Steering Wheel Upholstery

Our camper car was like new again after coming back from the doctor. Only the steering wheel was nasty, the leatherette started to peel off. Not something that one would usually fix themselves, but...

I looked at it and decided to give my husband new beautiful steering wheel feeling. It didn't seem undoable. I ripped off the leatherette and tore it off as it was glued to the wheel.

I bought I hope the very same leatherette in some polish e-shop. I tried to make a 2D pattern out of the pieces that were so pulled out that they were very 3D at this point.

I sewed the seams on the sewing machine. For sewing, I left 1cm seam allowance which I then cut to 3 mm (there are grooves in the wheel for the seams, very appropriate). I tried to put it on the steering wheel, unsuccessfully, so I decided to make the upper panel a bit longer. When I had everything prepared, I drew the holes with 1 cm distances and pricked them with an awl so that they are seen from both sides. On the contrary to working with leather, here the holes are not necessary for sewing, leatherette can be sewn like a canvas.

I used a baseball stitch, the same that was used originally. In the end, I was using two needles and made a long way with just one needle, skipping one hole every time, and then I finished it with the other needle. This way, I made a long part of very loosely stitched panel, then came back and just tightened the stitches one by one to close the seam.

Before stitching or before closing the seam, I applied a paper glue to the front part of the upholstery. I couldn't glue on the outer part as I sometimes needed to shift it, and I was too lazy to put the glue on the back part. It was not very easy to reach there.. I was surprised that the leatherette can be shaped a bit. You can pull it out or shorten slightly.

Before mounting the airback back on, I cut out the front pieces with a scalpel

Not perfect, but not easily recognizable, that this is DYI solution :-)

Barefoot shoes

I traced my foot and drew a shape with elegant curves around it.

I added half a centimeter around and I drew points where the holes should be so that the shoe would make sense together with my specific foot outline.

I bought a sole material and cut out the piece with a scalpel, marking the holes.

The hole in the middle would be bigger, as the would be two cords instead of one. Smoothing the edges with a sandpaper. I hate how people wear soles just cut out of rubber. It should look a professional, even if it is DYI, shouldn't it?

These are loops-to-be for the room between the toes.

Tying the cords just how it came to my mind. Still there is a space for improvement. They are each like 3 m long.

Summer vibes :-)

Cherry Chair

 My balcony little chair. Plastic, the paint slowly peeling off. Shall we get back to our quilting skills?

I traced the shape, add something for the height of the seat and made small darts so that the outer circumference is as long as the original shape.

I quilted two layers of the canvas with a thick soft fabric inserted inside. Then I added a tunnel for the fastening cord.

Softie Cherry Chairry.

Fox Headband

I had some leftover from my Fox T-Shirt and I had to use it, the foxes are so nice!

 
I cut two rectangles from the fox knit and two lining pieces from a blanket. The bigger one is curved.

I sewed the front and back pieces together, folding the bigger rectangle evenly.

Then I sewed the lining and upper piece together, leaving an opening at the seam.

The vertical seam allowances are laid oposite one to another, so that they lay nice and flat.

Then I tried to turn the headband over and ended up with something like this...
I ripped the vertical seam and tried to turn it using the new hole...
Damned!
I had to rip out the whole vertical seam to get one piece tube.

Then I folded it right sides together in half. I sewed together the knit parts and the lining parts.

Finishing all that there was a hole left once again for turning over. This time it worked. I hand sewed the opening and voilá:

Foxity fox

Tarot Deck Case Vol. 2

My cousin saw my tarot case and wanted me to make her one too. I agreed but as she's a great artist, I wanted her to cooperate, to do some work on it too. 

She sent me the measurements. I create a pattern - I added a few millimeters to each side for ease of handling and some for the thickness of the material. I also added a bit in the place where the leather would be folded.

Like this I cut the main piece, did some basic outline with a dull needle on wet surface and sent it to her to decorate the lid. She did it with a dremmel tool.

For rounding the corners I used this ingenious ruler. I traced it with an awl and cut with a scalpel.

First two tries of the side piece were done like this - I punched all the holes vertically and then made a slanted hole with the awl to end at the corner.

This creates an irregular edge, so it is straightened with a scalpel again.

When I tried for the first time, I was working with the awl for too long time. It's hard work for a girl and using so much strength for long time takes away the sensitivity of fingers - I pushed too hard and tore one hole.

Second try - I was more cautious. I took pauses so all my holes were fine. Just when I wanted to sew... I found out it's too short! I was doing the holes in a row, just as the punch tool leaded me. I thought that if I had the right number of holes, it would do. Unfortunately not.

So for the third try, I carefully transferred and marked a few points from the front and back pieces. Especially at the round corners, the holes need to be more apart. 

And I also didn't punch the holes through, I just marked the spots and the pricking was done completely with the awl. To make it easier, I cut a slit to the wooden base to fit the tip of the awl in.

All the edges were cut to round shape and wet smoothened.

Some edges should be rounded just at one side - I used the rear part of scalpel to do it.

By the way, now each time I cut the edges, I sharpen the tool with a sandpaper in advance.

I cut the fastening piece, made holes, soaked in water and shaped.

And now another thing that was thrown away in the process... For shaping, I wanted somenthing to put in, to support the case when drying. I made a false deck from bottle of milk. But in the end it didn't fit in as it missed the round corners.

Whatever. Drying without support was just fine. I watered the leater, especially at the places where it should bend. I traced the lines with the modelling tool at the wrong side.

Then I made the same mistake as last time :-D I didn't count with extra layer for the front piece. It fits so nice without it...

Nevermind, fixed it and let dry under my husband's flight award.

When the shaping was finished, I got down to dyeing. I mixed violet and brown alcohol-based dyes. I applied the dye with a woolen ball - one layer to cover each side and then immediately once again go over the same area to get a united color. Wearing gloves is essential.

The color was really strange. Mysterious. Very brown but the violet was there peaking.

There were even goldish reflections. My husband called this a tarot color :-)

When the dye was dry, I wiped off the excess with a cloth and applied a coat of resolene to get it water-repellent. I put a tape to a place where glue should come. Then I made balls from a napkin in a sock. I soaked it in resolene and used to transfer to leather in generous amount. It dries quickly, so you must be fast. Then I wiped it once again with dry cloth to make it shine a bit.

The color changed. Wiping the excess of dye removed the goldish layer and resolene made the color a lot darker.

I glued the fastening on with Herkules. I used needles to make sure the pieces would end up on the right place.

After sewing the fastening on, I tied the knots and hammered down to flatten them. I put a scrap piece of leather below so that the leather does not get stamped.

I sewed the seams like usually, with two needles and a pair of pliers. I started with two stitches and went on with cross stitch.

The ending knot was again flattened down so that it wouldn't damage the cards and the ends glued to stay in place.

Sewing the last seam was not as hard as I was afraid. I made each cross a bit loose. I opened a slot between the pieces for the needle. When I made the next cross, I fastened the previous one.

Finished case.

And final relief when she confirmed that the cards fit in! :-)