Stool Seat Cover Options?

[Wowndeye]

To start, I'm extremely new to leather work and the only project I have under my belt is a small knife sheath that despite a couple design flaws, turned out pretty good.

I'm trying to step it up a notch here and make a new cover for a rolling stool I have. It was originally covered in maybe a vinyl or pleather product that has started cracking around the perimeter and is looking like garbage.

So I took the opportunity and got a higher grade polyurethane foam for the cushion and got a piece of 4/5oz veg tanned leather that I wanted to use for the cover and sides. I've done a lot of searching for options but haven't found what I'm looking for which is making me wonder if it's really an option.

To my question... What I was hoping to do was cut out the circle for the top and then make two 4" strips that will be laced together to form the border that wraps around the circumference of the cushion which will be wrapped under the bottom and stapled.

My issue is with how to connect the top to the border. My thought was to cut the top just proud of the foam and then butt the border up from underneath and use some sort of lacing pattern to tie them together. All the stitches I've seen on YouTube and other pictures so far don't seem like they would fit the bill. I wanted something at least slightly decorative instead of sewing them together inside out and then inverting(?) them around the cushion to completely hide any stitching or lacing. Again, I couldn't find any examples of what I was imagining and was hoping I could get a little direction.

I hope that description is clear enough. Here's a link to the stool if that helps: https://www.perchchairsandstools.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=PLLF-P&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=PLLF-P&gclid=CLeB-OS3m9ICFZBafgod8uAI1w
 

Let me know if I can clarify anything and thanks in advance. If there are any other suggestions for a different approach, I am totally open to that!

[ChriJ]

If you don't get any responses try contacting immiketoo on this site. I'm pretty sure he makes stools and could give you some input.

Chris

[wlg190861]

I use chrome oil tan on mine here at home 2/3oz. You could lace like you stated but on that stool the lacing would not hold up to repeated use. What I would do is use a contrasting color for your 4" strips, Machine or hand sew. if you like fringe, sew 6" fringe around the base of the seat.

For the top of the stool cut a circle 15.5"s to allow for the 1/2" seam allowance

The dia of this seat is 13.5"s so multiply that by pie 3.14 an you come up with 42.39 this is how long your 4" strips would need to be if lacing, if sewing add 1"  for a 1/2" seam allowance.

[Wowndeye]

9 hours ago, ChriJ said:

If you don't get any responses try contacting immiketoo on this site. I'm pretty sure he makes stools and could give you some input.

Chris

Thanks Chris! If I'm not sure I like the options suggested, I'll do that.

 

4 hours ago, wlg190861 said:

I use chrome oil tan on mine here at home 2/3oz. You could lace like you stated but on that stool the lacing would not hold up to repeated use. What I would do is use a contrasting color for your 4" strips, Machine or hand sew. if you like fringe, sew 6" fringe around the base of the seat.

For the top of the stool cut a circle 15.5"s to allow for the 1/2" seam allowance

The dia of this seat is 13.5"s so multiply that by pie 3.14 an you come up with 42.39 this is how long your 4" strips would need to be if lacing, if sewing add 1"  for a 1/2" seam allowance.

Thanks Wig! I just looked up chrome oil tan because I hadn't heard of it. I always wondered what made the difference between veg-tanned leather and the softer ones out there. I had just figured it was some sort of conditioning.

I'm not a big fan of fringe and would like to keep the sides solid.

Thanks for the math tips on determining cut sizes. That's awesome! So the piece of foam I had made is 15" in diameter and 2.5" thick. Would I keep the 15.5" as you suggested, leaving .5" for sewing the seam? (I looked closer at the specs on the Perch link and I guess mine is just a little different from that one in dimensions.

[Wowndeye]

Also, would the veg-tanned leather be okay for the seat top? I had read that applying neatsfoot oil would help soften it a little.

Another desired outcome would be a finish on the leather that is a little "grippy". I am on the stool often and use my feet to move around a lot. Even though the carpet in my office is commercial, it has a felt pad underneath and the casters sometimes settle in place if I haven't moved in a minute or so. When I try using my legs to move myself around, because the casters are "embedded", it will make moving challenging at first and the current material allows me to start slipping off which I'm not real excited about!

So any additional suggestions for that?

[cjartist]

Veg tan would be fine.  If you seal it with resolene or super sheen it will give it some grip.

There is absolutely no reason you can't lace the edges.  Look at most of the motorcycle seats being made.  Use a sturdy lace like kangaroo or premium calf lace and do a round braid (mexican braid).

[wlg190861]

7 hours ago, Wowndeye said:

Thanks Chris! If I'm not sure I like the options suggested, I'll do that.

 

Thanks Wig! I just looked up chrome oil tan because I hadn't heard of it. I always wondered what made the difference between veg-tanned leather and the softer ones out there. I had just figured it was some sort of conditioning.

I'm not a big fan of fringe and would like to keep the sides solid.

Thanks for the math tips on determining cut sizes. That's awesome! So the piece of foam I had made is 15" in diameter and 2.5" thick. Would I keep the 15.5" as you suggested, leaving .5" for sewing the seam? (I looked closer at the specs on the Perch link and I guess mine is just a little different from that one in dimensions.

