The panel board is a good idea. Especially if you have a bunch of scraps of it laying around.
I have always used the convertible tacking strip. Weather its for tops, headliners, or any number of other things. The 5/8" X 1/8" stuff is too wide for some headliner applications such as rear or side windows in many cars. So I just made a simple rather crude jig to cut it down.

I personally love doing complete custom interiors. Fabricating everything myself from center councils to hard headliners. Custom thermo formed kick panels and armrests to hidden led's and secret compartments. If its custom it will get peoples attention. The problem is that they take soo much time. I end up doing way more work than I can charge for. In my area there is no one that can/will pay 16K for an interior. Maybe the big dogs in California, Florida or other big $ areas can charge for all of their labor. but not around here. I still do them though, its why I got into this to begin with. Don't get me wrong I still make $ on these jobs, just not as much as I should.

The good thing about the flashy custom jobs is that they do get attention. That is what brings in the jobs that actually pay. Basic muscle car interiors, interior package installs, convertible tops, headliners, small seat repairs, motorcycle seats, the list goes on. And for me personally about 30% of my business is fitness equipment/weight bench pads. It's not fun work but its hard to complain about solid work that pays every week.

here is some previous discussion on the subject. http://forum.thehogring.com/discussion/116/thoughts-about-double-needle-sewing-machines#Item_20
Nothing about cylinder bed machines though. I really cant see much use for one in the auto world. I think they are mainly used in clothing. I could be wrong though I've never used one.

I generally do the estimating in my head. picturing the parts laid out like Fred's picture above. But there are some days my brain just wont cooperate and I end up doing the paper sketch with measurements

Well I was going to recommend Original auto interiors..... BUT.... I just went to the website and they sold out to (unnamed). It's really unfortunate. Original auto interiors had great customer service. On the other hand I cant say the same about the company that bought their business. I have as of yet, not found anyone that has had a good experience dealing with that other company. I hate to be this way, but when I have heard multiple stories of not just bad but horrible service from the other company I will not bother to call them myself. I'd rather call every small shop in the US searching for materials than give that place any of my hard earned $. I could go on about how they messed up several orders for my customers but I'll just leave it at this.

Original Auto interiors was a wonderful company to deal with. I thank them for their service to the industry and wish them well in retirement. I'm sad to see them go!

I had a t-shirt shop screen print a logo on a vinyl dirt bike seat. It held up pretty good, at least I haven't heard back from the customer. Almost any t-shirt or sign shop should be able to do that for ya.

Another idea I hadn't thought of before. It may be worth trying magnets-instead-of-clips

Those are the exact magnets I have. Just be careful

They are very powerful and can shatter if they snap together quickly — Darren Rawlings

I was playing with them a few weeks ago and broke one like Darren mentioned! If you do attach them to your panels I would make sure they are covered with some vinyl, leather or trunk liner to add a bit of shock absorption.

I agree with both above.

Just a heads up... watch out which butyl brand material (dynomat) you use directly on the floor pan. I have 4 different samples of various brands stuck to a steel cabinet in my shop. All are fine except the Eastwood brand. It melted and fell on the floor. That could create a huge mess in a nice car.

With the carpet I generally buy from a few dif. places.

- less expensive option I buy from my reg supplier. Quality is ok
- better option is ACC or Trim parts. Carpet is better quality but many times they only have the poly/stiff backed carpet available.
- best (my opinion) GAHH this carpet is more expensive, but the look and quality can't be beat.

The ones I use have holes. So I'll use screws or rivets to hold them in place. In the picture, the one on the left is out of a hard drive. The one on the right was purchased from Amazon. You'll only need one magnet on one side. Then just hide a washer on the opposite. This setup was strong enough to hold through carpet and 2 layers of vinyl

Hey looks good!

I use them on compartments. like glove boxes, arm rests trunk storage etc. Rather than Using a knob that you turn to unlatch a compartment in a trunk storage area. Or a cabinet style fixture to keep a door closed. I have never tried using for door panels. You'll want to use Neodymium/rare earth magnets, they are very powerful and easy to hide. A good place to get them are computer repair shops. The magnets are used to spin hard drives. My local surplus store also has them, so you may want to try that too.

