Suede Interior Project
03-21-2010, 04:20 AM
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Suede Interior Project Well...when you're out of money you learn to improvise! Since I could not afford to pay Redlinegoods for some interior products, I bought a couple yards of microsuede (material that I will eventually wrap my entire interior in) and made my own custom suede parts. For the record, I had no prior sewing skills and in total I spent about 10-12 hours making these things; 2 hours were spent figuring out how to use my grandmas sewing machine. I ended up making a shifter boot, ebrake boot, and console cover and because of this I appreciate redlinegoods for their services a lot more.
SHIFTER BOOT
By far the shifter boot was the most difficult to accomplish. I removed the original leather boot, wrapped it with my material and pinned it so I can mark where the seems are and the cuts I would have to make. The shifter boot is made out of 4 cutouts sewn together. For each part, I had to cut the material, put it together, sew it inside out, and run it through the machine two more times in order to achieve that sewn look that they do. After I finished w/ the piece I hand sewed the slot, but it wasn't tight enough, so I detached the original elastic leather band by cutting each thread off of it and hand sewed it onto the new suede shifter boot . I used black threads because I like subtle touches and it's always a safe choice. Once I was done this was my product.
CENTER CONSOLE COVER
Next up was the center console.... I first took apart the plastic backing, the release button, and the hinge. Then, I wrapped the center console lid w/ my material and marked where the bends were w/ pins. this is where I planned to cut to give the piece some relief on the sides and to achieve a similar look to some center console covers out there already. I then proceeded to cut the material and ran it through the machine, just like the shifter boot, where I ran it through three times (once flipped and twice from the exposed side)....... It was pretty much all the work I really needed to do. I bought a rubber cushion to put underneath that was about 1/4" thick..but it just made the material stick out too much. I just hate seeing our console lids being far more thick than the rest of the lower console..sure it's a tad bit more comfortable, but it looks ugly as sin! So I glued it onto the center console lid and and wrapped it under the plastic backing. I made a couple of cut to stretch around the bends and I used 3m 90 aerosol adhesive spray. this was my finished product.
Here's a close up shot of the seams
HAND BRAKE BOOT
Lastly, was the ebrake boot. I had to do this twice because the first one came out a little too short. It was kind of difficult to measure everything (the slack and tightness around the entire piece). Looking at pictures of other's ebrake boots I had an idea how big to make it. This piece is made out of three pieces. I made two seems on top, an inch apart from each other and one seem on bottom...all ran through the machine. I made it about 11 inches tall and I think 9 inches long. This gave it enough slack for it to be pulled all the way up and for it to go back down. For the slot that slips over the ebrake handle itself I brought it to the car and hand sewn it around the tippy top of the handle. Since the handle gets wider as it goes down and I didn't have any more elastic (I don't even think the other ones have elastic) this method was a sure way to get it to stay on the handle. It came out fantastic and although I didn't have enough time to make the slits on the bottom of the material to slip over the notches underneath I love having an ebrake boot over not having any at all and it makes the car's interior look great. Here's a picture to showcase how it came out...
And all of them together...
** I am just so proud of myself for making these things, they were extremely difficult pieces to make, especially for an amateur. My grandmother showed me how to run it through the machine and pretty much how to operate the machine...by feeding the spool of thread into the needle and **** like that. Redline Goods is a great sponsor and you guys should take advantage of their services. There has been nothing but great feedback about their products. I just couldn't afford them and learned to make these products on my own. The pictures were spare of the moment pictures and I will eventually post up some more.
- Jam
SHIFTER BOOT
By far the shifter boot was the most difficult to accomplish. I removed the original leather boot, wrapped it with my material and pinned it so I can mark where the seems are and the cuts I would have to make. The shifter boot is made out of 4 cutouts sewn together. For each part, I had to cut the material, put it together, sew it inside out, and run it through the machine two more times in order to achieve that sewn look that they do. After I finished w/ the piece I hand sewed the slot, but it wasn't tight enough, so I detached the original elastic leather band by cutting each thread off of it and hand sewed it onto the new suede shifter boot . I used black threads because I like subtle touches and it's always a safe choice. Once I was done this was my product.
CENTER CONSOLE COVER
Next up was the center console.... I first took apart the plastic backing, the release button, and the hinge. Then, I wrapped the center console lid w/ my material and marked where the bends were w/ pins. this is where I planned to cut to give the piece some relief on the sides and to achieve a similar look to some center console covers out there already. I then proceeded to cut the material and ran it through the machine, just like the shifter boot, where I ran it through three times (once flipped and twice from the exposed side)....... It was pretty much all the work I really needed to do. I bought a rubber cushion to put underneath that was about 1/4" thick..but it just made the material stick out too much. I just hate seeing our console lids being far more thick than the rest of the lower console..sure it's a tad bit more comfortable, but it looks ugly as sin! So I glued it onto the center console lid and and wrapped it under the plastic backing. I made a couple of cut to stretch around the bends and I used 3m 90 aerosol adhesive spray. this was my finished product.
