The End Paneled Booth Seat

Tools required.

Recovering sequence if you have a sewing machine:

  1. Remove all staples holding old cover on.
  2. Carefully remove old cover.
  3. Mark where cover parts are joined together for reference if needed.
  4. Cut threads holding cover pieces together.
  5. Use separated pieces for patterns for new cover pieces.
  6. Sew pieces together.
  7. Fit new cover to seat.
  8. Staple cover to seat ~ ends first, then front, then back.
  9. Trim excess material from under seat bottom.

Recovering sequence if you don't have a sewing machine:
(Not very practical but if you only offer vinyl repair services and recovering is only a last resort, you can make do.)

  1. Purchase material.
  2. Borrow one booth seat from the customer and rush it to the nearest upholstery shop.
  3. Have it recovered, saving old parts for pattern as needed later.
  4. Return seat.
  5. Determine number and sizes of covers needed.
  6. Have upholstery shop make covers as needed from your material.
  7. Recover as needed.

Detailed recovering sequence if you have a sewing machine:

The end paneled booth seat consists of a cover long enough to go from the back of the seat to underneath the front and 1/2" wider than the width of the seat sewn to end panels that are in the over all shape of the seat when viewed from the end.

As a general rule there will be three pieces to the cover. There will be two end pieces and the top. On occasion, there will only be one end piece and the end of the cover that has no end piece will usually be fastened over the end that will be hidden from sight. The cover may or may not have welt between the top and the end panels.

After you have recovered an end paneled booth seat a time or two you'll be able to tailor the recovering sequence to your tastes but here's how you do it.

Turn the booth seat upside down on your work area and use your scratch awl to pry up each staple you see high enough to grab and remove them with your diagonal cutters. Pry up all the staples holding the old cover on and when you get around to where you started, switch to your diagonal cutters and begin removing the staples.

Once you have the staples removed, gently remove the cover taking care to keep any padding or stuffing material in place.

When you have the cover removed examine it closely. Study what the front looks like, what the back looks like and how the panels fit with the top. Usually, the front and back will be easily determined. If not, there is a good chance it doesn't matter.

Take a pen or pencil and draw some lines on the inside of the old case every place one piece joins another. This is in case you need to see how the pieces were joined AFTER you get them apart.

Now take your utility knife and carefully cut the threads holding the pieces together. When you have them apart you have your patterns for the pieces you need for your new cover.

Lay out your material bottom side up. This allows you easily make and see any marks you might make. Any rectangular pieces you can just measure and cut. Any curved or odd shaped pieces you can lay on your material and trace being careful to make sure the pattern is laid out the same way your material is.

Once traced, cut out your pieces.

Now sew your pieces to each other as they were on the old cover. Almost always you will want to hold the material face side to face side as you sew it together. If the cover has welted end panels then the welt is sewn between the end and top panels so the welt tubing will be visible on the finished cover.

When your cover is sewn, just reverse the steps you took to get the old one off. I prefer to drape a piece of "Slip-Ease" over the stripped seat before I put the new cover on. Slip-Ease reduces drag between the cover and the seat padding making it easier to arrange the cover as I need to.

Slip the cover on and check the fit by tugging the bottom where you think it should be to match the way the old cover fit. You want it to fit neat and snug when it is stapled. If you need to take the cover apart and make some adjustments, now is the time to do it.

Snug one end of the cover so that it looks neat and staple it down leaving a good inch or so on each end for your corner fold. Repeat the process on the other end. Then pull the front of the cover snug and staple it in place leaving a good inch or so at each end for corner folding. Then pull the back of the cover snug and staple it in place.

I usually corner fold the front toward the back and the back toward the front. Then I fasten the welt, if any, like it was fastened originally.

I trim up any excess material hanging off the bottom to keep it from snagging or hanging down in plain sight when the booth is in place.

Put the seat back where you got it and repeat the process for the next booth seat.

Detailed recovering sequence if you don't have a sewing machine:

For a number of years I didn't have a sewing machine. I took what work I needed sewn to regular upholstery shops and then I'd take it back to the job site and use it there.

When all you do is vinyl repair, you only recover when you have a cover that simply cannot be easily repaired or has been repaired so much that it is mostly repair and repairing it any more only detracts from the appearance of your work. My brother Dale tells of a seat back that he repaired so much at the owner's insistence over 20 years that it was almost all repair material.

The lack of a sewing machine can be dealt with. Having one available to use when you need it is well worth it. There will be new customers whose seating will be in such bad shape that it will be easier to just recover the seating initially than to try to repair it. Your goal is to get the client's seating to the point where vinyl repairing is more practical to the client and profitable to you. Sometimes, access to a sewing machine makes the job go faster and easier.

Basically, the detailed recovering sequence if you don't have a sewing machine is to get the seat or cover to an upholstery shop and pay them for recovering and making you a pattern for any future covers you may need for your client and getting it back before the customer complains.

For Further Information Contact Marv Walker 706 816-7190 Evenings 9 to 12 PM
Questions, comments or suggestions