Replacing Artificial Vinyl Leather With Genuine Leather On An Armrest

[DrmCa]

This hide was sitting at the store for a while and I was eyeing it for some furniture restoration, and then I bought a Honda Pilot LX with grey interior.

It is cheap, but practical, except for the armrest. My elbow was sticking to it in any weather above 70 degree no matter AC.

Today I got a deal on the hide and took it home.

The cover of the original armrest was attached with the 1/8" staples that I do not have, so I had to use contact cement.

Here in pictures is the process of gluing leather to the plastic frame and the final product.

If I did not know that I just made it, I would not believe it did not come from Honda - the color matched perfectly.

And the feeling is completely different - no more skin sticking to vinyl.

[DrmCa]

Drove to work and back today - what a difference! A warm, pleasant feeling of natural leather.

And the view inside the vehicle:

[shtoink]

Very clean work!

[DrmCa]

The balance of the hide goes towards re-doing my favourite chair.

I am not showing what it used to be, as that was simply embarrassing.

I start topstitching the armrests and realize that I stitched the allowance to the wrong side! The rightmost seam in the picture is wrong. Oh boy.

But the rest is Okay. Fit is not ideal, as I had to use the old fabric panels to make a pattern and of course they were stretched and skewed.

After the day of tracing, stitching and working the stapler, I am SOOOOOO tired!

The back will remain cloth as there is almost nothing left of the hide, and I still have to fix another much smaller chair and wrap the steering wheel in the car.

(What looks like a beige round spot on the front seat panel is actually reflection. When I saw it I almost had a heart attack, but it's does not exist on the leather, wiev!)

Edited August 31, 2015 by DrmCa