Your foam you want the same dia. as the top of the  seat.

[wlg190861]

7 hours ago, Wowndeye said:

Also, would the veg-tanned leather be okay for the seat top? I had read that applying neatsfoot oil would help soften it a little.

Another desired outcome would be a finish on the leather that is a little "grippy". I am on the stool often and use my feet to move around a lot. Even though the carpet in my office is commercial, it has a felt pad underneath and the casters sometimes settle in place if I haven't moved in a minute or so. When I try using my legs to move myself around, because the casters are "embedded", it will make mov, ing challenging at first and the current material allows me to start slipping off which I'm not real excited about!

So any additional suggestions for that?

Veg tan will work but as far as lacing, I don't like it on a stool the lacing will give out long befor the leather will but you can if thats what you like.

Edited February 19, 2017 by wlg190861

[Wowndeye]

Wow cjartist, that stool is perfect! A little more than what I'm looking to do, but the top and bottom connected by the lacing is exactly what I was envisioning. Thank you for the picture because I hadn't found anything like that!

Based on what I'm seeing from the stool there, it looks like the top was cut to the same dimension as the foam cushion and then the holes held back about a 1/4" inch from the edge of the leather? The foam looks a little compressed underneath which is fine with me. And then does the bottom piece just run underneath the top at a 90 degree angle?

Are those the same lacing patterns in both pictures? Round/Mexican?

Would punching round holes be the way to go or would using a stitching chisel? When I was first looking at getting started with this, the store I had visited didn't have any standard 5/32" lacing (the lace I had chosen) chisels except for a 3 prong Buckstitch one. I wasn't sure what I was buying and after looking at what is mostly done with the Buckstitch, I'm not really interested in it. I do have a hole puncher as well.

I looked up the Resolene and it sound like just what I need. I'm debating on using olive oil to just tint the leather with a few coats and leaving it with a more "natural" color (that's what I had done for my knife sheath), or just going all black again. I noticed that they had two options, black and natural for the Resolene. Would it be best to use the black Resolene if I dye the whole seat black or would natural work for black or natural coloring?

Thank you again so much!

[cjartist]

I didn't even know they made a black resolene.  That's interesting.

I like the round holes because you go through each hole twice and both times coming from different angles. Some of the folks doing the motorcycle seats would recommend a smaller hole than what I used but it does make it harder to force the lace through that way. I'm using 1/8" lace and the holes are 9/64". The sides are just at 90 degrees to top edge.  Lace it on the foam just to try and keep the top centered.  You might even use a couple twist ties to hold it in place.

Same lace pattern in both images.  It isn't hard to do but takes a bit to get used to it.  Everytime I start one, I go back to the Tandy Lacing book to remind myself how to start. LOL

[wlg190861]

Good videos to watch on the Mexican round braid.

 

[Wowndeye]

Alright... So I got the black dye, Resolene, calf lacing and the lacing book from Tandy! Guess I should have scanned the book first because I ended up getting 3/32" lacing instead of 1/8". Will 3/32" work okay or should I exchange it? If I stick with the 3/32", should I punch a 3/32" hole or can I make it 5/64" (smallest hole my punch has)? I just don't want the foam to show through the holes because of the contrast, black leather over light blue foam.

When it comes to the holes for lacing, how close should they be to the edge and how far apart from each other? I'll be using my rotary punch for the holes.

When it comes to applying the dye and Resolene, do I get each piece cut to fit, holes punched and then dye followed by the Resolene before assembly? Or do I dye, assemble it all and then apply the Resolene?

Thank you again both for the help and suggestions. I definitely want to try the Mexican Braid!

[cjartist]

You can probably get away with 5/64" hole but it will be a fight to get the lace through each hole twice.  You may need to use pliers occasionally to drag the needle through.  I went up a size instead of down, but the foam did end up being visible.  The stitching went easy that way.  If it was me I would probably make the holes 3/32".  

Keep in mind also, because it is round, you will occasionally have to go through a hole three times.  The reason being is that you will have more holes on the side piece than you do on the top piece.

As far as spacing, my 1/8" holes are spaced 5/16" apart.  Mine are spaced at that distance because I made myself an arbor press jig that holds five hole punches to speed up the process and save myself the physical pain that rotary punching all those holes can cause. You will want your holes closer together with a thinner lace. You will want to stay under 1/4" on spacing. As far as spacing from the edge, keep it as close as you can without leaving it so thin that it could potentially rip through.

I would punch holes, dye, then resolene before lacing.  The resolene will help protect the leather.  You may then decide on another coat after lacing.

Be prepared, this will take some time and effort.  But in my opinion, nothing else looks as good as the mexican braid.

[Wowndeye]

Excellent! I got my top and sides cut and getting ready to lay out for the holes!

The Tandy Lacing book is great but I was anticipating it to be a little struggle at first but hopefully I'll find a groove.

I'll be sure and post pictures when I'm done.

Thank you again!