TheSamba.com :: View topic - Seat Cover Patterns

Thu Nov 30, 2023 1:38 pm

I don’t really know how.

While looking for seat covers (like, over the existing seats, not getting all new seats), I ran across more than a few “does anyone have a pattern” questions.

I saw answers ranging from “use your existing seat covers” and in the case of those individuals that stated they didn’t have existing seat covers, “make a pattern by covering your seat with paper”.

These are great ideas, but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of folks that are amazing resource providers here and most folks do not accidentally stumble on this site as much as they do rely on it for building and maintaining their VWs.

I am getting new seat covers (proper “over the coconut hair” covers). So I seam-ripped the hell out of my old ones to help. The thing is, how?

I’ll hopefully get the driver’s side done tomorrow, so maybe someone can guide me through the process of turning these bits into a usable resource for the DIYers, the adventurers, and the resource-challenged.

Also. Ignore the dog feet. The German shepherd stands where she wants, as long as the corgi lets her.

Thu Nov 30, 2023 1:57 pm

What's your end goal? What is the use case?

As in, are you wanting to provide some type of digital template, or a card style physical template? Or something else?

Thu Nov 30, 2023 2:18 pm

The end goal is to give back to a community that has given to so many others so freely.
I'm not looking to monetize here, so a digital file would be great - though I am not sure how someone would print such a large format.

The specific questions I guess I have are:

1) How can I turn these seam-ripped parts into something useable (I know nothing of sewing, so I don't know what someone who would use these would want).

2) What would be the preferable format (that costs me nothing but a little time, since I want to GIVE the knowledge away).

3) If I need to host the files other than on theSamba, is there a preferable place that most users would agree upon (years of being on thesamba have taught me that while not everyone agrees on much, the community as a whole is the most like family I can find on the interwebz).

If I had assurance that someone ELSE could provide the correct format, measurements, hosting, etc., I would be very open to working with them, though I do want to keep these particular panels since they have history with my own bay window.

tl;dr - I haven't done anything to give to the community that I rely on for my own VW; maybe I can with this small gesture.

Thu Nov 30, 2023 2:41 pm

I'll give you a big ol pat on the back for your effort, if you can pull this off it'll definitely help people who feel crafty.

You'll need to do a bit more seam ripping first, the hemmed part where the wire goes through just below Fido's toe is shrunken and needs to be flatter for tracing.
How you flatten and trace is the next step, they'll be a little shrunken or puckered in places, a warm iron over a towel should help that. Look at some other on line patterns for sewing projects, like a pair of pants for example, you'll see how outlines and folded or hemmed sections are depicted as well as which seams coincide with other parts and how they meet.
A printable file may be best, you'll have to figure out how to tile the larger parts.

Fri Dec 01, 2023 1:57 pm

Just an idea, I've never done this...

Use a large paper with 1x1" grid/squares. I think they sell something like this at craft stores. Take a photo from above with each part placed as perfectly centered and flat as possible.

Anyone, then, should be able to utilize a 1"grid to reproduce the same part.

Fri Dec 01, 2023 2:30 pm

the most useful place to start would be creating "vector" images of the pieces such as a PDF or SVG file

i believe a "Kinkos" type business like FedEx Office may have a large flatbed scanner you can use for a very small fee

Sat Dec 02, 2023 10:55 am

Coming from an upholsterer there's a few problems. If you gave me those pieces I could make sense of them and make new patterns. For the first timer it may be very frustrating. When you dissected the old cover you didn't make witness marks across all of the seams. These allow the person sewing to align the parts exactly. Now these aren't difficult covers to understand and one might say well I know where the ends are and where to start sewing. But a witness mark ever 4 to 5 inches let's you know if one of the pieces is walking so to speak and you can correct that as you sew by stretching one or the other. Next is that center backrest panel. It has significant stretching on the bottom corners. You kind of need to be experienced at how to hold that one down before tracing around it for a pattern. All of these are likely shrunken too. Even that little front skirt panel has detail to make notice of, it has a a pocketed edge that fades into a seam with the left and right cushion boxing panels. How will you convey that to a newbie? I can appreciate what you are trying to do. The only proper way to make patterns to put out there is to make them and sew up the cover and test fit it to ensure a good fit. I recently did a snow machine seat for a friend. He had pulled the cover off to repaint the base. It was in sad shape and I'm sure it shrank even more being off of the foam for a while. The top panel was almost 2 inches too short to fit the foam. I just hand patterned the foam and made a cover from scratch. Point being you might at least lay the parts on the seat and see if they are too short for their respective locations.

Sat Dec 02, 2023 12:04 pm

It would be really nice to have.

I would ask for sewing pattern software on reddit forums, like https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/

I would attach a couple of images and explain what you gonna do, since most of the sewing is clothing related. There are some free tools for sewing patterns, but they mostly focused on clothing.

Nice idea, mate!

Mon Dec 04, 2023 8:30 am

I sew outdoor gear for a living, but not so much auto upholstery.I make patterns all the time.
I took apart a seat like the OP, but I had half the material to work with as he did.
Dan explained some of problems one can have making a repeatable pattern from old cloth pieces.
I ended up with a decent pattern after a couple tries. But the covers just looked "home made" so I went with TMI covers.
I don't know anything about scanning and computer programs for patterns. But in the end you need to have a paper (or something ) pattern to cut out your work pieces. Your going to need a large printer to make the full size pattern.
So, you now have your pattern. Do you know how to find the material that will work? Do you have a capable sewing machine? Do you know how to use it? Don't try to use that heavy vinyl. Hard to work with for the inexperienced. Some upholstery fabric is funky to work with for a first timer.
If someone had a good paper pattern ( like I made) to sell, they could copy full size and send in the mail. That might be helpful to a few DIYers.
But that is just the start. What are the expectations about the end result going to be?
I'm somewhat experienced at this, but it will probably be too hard for a first timer.

Tue Dec 05, 2023 8:15 pm

That said
I am not going to tell someone else what they can't do.
Seats are complicated to get professional results
I did make custom door cards, in my Red/Gray theme, to mimic org. cards.
That was easy.
I also made custom covers for my rear seat/bed foam. Easy rectangular fabric box, with a zipper on the side. Just like on your couch .
There is a lot about this on Youtube. And the foam suppliers have instructional videos. There is, at least, one guy on Youtube with a channel all about fixing auto upholstery. Like making patterns from your ripped seats.