Help and advice for a novice planning to recover seating!

[Keyair]

I am a novice, and have a big project ahead, so asking for help with planning, estimating, design, and execution!

Here is my project... It is a 1984 Airstream Motorhome, that I am restoring.

My master plan is to remodel the interior and retrim the seating.

This is how it currently looks inside:

I am replacing the squishy Pilot and Co-pilot seats with these from a Range Rover, and plan to strip off the covers and retrim..

So, I need help and advice!

Have a Consew 206RB machine, and most of the stuff I think I will need, like pneumatic stapler, hog ring pliers, etc.

I picked up some "furniture grade" leather... 5 full hides of "Black Oak" color(total approx 280sqft), and one Pecan color(59sqft) which I think contrasts nicely.

[Keyair]

So, I am currently playing with designs.... but I need to know if I have enough material...

I have 2 cockpit seats, 1 sofa, and one double sided dinette to trim. I may add another dinette/sofa later.

How do I calculate my needs?

Lets start with the sofa..

The Sofa seat base is approximately: 74"w x 26"d x 4", and split visually into 3 seat surfaces, so I may keep that cue.

The Sofa backrest is approximately: 74w x 16" x 4" and as above, visually split into 3 surfaces. The 4" is the foam thickness. 

The backrest is unusual, and pulls forward, rotating 180deg and comes to rest next to the seat base to convert into a bed, so any design might need to visually follow through.

I think the cushions are fixed to the frame, but have not investigated yet...

 

In my minds eye, I am thinking about these options...

Double contrasting stitch...

Oak/Pecan combo...

Anyone?

Edited December 26, 2016 by Keyair
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[zuludog]

The Range Rover seats don't look too bad. I've searched YouTube for 'repairing leather car seats';' how to restore leather car seats'; how to repair a leather tear in a car seat'; and there are lots of references

Besides the actual repairs there would also be general leather clean & restoration, there are lots of kits available.  Watch a few videos and see what you think

IMO the oak/pecan is too garish

[Keyair]

Thanks for the input Zulu.

Yes, I have read and watched a lot to grasp the concepts involved.

The RR seats might be the first step.

The leather is in OK shape, and I did think about recoloring them as an option.

A retrim sounds ok too, as it seems to be just a matter of removing, and cutting apart the original covers along the seams, and using them as patterns.

I dont disagree with you on the Pecan combo... I want classy, not garish!

Thought about a diamond quilted stitch for the center panels too, as I may well have some quilted aluminum in the kitchen area, but worry about it being too much...

[zuludog]

The Range Rover was, and still is, a top class vehicle, with trim & fittings accordingly - not to mention the price! Alright, perhaps I'm a bit biased, but when restored those seats would show classic British understated quality. So you can probably guess my opinion, which is to restore them to their original standard . This would obviously require some careful, patient work, but probably not as much as re - covering them completely. I think it would be extremely difficult to recolour black leather

How old are the seats? If before 2002 they would have been covered with Connolly Leather; search for it on Google

Over time the foam interior of car seats deteriorates, so check that as well

There is an apocryphal tale of a millionaire Texan ranch owner who bought a Rolls Royce, but took it back after a couple if days as he was very annoyed to find that he'd spent a lot of money on a car, only to find that it was trimmed in PVC. The dealer had to explain that it was, in fact, leather; very good leather. It seems the ranch owner had never seen such perfectly smooth, blemish free leather before.

[Keyair]

Zulu,

FYI, I am a Brit... Oxford born, and British Leyland bred, but now live in Southern California! Sah!

The seats are from a 1998/99 P38 Range Rover 4.6 HSE... and I chose them specifically because we own and drive one every day, so I knew they are great seats for long drives and I have enough lumber and leg support for my 6' 4" frame.

Ours is Oxford blue, with a Creme interior.

I would have no problem leaving them as is, if the color were not black... there are also some deep cracks and a few parting/weak seems to... the California sun is not kind to leather. I don't think I have much choice but to recover them.

