New Saddle for an Old Horse

[silverbear]

Tom,
Your Husqvarna (Viking) sewing machine is a tough little sweetheart. I used to do a lot of leather work making stuff out of elk hide, mostly moccasins, mukluks, bags & such and always going through multiple layers of leather, at least two and sometimes three thicknesses..

Besides being able to punch through thick leather I really liked how slowly it went in the gear down mode... like 4 wheel drive. I'd recommend them to anyone wanting to sew leather, vinyl, denim, canvas. Just great machines. I've had three or four of them through the years, always bought used. The ones made in the 1950's which are green and more rounded are great buys. They don't do fancy stitching, but neither do I. Forward, reverse, zig zag for strength when you need it. Simple, straightforward machines.

Your seat is going to be top notch!
SB

 

[2door]

Thanks, guys. Sewing could be a fun hobby and if I can talk my friend into selling me this little machine I might start doing some custom work. I have a lot to learn but that's part of the fun. There must be a million tricks to getting a job to look just right and if I keep at it maybe I'll get there.
Anyway, I'm going to give it a good effort. I'll keep you posted.

Tom

 

[2door]

Well, it's done. Didn't turn out as well as I expected but...I learned a lot. I have enough of that brown vinyl to do at least two more, maybe three. I'll start on another one in a few days but in the meantime here's what it looks like.

The next one I'll make the pattern a little smaller and allow for stretch in the vinyl as it's pulled down and around corners. That way I can keep the seams up on the edges and be able to pull the wrinkles out without deforming the stitch lines so much. Practice, practice, practice. The problem is you need to practice with the material you plan to use because different materials will react differently to stretching and contouring around compound curves.
Hey, but I have all winter, right?

Please ignore that loose wiring. That's the tail light wires and I haven't put the light back on yet.

Tom

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Nice work Tom. I think it's pretty darn good for a first attempt. I know it's certainly better than I could do.

 

[Danschutz]

Good job. I see a nice prototype to a cool seat. A hundred years ago I took a upholstery class in high school. IMO you need to add some piping in a few areas and it would be super cool to get a cream colored material to match the other color of the bike.

Had a r e a l l y long day today but I'll try and photocopy some lines on that seat to give you an idea of what I'm thinking.

Dan.

 

[silverbear]

Good first run, the next one will be better. You can make piping by cutting a long strip of the vinyl a couple inches wide and fold it over some kind of cord, like cotton clothesline cord or better would be the cord used on Venetian blinds which is a little smaller in diameter. Then run a stitch up close and you have nice piping. It makes the seams look better and helps to hide little errors.

Most of us would be pretty happy with your first try.
SB

 

[Danschutz]

Like I said, long day so I didn't spend a bunch of time on this lol. Basically think Motorcycle seat. Just grab some piping from a fabric store and the material you want to wrap around the piping. The first pic is a basic way to do it, heck I added more in than you would need to do.



This second pic shows a few more lines, honestly to get all that piping on the top would be a delicate and tough job but I was thinking about doing like a tuck and roll pattern here (like the old vinyl seats in those cars we used to drive) which would be much easier. You just need to use a thinner layer of foam against the material and sew those lines in to cause the bumps or "tuck and roll" and then that top piece wouldn't stretch nearly as bad either.



I hope you get a little idea what Im trying to say lol, my brain is pretty fried from today and I hope it didn't get all jumbled up.

Dan.

 

[2door]

Good ideas all around guys and thanks for the compliments. I'm glad IWW likes it but I'll bet she could do as well if not much better.

I actually made piping using the same brown stuff and started using it but I used 1/4" piping material and it was too big. I didn't like the way it looked so abandoned the idea on this seat. But, like I said, I have a lot of material to experiment with and I might try some smaller, maybe 3/16" piping on the next one.

I also played with the idea of stitching in the padding on the back side, two layers of 1/4" foam gave the poofy look I wanted but my sewing skills weren't up to the task of perfectly straight lines just yet. I'm going to practice that for a while on some scrap material and then I'll try it on the vinyl. Sewing a straight line with no wavering is a talent and I admire anyone who can do that freehand. The trick is to keep the material moving and not let it bunch up anywhere that will pull it off to either side which makes for wavy stitching.

More to come.

Tom