Making a seat

#1
Does anyone have any tips on making a seat with vinyl?
I made one for my rupp . Turned out ok. I'll use it for now
Has to be some tips on how to make one better

Thanks
Craig
 

KB2ROCKET

Active Member
#6
Xbs8ball (kenny) builds all my seats. He does a excellent job!
I know this doesn't matter at all but when I see a simple typo I look at the keyboard to see if the correct letter is near the wrong one ( it usually is ) but K is not near X at all lol just an observation I am not faulting anyone God knows I screw up a lot
have a good day :thumbsup::laugh:
 

brown boonie

JUST REMEMBER-EXPECT IT WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT!
#8
I have super bronc seats from both, great work on both seats. I personally like the foam in manchester1 seat, kbs8ball seat is a little to hard for this old man. Both look great.
 

joshua. c.

Well-Known Member
#11
your asking for tips on how to make a better seat but it would help to describe in detail how you did it so someone can pick apart your method and give proper advice on how to improve it. unless your just looking for an in depth tutorial on how to make a seat if so there are several good videos on youtube on that subject. just look up making a mini bike seat.
 
#12
The videos I've watch do not give much detail on sizing things properly. Whole bunch of hack jobs out there. I don't know terminology but seems to me now that the cover must be made a lot smaller than the actual seat pan. I'm a tree trimmer by trade not a seamstress
Sorry for wasting all everyone's time
 
#13
Everybody does things a bit differently so for every different seat maker you will have a different opinion on the "correct" way to do it. I'm self taught for the most part so I'm sure I do things way different than others.

Depending on the way you measure it and your seam allowance the vinyl cover should end up so slightly smaller so it compresses the foam just a bit. It shouldn't be so much that it is stressing the stitches. Just enough it puts tension on the vinyl and helps remove wrinkles. How tight it is pulled when it get attached to the base plays in that also.

My question is when you made the seat did you start from scratch with a new base and foam or are you recovering an old seat using the old vinyl as a pattern? I ask because sometimes the old foam is compressed and the old vinyl is stretched a bit. You can overcome this by using laying a new layer of 1/2 inch foam on top of the old foam (scrim layer).
 
#14
Sorry for wasting all everyone's time
Wow- where is that statement coming from? I certainly did not feel that way. This thread COULD become very educational for you AND for others if you stick with it and share the techniques you are trying. Really and truly I thought that the cover in your photo looked pretty darn good...
Michael
 
#15
Thanks neo
Slightly smaller was one answer I was shooting for
A little back round on me. This is the first 2 wheeled thing I owned. Grew up in the city and mini bikes/ dirt bikes wasn't going to happen so after 51 yrs I got a roller at a car swap meet

This seat is completely my own doing. New base new vinyl new foam I got at a Joanns store. The girls there certainly thought I was off my rocker
I didn't want to wait for piping to arrive so I made that and without a welting foot it's not the easiest to do going to order one of those
Scrim seemed expensive and was large quantity so I used batting and temporary spray glue and some type of backing meant to be ironed on. I skipped that the glue held nice. I used polyester thread which seemed thicker and a # 90 needle with a walking foot to put it all together that's what I did.
Problem is I put too much seam allowance in to it
I used a brother machine from Walmart nothing fancy there except I had to convince my wife I should be allowed to mess with it because the tool box is off limits to her
I cut the seat apart and I'm going to make it smaller with less allowance If you sign up for Joann email you can grab coupons. I scored %65 off the marine grade vinyl
Craig
 
#16
I get a fair amount of my stuff I need right now from joanns but since they are my closest fabric store and still a 2 hour round trip I tend to do more internet ordering. All of my sewing is on a singer model 66. I do have some different feet for it stuff like a walking foot is out of the question. I've done my fair share of piping, welting, and zippers without the correct foot. I personally don't buy actual scrim foam. I buy plain foam and glue material on one side. The material is normally bed sheets I pick up for next to nothing at a yard sale or goodwill. For that I use the cheapest spray glue I can find. I think it's elmers brand from wal-mart right now. For gluing the upholstery work pony up and get 3m super 90 (super 77 lets go in the summer heat around here). You normally only glue stuff like motorcycle seats with a metal pan though. Staples are the attachment of choice on stuff with a wood base.

A mini bike seat is a good project to start with. I'm in no way trying to take away from the seat makers or their works of art but most are pretty simple shape and design making an easy project. I jumped in over my head doing my own car and truck interiors and had a ton of expensive redos before I finally learned. Real pain learning stitch shrinkage doing pleats or diamond tuck after you have done a whole bench seat top to match a bottom that does anything but match lol.

If that is your first seat you done a really good job on it. Way better than I done on my first, I didn't even take a picture of it. Before you cut it apart I'll suggest adding more foam under it to fill it out. It doesn't look overly large and you might just be able to stuff it and fix that. A bit more cushion rarely hurts. Now if you were 4-5 inches too big yeah you might have to redo it.
 
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#19
Seat number 2
Much better made the whole thing smaller and gave myself a lot less seam allowance
I kept the foam the same so it's kinda over stuffed
90+degrees it was a good day to stay indoors
Thanks everyone for the help

One question. What type of foam is used to make it a little stiffer?
Thanks
Craig
 

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