I just finished looking through this entire thread. Your work is AMAZING! I've always been an admirer of anybody who can do this type of work as well as people like you can. I know a guy who's in his 70s who works out of a body shop doing this, and he does great work also. This is definitely a learned skill that can take a long time to be proficient at. I would never have enough patience to learn to do it and make it look as great as you can. If I can't do something and make it look really great, I'll pay somebody to do it and have no problem doing so. Much respect to you and everybody like you!
I think I've mention this in here before, but...
People ask me all the time if I can do 'this'? Let's say 'this' is a '53 Buick Skylark Convertible.
"Yup! Sure."
Right answer to the wrong question.
The right question would be..."Have you ever done a '53 Buick Skylark Convertible before?"
"Well...no."
The confidence to say "Yup! Sure.' comes from knowing my basics. The very first things I learned.
I still fall back on them & use them daily.
From the simplest job (kitchen chairs or a footstool) to the restoration of just mind-boggling complicated nightmares, (Pillow-top '70's Cadillac bench seats! Gawd I hate those!) to fabricating custom one-of-a-kind seats for HotRods from scratch.
They all have same thing in common. Everyone of them.
That would be...a middle center point.
Whenever I feel I'm getting in over my head, I just go back to the beginning. My beginning. Back to the very first rule I was taught. The rule that every project follows. The rule of fabrication.
"Start from the center & work out from there."
Works every time.
I had some great mentors/teachers/co-workers over the years that were unselfish with the sharing of their knowledge. The little tricks they had accumulated over the years. From some guys I might of only learned one trick in 6 months. With others it was a daily barrage of info.
Many weren't even upholsterers. Saddle makers, leather-workers, steel fabricators, woodworkers & machinists. Even dress & suit makers.
Most of those people never knew each other, but they were all consistant on that one point. Find the center & go.
Now when I work on customer's projects, it doesn't matter what the actual vehicle is. I could care less if it's a '34 Packard or a '56 356A Porsche Speedster.
Following the basics gets me through.
Everything else is just practice, practice, practice. The same as learning any other trade.
Mistakes are a leaning process. They happen. Oh well. Ooops. I just look at that as an opportunity to start over, only smarter.
I used to tell my kids that all I did all day was work on jig-saw puzzles. Only thing is, I had to make all the pieces.
By the way, I actually have done 2 '34 Packard Roadsters! 25 years apart!
...and right now I'm sitting in the shop beside 2 complete '53 Buick Skylark convertible interiors! Both are going to be exactly the same. Same leather & colors. One's for a multi-return customer here in Vancouver & the other interior will be completed & sent 2200 miles away to the owner & his vehicle in Winnepeg, where he'll have that installed by another interior guy that I know & trust.
This has only happened one other time. 2 '58 Corvette interiors booked in the same week. Both in black, as original, and both in leather instead of the factory vinyl. Too weird. Makes things easier, though. Just lay out 4 of everything at the same time from the same pattern, all at once.
Ahhh...look at me here, just a ramblin' away. Got sidetracked.
Came here to post up the last of the wagoon pix.
Next post. Gimme a sec.