The 'Stuff I Build' thread. Or...the 'Why I don't have a build thread', thread.

[grampadirt]

Limo?

Nice

 

[sewlow]

Lol! Might as well be!
The owner has had the car for 35+ years. Was his winter beater at first, then became a 1/4 miler, then back to his daily, sat for years & now going to be a nice cruiser.
The owner has a few others cars too. One's a '33 Willys that put him in the NHRA Hall of Fame! He's one of only two Canadians in there!

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[grampadirt]

Yep,it's a big 'un.Looks to be a '65 or '66 Chevy?

 

[sewlow]

'66.

 

[Old77]

man, that's a cool wagon!

 

[sewlow]

Well, I finally got around to organizing some pic files.
The open-pit filing system was leaving a bit to be desired.

Here's the rest of the Wagoon...

'66 Caprice buckets. Original, untouched, factory original virgin POS's.

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What they looked like inside.

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Got more...

 

[sewlow]

The typical, initial idea, napkin doodle.
Customer wanted diamonds. I hate diamonds. (long story!) I tried to convince him to go with pleats.
We compromised.
This'll morph as I start patterning. Most times I have to actually physically see what the design looks like on the seat itself.
The seats kinda tell me what works best.

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Customers don't believe me when they ask..."What's it gonna look like?", and I reply with "I dunno, man. I'm just wingin' it."
I had one guy that I was doing a '32 Ford for, which ended up being a 'Ridler Great-8' finalist, go absolutely ballistic over that comment.
Especially when I was bent over in fits of laughter just from seeing the look on his face before he lost it! The fact that I was already well into cutting up over $5,000.00 worth of leather didn't help none, either.
"It's O.K George! I got this! Everything's cool! Really! You're gonna be a happy camper! I promise ya. Things are on track."
Custom stuff. There are no rules.

Pattern's changed already. It'll change again.

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I don't make patterns as such. I'll never repeat this style again. Making patterns for future use is waste of time. I use the actual material that's going to be the finished product. Sure, I know I'll be working on some mid-60's GM buckets again, but they won't look anything like these.
I never repeat a design. Maybe vary the specifics of one I like & find works well, but never exactly the same.

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Some stitch detail.
This is really nice material to work with. Top-end vinyl.
50% more $$$ than the average stuff. S-o-o-o worth it though.
Very forgiving, & when the project's done, if I didn't tell you it wasn't leather, you'd never know.
Well...except for the leather smell. So, I'll take some leather cuttings & put them in a 'Glad' veggie bag (with the perforated holes) & attach that under the buckets. (Shhh! Our secret! Lol!)

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More to come. Later tonight.
Have to get back to the project on the bench.

 

[Old77]

man, I love seeing your work @sewlow I wish you were closer to me. I'd love for you to do an interior in my dually.

 

[sewlow]

Quikie drive-by post. Just taking 15 for some caffiene loading. Busy-busy day.

Wrapped the seat tins with vinyl.

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I'll spend more time on the backsides that no-one sees than I do on the faces.
But...any bulk in behind of the panels will effect the fit.

One set done...

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...one more to go.

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[sewlow]

The final design.
When doing buckets I always make both at the same time.
The faces will be the same, but some of the outer bands of one seat have to be a mirror image of the other seat.

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So I got on a role and didn't take pix of the whole process.
Think I posted plenty of that stuff previously in here.
Any ways, the finished buckets.

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Hey! The pleats actually line up! WooHoo!

I wanted to stitch in a nice bit of grey piping just between the top of the diamonds & that smooth upper part. Either grey of the two body colors. Just to break up all that single color. Give it a little detail. Added interest. Bring some of the exterior into the interior. Tie it all together.
But...nope. Customer wants the monotone. Oh well.

Stitchin'...

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I work at being consistantly consistant with my top-stitching.
Maintaing that same width not only from the start at one end of the seat all the way around to the other end, but throughout the whole project.
Some customers want a wider top-stitch than others.
This is almost as close as I can go.

Tins installed. Only pic I took of that on the bench. Doh!

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