of them.

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

Great job on your seat's, looks as good as the recovers i have seen on Unique Whip's. My driver's seat could use some of your magic

 

[Steelnation36]

hey any other advice on the sewing of it? Id like to give this s try but to be honest i havnt used a sewing machine in years and years since like highschool or before. I figure i could get my mom to do it haha. I just wanted to know some more details on how you did the sewing or just any other advice you might be able to give.

Also did you mess up and have to throw out material at any point how was the fit, etc. I love the look and cant wait to try it but dont want to rush into it and screw it up. I figure ill do the backseats first since they are just storage space anyways .

 

[spyder97gs]

Awesome work bro. Makes the interior look 10x better with a much more updated look.

 

[Jeff99GS]

hey any other advice on the sewing of it? Id like to give this s try but to be honest i havnt used a sewing machine in years and years since like highschool or before. I figure i could get my mom to do it haha. I just wanted to know some more details on how you did the sewing or just any other advice you might be able to give.

Also did you mess up and have to throw out material at any point how was the fit, etc. I love the look and cant wait to try it but dont want to rush into it and screw it up. I figure ill do the backseats first since they are just storage space anyways .

Well sewing isn't too hard...maybe you should just sew on some practice vinyl first till you get the hang of it.

Basically you have two seams. and they normally DO NOT line up...you have to line them up as you stitch. so I am continuosly starting and stopping while im sewing so I can pull the two halfs together.

You always sew the material In side Out so the leather/vinyl pieces are facing each other while you sew....then at the end you fold it right side out!

The Factory seat has a few decorative top stitchs but I eliminated the decorative seams. Which I think gave it a more smooth look and its easier to sew without the top stitches.

The fit was pretty good...but that is all about how well you cut the pattern. If you cut the pattern exactly like the old OEM seats then the new ones with fit the same!

Awesome work bro. Makes the interior look 10x better with a much more updated look.

Thanks man

 

[sniperelite]

looks great....it would be nice if you can do another one or something like that and take pictures while your doing it so we can see exactly what you do because I am sure a lot of people will want to do this but don't have much knowledge about sewing

 

[Jeff99GS]

looks great....it would be nice if you can do another one or something like that and take pictures while your doing it so we can see exactly what you do because I am sure a lot of people will want to do this but don't have much knowledge about sewing

Yeah I know...I wanted to Video Tape it But its just so hard to do all that while Im trying to work on the seats...It would just take twice as long. Maybe next time I'll have a friend film it for me.

In the mean time here is a video of me Two toning my friends Lexus...check it out. Sorry it doesn't show much of how I did the install or sewing, but its all I got.



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[Jeff99GS]

Sweet.

Be sure to keep us posted with the shift boot. Hey, so what if it's not stock, I'm up for anything that gives it a little more kick but not too much,. If these came stock, I'm willing to bet that everyone would be all over it. As long as it looks clean and it looked like it came factory that way, I'm all for it.

Here is the shift boot. I used Black perforated Leather with the same gray that is in the seats. I might just make a new one in solid black, cause I'm not sure if I reallly like the two tone on the boot or not.

 

[Steelnation36]

did u just use vinyl or what specific kind of material?

 

[Jeff99GS]

The black part is Leather and the gray part is vinyl. The Factory Boot is 100% vinyl. I was surprised cause I thought it was real lether but its NOT.

The whole Factory backseat was vinyl too. Just the fronts are real leather