Anyone try making their own seat covers?

[Nepagarage]

I'm not keen on waiting 40 + weeks for legendary. And I'm not keen on finding a local shop who will charge me $3,000 or more to recover the seats. I have nearly zero experience sewing, but if you saw my build you'd know I like being in over my head anyway, so might as well add to the pile of things to do. I'm going to find a used decent walking foot sewing machine and source vinyl locally so I can get my hands and eyes on it. I don't care too much about matching factory grain etc. just want it to be soft and nice looking. Have any of you guys attempted it before? I have my seats and most of the busted vinyl is still there to use for pattern making. The foams most likely just buy as those aren't hard to find in stock. Anyone have a line on a good used machine for cheap? (Consew 206 etc?)

[anlauto]

Have you tried PG Classics ? They have a lot of the more common covers...in stock now 
https://pgclassic.com/collections/seat-covers

[Nepagarage]

Alan, so I take that as a "no" I shouldn't attempt it? Lol.

In all seriousness I never found PG's website before. That price is tempting considering it's the front and rear seat covers. Are you familiar with how they look fit and finish in person?

[Cuda_mark]

Have you tried PG Classics ? They have a lot of the more common covers...in stock now 
https://pgclassic.com/collections/seat-covers

Alan - Are these Legendary seat covers at PG?

[anlauto]

Have you tried PG Classics ? They have a lot of the more common covers...in stock now 
https://pgclassic.com/collections/seat-covers

Alan - Are these Legendary seat covers at PG?

NO, PG Classics ONLY sells the products they manufacture. They are NOT Legendary products. My upholstery guy (been using the same one since 1986) has installed them before, as well as their headliners....he actually likes their headliners better and there seat covers, he says are good, well worth the money, but they don't share the same quality as Legendary....basically, you get what you pay for. 

I have NOT tried them as of yet, but there was never an issue getting Legendary before...

I thought it might be better then trying to sew together your own 

[StanP]

Any suggestions on where to buy just seat covers to use temporarily on my '73 Barracuda? I'm having more work done on my car later this Summer (2022) with plans to install a new White interior later this year. I don't want to make the investment at this point and a recommendation for a universal cover would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[70 Challenger Lover]

My upholstery guy is really good at fabrication and he has shown me a few things. What I learned most of all is not to try it myself. I'm not afraid to do install presewn headliners, vinyl tops or stretch on my own covers but trying to make your own covers would probably take forever with all the mistakes you're likely to have and I would expect to ruin large amounts of material before you're done. I think in the end, it would look like you gave yourself your very first haircut without the benefit of a mirror.

[tparker]

You're a brave man. LOL. I was trying to do a seat for my motorcycle. I got a hand crank Chinese shoe patcher for about $100. It is awesome for sewing leather, but the problem with something like the seats is you really need two hands to guide things. Or at least I do. It also takes some practice. I found several good videos on Youtube and this guy has some really good stuff if you go to his main channel page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4GS1qECHHQ. When you watch the videos, it looks REAL easy. Unfortunately there is some skill in it.

What I did was mock out the seats with cheaper material, $20 or so, so I could practice. Compound curves really suck, but I don't think that applies. so they maybe easier. I will end up doing mine, but I ended up finding a cheap seat on ebay for $100. I need to practice a lot more.

As for the machine, you will need a decent motor on it. Not sure if you will need a "leather" sewing machine, but some sort of heavy duty one will probably be required.

Good Luck

[Lloyd Lind]

My wife did mine year's ago when I was super poor, she even did diamonds with buttons. And contrasting piping came out awesome. I took the seats apart and I cut all the panels
Myself. I didn't know where to get hog rings so I used fish net repair string and that worked awesome because it was waxed and stayed tight with one twist in it. No one could believe we did them ourselves.......on two different challengers.