That's what I thought I just wasn't sure. That seems pretty narrow to me. Everyone has their preference on what looks good. I tend to sew french seams 3/8 to 7/16. Have you measured the stitch width on the french seams you sew now? I'd hate for you to buy a machine then find out its not really what you wanted. I'm sure you have thought of that already, if that is the case please excuse my rambling

Do it you will not regret it. They don't get much better than Adler that seems like a good deal!

Quick question though. What is the 8mm needle gauge measurement? I should know this but my brain seems not to be working today.

ditto about hating the Christmas tree clips. I will not use them. You may want to look into a clip like this fast mount
http://b2b.fastmount.com/products/70/get_pdf/install_guide/en There are many variations of these clips. I have not yet used them but I do plan to give them a try next time I have to attach to fibreglass or wood. I have used snaps on fiberglass doors in the past. It actually worked really well they don't sit flush so I had to counter sink them in a bit.

Fred Mattson Sir, you are a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for sharing with the rest of us

Good luck on your project Amelia!

Just my opinion here but for french stitching a double needle post bed machine is the way to go. If you've never used one its hard to explain. The post bed allows you to sew tight curves with ease.

Ever wonder how they sew french seams on all of the head rests, where there is no room to flatten it out to sew with a flat bed machine. This task is made easy with a post bed.

My first experience with one was in a factory, sewing covers for freight trucks. It's a bit hard to get used to at first, but with some practice its second nature. The lady in my sewing cell that ran the post bed could french stitch a high back bucket backrest in about 20 seconds. It was impressive, machine wide open, never stopping to re-adjust. Obviously the quality was a bit wonky, but its a factory where you get paid by quantity.

short vid wish I had a vid of the factory where I worked, but this will give you the idea anyway

Absolutely congrats. An Upholstery business is not an easy thing to sell.

Thanks for the info. I just got my lacing in and I'm starting to experiment. What do you guys n gals use to thread the lacing?

I got a lacing chisel set, it's pretty self explanatory. To thread the lace through the punched holes I soaked about 2" of the end in super glue then cut the tip to a point. The hardened end seems to work pretty good for threading the lace through the holes. How do you go about threading the lace? ..stitching awl?

Ditto the plastic. I actually do 95% of my patterning with 1.5mil clear plastic. I know it's not for everyone but it works well for me. If anyone is interested I'll do a how to pattern with plastic. Just let me know.

I have use 1 stapler for the last 17 years. My porter cable. For the past 7-8 years I have been doing all of the upholstery for a small, local fitness equipment manufacturer. At times when they were real busy I would go through 10k + staples per month. (Unfortunately they are no longer that busy) My cheap little Porter Cable was my one and only stapler, and its still running strong! Not bad for a $90 ($80 when I purchased it) stapler. I know the BEA and Fasco are higher quality, but the price isn't worth it for me. esecially when my cheap beginner stapler has held up so well.

Just a few month ago I bought a Meite long nose stapler $98 from amazon. So far it's working good, but I haven't used it enough to give an honest review.

As far as staples I buy mine from DLT, Midwest or Amazon. Normally the pricing is about the same. Just be careful on Amazon there are soo many options it can be hard to sift through it all. I tend to just order from my suppliers. Support the people you know and all that. Especially when there is no big difference in price.

For gluing ABS to ABS I have found the plumbing stuff from the hardware store works awesome. Just use acetone as a primer. I build 95% of my panels out of ABS and so far this glue has been the best I've found for ABS to ABS!

ditto the ez cutter. I had one and it only lasted 1.5 years

I just found this one from consew. I don't know anything about it but it may be worth looking into
foam saw

Ditto I use the same stuff myself. I normally just mix by hand for small projects. I do use the mixing tips for big projects. The tips are too expensive to use all the time. I also use various 3m and scotchweld adhesives. I generally go for the urethane adhesives. I'll put together a list of the ones I use if anyone is interested. It can be a bit overwhelming researching all the different options.

here are just a few of them

Norton speedgrip
3M panel bonding
3m duramix super fast-this stuff hardens very fast. you will have 1 minute or less work time
Scotch weld dp620

That was probably flame bonded at the factory where the seats were made. I worked in a factory that made seating, majority for John Deer and Freightliner. 95% of the seat covers I sewed were all flame bonded in house. I doubt that any supplier would have access to the padded vinyl like that. This was touched on in another thread here Sew foam questions for all the trimmers

Thanks guys, I'll get some on the way.