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I have tried to find someplace where I could ask some questions about a job I am working on for my hay man. The only reason why I did not come here first was that primarily this is for leather and not vinyl........anyway, I was given the left hand door for a metal tubed cab frame and half the vinyl was on the rest had rotted or cracked. I managed to make a pattern and got some heavy marine vinyl and clear vinyl for 2 windows for the door. I've got all the pieces cut out and now I cannot seem to figure out if I should sew the outer perimeter first and then put in the vinyl (all inside seams were french seams), outside were fold over. OR, add the clear to the center strip and then stitch the pieces together. There are 7 pieces of the outside vinyl and two pieces for the windows. So far all I've managed to finish was stitching a lining under the center for the handle. I'm using my Brother walking foot to get the pieces together and then am taking it down to a friend that has a post machine to attach it to the frame. ANY comments or help would be great. Not sure if I ever want to make any more doors :).

Tried multiple searches but couldn't find anything. If y'all find conversations, please tag so we're not rehashing the same question. Thanks!! So, we're working with a local designer who creates his own shirts, jackets and canvas totes. They heat press vinyl lettering and custom designs in-house (literally their kitchen) and are interested in a collab where they heat press some vinyl designs/letters onto a few different leather pieces we're designing. My question is, has anyone tried heat pressing vinyl onto leather, and if so, how did it turn out? I'm familiar with foil printing, but our designs won't allow for this process. It's a mixed medium design involving vinyl print, acrylic paint and spray paint. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it's happening. I did test press some vinyl letters onto our veg leather today and feel it will not hold up with a bit of use, but we'll see. Any advice, experiences, etc. are appreciated!!

Hello all! I'd like to introduce myself. I'm extremely new to leather work and vinyl work. I work with the USAF as an Avionics Technician on the B-1, F-16, B-2 and various other aircraft. I have a healthy background in electrical and computer engineering and maintenance. Currently I live in Japan, and I was lucky enough to come across a very rare care in the United States; an R32 gtr. So far, the car seems to be in good condition, even the interior is very nice for 25 year old car. It does have some cosmetic problems, and of course I want to do a custom interior retrim. I'm completely capable of trial and error, and taking my time with especially large projects such as an interior retrim. So I've been doing as much research as I can, and I decided to make an account here to get a first hand opinion from you guys. Currently, I've researched about the most prominent walking foot sewing machines, since I'll mostly be sewing vinyl. I've heard of the headaches that are solved by using a walking foot. I looked for pricing on the singer 111 series, and noticed that most of the pricing with motors and table almost always equal the price of a brand new Sailrite LS-1 basic. I've seen a few singer 95-15 around sewing leather, but how well does it honestly work with folded layers of vinyl and foam? I feel that it's a bit incredible that most of these older sewing machines, or general "used" new sewing machines are over 800 dollars. I feel that 600 USD for a brand new LS-1 is acceptable, but I was wondering what other machines I could use with heavy automotive / marine vinyl. Specifically, some allsport 4 way and some thick carpeting / foam padding. What other machines can you think of that don't break the bank? I'd say the main reason i'm looking for a ~600 maximum is because I would pay for someone to take the time and ship it to me (ie: paying extra for your efforts, plus the shipping cost). Of course, if push comes to shove, if anyone is in Florida, I can get one of my buddies to pick it up and ship it to me. What are y'alls opinion on my machine choices?

Graphixon Finishes, a Fort Lauderdale, FL based R&D company has been awarded US Patent#: 9505199 for a process that enables transfer of high resolution, full color graphics to all leather, canvas, vinyl and polyester materials without the need to print directly onto the material. The transferred graphic forms a durable bond with the substrate and it protected against normal wear and tear, liquid and soil damage and fading. It is a fully transferable technology, wherein the process is conducted at the user's site and fully under the user's control. All materials involved are eco-bio friendly and derived from water based formulations that have no odor, fumes or hazardous ingredients. Please visit our website www.graphixon.com for more information and a brief video on the process. Call us for more information, samples and pricing for the transfer materials. GraphixonFnishes-LRz.pdf

Hello all, I have recently been working on a pair of shoes for a vegetarian friend of mine and have run into a wall when it comes to attaching the soles. I am having trouble coming up with a suitable alternative to leather for making an insole to outsole that can be welted by means of a feather. Any suggestions? Is there a way around this that anyone may have experience with such as forgoing the welt entirely and cementing the outsole directly? Is there something that may work in a similar fashion to a cut feather for sewing the welt? Thanks in advance Kenneth

Hey, I've got some flat-back type leather seats in a vehicle -- I'm wanting to put a logo on the backrest or the headrest, and am thinking of having the logo cut out of plyable vinyl with 3M adhesive on the back. Do you think the vinyl would stick well to the seat back? The headrest is far enough back that it really never has anything on it, so I don't think that movement would interfer with the logo, however the backrest would look better, but does have movement. Thanks!

I was reading about a company called Laying J Leather that is putting camo vinyl wraps on their raw leather and then stitching the piece together. The vinyl is coming from Camo4u ( http://www.camo4u.com) and the finished pieces that he is selling look really nice. So far they have done knife sheaths, belts, purses, etc... in Realtree and Mossy Oak camo... Anyone try this method? Curious how well it holds up. Looks really nice.....