DIY seat upholstery
Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 8:45 pm
Well, let me preface by saying I'm very happy with the Stella for the price.
But man, some of these materials are cheap cheap cheap. I'm not bitching in the least. In fact I love Genuine's choices when it comes to balancing keeping down costs for us, and making sure they give us quality.
This seat cover is one thing that I didn't like though. I always complained about the color (yeah but then wait till you see what I've replaced it with, lol) but more than that, mine was just falling apart. The sun was taking its toll. It hadn't torn through yet, but I wanted to replace it before it was open and I was damaging the foam under.
Aside from all this, I have a recent new hobby. Leatherwork. I'm not very good at it, but it's been fun and like a lot of 'expensive' hobbies, it seems expensive when you leave the store, but not so much over the hours you spend playing with it. I was at the local Tandy's lately getting some advice from the guru on some other project I was doing, and I happened upon a stack of upholstery leather on sale! Yikes the color is not great (especially on the dijon scooter) but it was cheap, and I'd have lots of practice on cheap leather. So I bought it.
Taking the seat cover off, it started really falling apart in my hands. I started to get scared that this wasn't going to work out and I'd be seatless come Monday. But in fact, it was really easy!
I took the cover off, took it apart with the seam ripper and then cut out similarly shaped pieces (there are only three). I left half an inch all the way around each piece, but drew a red outline (on the soft side of the leather) to mark where the original piece extended to. This way I could have extra, but a guide in case I wanted to trim later.
Stitching the leather required using an awl tool to poke the holes ahead of time, because the needle can't go through it. This is kind of awkward in a way that's hard to explain till you do it. Basically the best way I found was to place the pieces over the foam seat, stitch them together in about four places (just four single stiches) then take it off and you have it holding together while you stitch just behind that (to make it a little tighter).
When you're finished, flip it over so that the edges are inside where you want them.
My edges are a little funky, but I'm proud anyway. After all, I did it myself cheap style and as long as I can handle the color, it should last!
Here's pics. I'll put one of it on the scoot up when I've stapled the extra material under the seat.
But man, some of these materials are cheap cheap cheap. I'm not bitching in the least. In fact I love Genuine's choices when it comes to balancing keeping down costs for us, and making sure they give us quality.
This seat cover is one thing that I didn't like though. I always complained about the color (yeah but then wait till you see what I've replaced it with, lol) but more than that, mine was just falling apart. The sun was taking its toll. It hadn't torn through yet, but I wanted to replace it before it was open and I was damaging the foam under.
Aside from all this, I have a recent new hobby. Leatherwork. I'm not very good at it, but it's been fun and like a lot of 'expensive' hobbies, it seems expensive when you leave the store, but not so much over the hours you spend playing with it. I was at the local Tandy's lately getting some advice from the guru on some other project I was doing, and I happened upon a stack of upholstery leather on sale! Yikes the color is not great (especially on the dijon scooter) but it was cheap, and I'd have lots of practice on cheap leather. So I bought it.
Taking the seat cover off, it started really falling apart in my hands. I started to get scared that this wasn't going to work out and I'd be seatless come Monday. But in fact, it was really easy!
I took the cover off, took it apart with the seam ripper and then cut out similarly shaped pieces (there are only three). I left half an inch all the way around each piece, but drew a red outline (on the soft side of the leather) to mark where the original piece extended to. This way I could have extra, but a guide in case I wanted to trim later.
Stitching the leather required using an awl tool to poke the holes ahead of time, because the needle can't go through it. This is kind of awkward in a way that's hard to explain till you do it. Basically the best way I found was to place the pieces over the foam seat, stitch them together in about four places (just four single stiches) then take it off and you have it holding together while you stitch just behind that (to make it a little tighter).
When you're finished, flip it over so that the edges are inside where you want them.
My edges are a little funky, but I'm proud anyway. After all, I did it myself cheap style and as long as I can handle the color, it should last!
Here's pics. I'll put one of it on the scoot up when I've stapled the extra material under the seat.
You'll definitely know it's me if I ride past. 