Here's a close up shot of the seams
HAND BRAKE BOOT
Lastly, was the ebrake boot. I had to do this twice because the first one came out a little too short. It was kind of difficult to measure everything (the slack and tightness around the entire piece). Looking at pictures of other's ebrake boots I had an idea how big to make it. This piece is made out of three pieces. I made two seems on top, an inch apart from each other and one seem on bottom...all ran through the machine. I made it about 11 inches tall and I think 9 inches long. This gave it enough slack for it to be pulled all the way up and for it to go back down. For the slot that slips over the ebrake handle itself I brought it to the car and hand sewn it around the tippy top of the handle. Since the handle gets wider as it goes down and I didn't have any more elastic (I don't even think the other ones have elastic) this method was a sure way to get it to stay on the handle. It came out fantastic and although I didn't have enough time to make the slits on the bottom of the material to slip over the notches underneath I love having an ebrake boot over not having any at all and it makes the car's interior look great. Here's a picture to showcase how it came out...
And all of them together...
** I am just so proud of myself for making these things, they were extremely difficult pieces to make, especially for an amateur. My grandmother showed me how to run it through the machine and pretty much how to operate the machine...by feeding the spool of thread into the needle and **** like that. Redline Goods is a great sponsor and you guys should take advantage of their services. There has been nothing but great feedback about their products. I just couldn't afford them and learned to make these products on my own. The pictures were spare of the moment pictures and I will eventually post up some more.
- Jam
Last edited by MadIceV8; 03-21-2010 at 09:21 PM.
03-21-2010, 04:48 AM
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your stuff came out great man. i need to learn to sew a little bit myself. i'll probably have my mom show me the ways of the machine once i start on the next car. 2 hours to learn doesnt sound bad at all, especially with the results you got. I'm really liking the shifter boot and the console cover. the e-brake boot looks great too, but i REALLY like the way those two look
with this stuff and the new seats, the interiors really coming along nice. I need to step up my interior game in a major way
with this stuff and the new seats, the interiors really coming along nice. I need to step up my interior game in a major way
03-21-2010, 09:04 AM
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you dude u did really ****** good. By all means go with the door inlays and the knee bolsters, i know now they'll come out amazing. You were right, they are redline quality. You may get a few people on here that want u to do work for them. Btw, you have the same shift ball as me.
03-21-2010, 11:32 AM
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Thanks guys I appreciate all the comments. I worked real hard on these and I'm pretty psyched that they came out the way I envisioned them to come out. It was definitely a learning experience and a very time consuming job as well.
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03-21-2010, 11:43 AM
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Not a big fan of the seude but you did a damn good job on those pieces. Plus they look to match your new seats good, who knows maybe by the time your done you'll have changed my mind and have me wanting to do mine.
03-21-2010, 01:12 PM
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I personally like microsuede because its a durable cloth for an affordable price and when stretched over you can see your fingerprints on it. Those seems I did are going to be the theme throughout the overall entire interior. so whenever I have a chance to use my grandmas sewing machine again I will run the cloth through the machine before I wrap some major pieces....but definitely not the lower pieces like the kick panels..... I'm also contemplating on doing the bottom cushions and back rests of my Recaros...I rested the material on the seat and it looked like a great idea, but I'm going to think about it before I jump the gun. I did my knee bolster/underneath the steering column but some glue seeped through teh material and I'm debating on doing that over again or not. we'll see...... MORE TO COME FOR SURE!! just not any time soon lol.
03-21-2010, 03:31 PM
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THANKS GUYS!! vikingramair, your presence is just overwhelming haha you're like the interior god for Fbodies; you're nothing short of an inspiration.....anyways here's a couple more pics for you guys...
03-21-2010, 03:36 PM
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I also did underneath the steering column... It came out great besides a 1" spot that's hard as a rock because the glue seeped through .. I'm gonna leave it alone for now, but eventually I'm most likely going to redo it because I want to incorporate some seems outlining the curves.......here's some pics on that ...
and for those with foot fetishes...
and for those with foot fetishes...
Last edited by Trans Am Jam; 03-21-2010 at 03:45 PM.
03-21-2010, 04:24 PM
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Wow dude, I clicked on this thinkin..WTF did he do but THATS BAD ***! I really like the shifter boot and E break boot. Thats killer! From the pictures it looks really good, I would be suprised if people would be willing to pay for your work! NICE JOB!!