 

Edited December 26, 2016 by Keyair

[Tholek]

Quote

 

Lets start with the sofa..

The Sofa seat base is approximately: 74"w x 26"d x 4", and split visually into 3 seat surfaces, so I may keep that cue.

The Sofa backrest is approximately: 74w x 16" x 4" and as above, visually split into 3 surfaces. The 4" is the foam thickness. 

The backrest is unusual, and pulls forward, rotating 180deg and comes to rest next to the seat base to convert into a bed, so any design might need to visually follow through.

I think the cushions are fixed to the frame, but have not investigated yet...

 

Cool project! So thought I try my best to help you out here.

This guide gives a general idea of how much fabric is needed to recover a sofa or chair.

A small or medium sized high-back chair will, typically, require about 7 metres.

A single lounge chair - part of a suite for instance - will need about 9 metres.

A two seater sofa will usually need 14 metres.

A three seater will generally require 18 metres and a four seater 22 metres. 

The lengths suggested are based on average sized chairs and sofas and the use of plain fabric. If you are using a patterned fabric you will require about 10-20% more, depending on the pattern repeat. If you can determine where the joins are in the fabric based on your existing sofa, then add on the vertical pattern repeat for each join.

To get a more accurate figure measure each surface of the sofa which requires fabric and add these areas together, then add on 10-15% as a margin of error. It is best to begin with the outside back, then the inside back, then the outside of the arms, then the inside of the arms. Then add on the gussett and the area of each surface of every cushion. In short, simply split your sofa surface up into as many small rectangles as is necessary, calculate the area of each, add these up and then add on 15% more as a safety margin.

We sell fabric by the linear metre, and the width is generally around 140cm. To calculate how many linear metres of fabric you need, divide the area (in square metres) by 1.4

Hope this helps.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Tholek

[MADMAX22]

Some of the best instructional videos for upholstering. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw_8PUaXqvjSq3p1lYouXzQ

He doesnt talk but they are very good videos. 

Also hop on the hogring forums, they arent the most helpful, they are actually kind of a holes to do it yourselfers but alot of good info there. 

[Keyair]

Yes, Huge fan and avid watcher of his videos!

Very Inspirational!

[Keyair]

Ok, good advice so far.

Let me break this down, and see if I have it right...

1/ Sofa base cushion materials, assuming I do a simple box shape (I am going to assume the non visible frame side is open, or cloth closed, so will calculate that separately) : 

A/ Base seating surface is 74" long by 26" wide... split into 3 cushions, so each upper surface is approx 26" x 24" . adding 1" selvage to each edge, would be 28 x 26. I assume it would be good practice to cut these panels to from one section of hide, so... 84" x 26"... which is 7' x 2.16' = 15.12 sqft?

B/ Each of the cushions needs 4 sides, and foam depth is approx 4".  So, including selvage I need 2 off 6" x 28", and 2 off 6" x 26", which is 6" x 108" per cushion, X 3, so 18" x 108" or 1.5' x 9' =13.5 sqft?

Total leather needed for base cushion, is 15.2 sqft + 13.5 sqft = 28.7 sqft.

2/ Backrest of Sofa.

A/ Seating surface is  74" long x 16" tall. Again, split into 3 cushions is 24" x 16" each, or inc selvage, 3 off 26" x 18", or 1 off 78" x 18" or 6.5' x 1.5' or 9.75 sqft.

B/ Cushion sides: 2 off 24 x 4, and 2 off 16 x 4 each. So, inc selvage 80" x 18" for all 3, or 6.6' x 1.5' = 10 sqft.

Total leather needed for backrest is 9.75 + 10 = 19.75 sqft

Total leather needed for Sofa retrim is 28.7 sqft + 19.75 sqft = 48.2 sqft?

Now, assuming I make the whole sofa from the the Dark Brown leather hides, and each hide is a minimum 53 sqft, and I have 5x to hand.

I understand that I will NOT get the sofa from one hide, but if it was 1 1/2 , for the largest piece of furniture, am I in good shape?