Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

[jcw74801]

I am recovering my boat seat cushions with marine vinyl. I am sewing straight pleating and diamond pleating on some of the panels and I need to lay out my stitch lines on the vinyl. I tried a plain pencil but the graphite is actually quite permanent on the white marine vinyl. Next I tried a red china marker (grease pencil we used to call them). It comes off somewhat but not completely. It may wipe right off with acetone but I imagine that would also remove whatever is on the vinyl that makes it 'marine vinyl'.

Is there some type of marker, pencil, etc. that is made for this task?

 

[JDA1975]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

I do all my marking for pleats on the sew-foam and sew it upside down...as long as the tensions on your machine are right the bottom stitch should look just as good as the upper...now keep in mind that pleats will use more vinyl than what you mark...so if you want a 2" pleat you will actually mark 2-1/8" or 2-1/16th", you will to run a test strip to see what the actual change is based on the sew foam and machine that you use. also plan ahead for this, say your making a 40" cushion with 2" pleats...you will have 19 pleats so if its 1/8" difference then you will actually cut your vinyl to 42-3/8" so after pleating it is a 40" panel. If this is your first job of this type, spend some time running practice pleats, the key is keeping them straight and even, so even a small amount of off tracking shows huge on the finished product. Good luck with this and shoot us some pics!

 

[jcw74801]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

Now that's funny! I've been racking my brain trying to come up with the right pencil when all I needed to do was flip the material over. I never in a million years would have thought of that. I'll try it on a practice piece. I have already finished a few cushions. It's not hard to learn. I seem to be the only one that notices the novice mistakes. Of course, anything is better than the old stuff that was in the boat. Here is a before and after of my first completed seat. Thanks for the tips...

 

[emoney]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

That's what these forums are for, lol. Yep, I mark all mine on the back side too mainly because I was worried about the same thing you were worried about. Use a good thread, that's the main thing. Nice work on the seat, btw.

 

[Decker83]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

WOW that is some excellent work.

 

[JDA1975]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

that looks good, i would put you to work in my shop! I think you have a handle on it, so I might have went a little more detailed than you needed!

 

[sphelps]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

I think I saw a video of someone using a soap stone type pencil for marking on the finish . They said it would wash right off..
Diamond pleats look great ! Nice work !

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

JDA's Back Marking is a great way of doing it but if you Must mark on the vinyl, Dry Erase Markers work for me. But everybody KNOWS I'm just an....

 

[JDA1975]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

the only problem with dry erase is when doing pleats and manipulating fabric it tends to rub off too easily! soap stone works good, also on lighter fabrics a vanishing ink marker works ok, but it also tends to wipe off fairly easy as well...

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

i've always used just a regular pencil on either side of the vinyl....a little bit of spray cleaner and it has come right off for me

 

[jcw74801]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

Thanks for all the great ideas and kind words. I'd never touched a sewing machine in my life before embarking on this project. Now I can't pass up a sewing machine without stopping to check it out. I found this old Pfaff on Craigslist for $25. It was stiff from being in storage for many years. I cleaned and lubed it and it is an incredible machine. It came with the original sales receipt. It cost $364 in 1957!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

Did you get arrested? You should have, cuz you STOLE that!!!! What a DEAL!!!! Those old Pfaff's never Die, they just keep stitchin!!!! You did a great job on your seats. Hang a sign and do some work for your buddies!!!!

 

[jcw74801]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

I quickly discovered that doing upholstery work is like owning a pickup truck. Be careful who you tell. If someone finds out you have a pickup truck you will always get an invitation on moving day. My boss found out that I was doing my boat seats so he asks if I can make new canopies for his porch gliders. You think I'm going to say no to the boss? Actually, I enjoyed doing it, they turned out great, and it was good practice.

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

yeah...word of mouth spreads quickly....i haven't had much time to work on my seats, or the boat for that matter, due in part because of a lot of little side jobs i've been doing on cushions, awnings and canvas enclosures.....but on the positive sides...creates more $$ to spend on the boat

 

[JDA1975]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

yeah...word of mouth spreads quickly....i haven't had much time to work on my seats, or the boat for that matter, due in part because of a lot of little side jobs i've been doing on cushions, awnings and canvas enclosures.....but on the positive sides...creates more $$ to spend on the boat

That was my thinking, and now I can't find time to spend that extra money on my own boat, the original plan was to do a few side jobs to finance my own boat, but now I have a 2400 square foot upholstery shop and more business than I can keep up with....I have branched out from marine and do auto and home furniture and commercial work as well, have not had a chance to touch my boat in quite some time lol!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

Yeah, I HATE it when work gets in the way of having FUN!!!!!

 

[stevecur]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

Your seats look great. If you want to continue marking on the front with grease pencil it is easily cleaned with wax and grease remover. That is what they prep cars for paint with. Works well on any type of upholstery.

 

[jcw74801]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

Well, I tried laying out my pleating on the foam instead of the vinyl and sewing upside down. It works just great and saves a lot of time. I made two long boat seat cushions and ran into a limitation of my little portable upholstery machine (Sailrite LS-1). With 1/2" sew foam you can't get much under the narrow throat of the machine. I was about to give up and make a plain cushion when my sister suggested dividing the pleated top plate into multiple panels. That gave me the opportunity to mix it up a bit using both straight and diamond pleating. Worked great. Much easier to sew smaller pleated panels and then join them. These pictures look like the same cushion but one is rectangular, for my Dad's boat, and the other is curved for my bay boat. Thanks again for the tips. Still learning and having fun doing it

 

[JDA1975]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

they look good, only thing I would have done differently is use a white thread...I know that you wanted that look but IMO the pleats should speak for themselves without the stitch line screaming...that is just personal preference...glad the flipped marking worked for ya, its just so much easier and you don't have to worry about cleaning off the marks so cheap sharpies work great

 

[jimmy wise]

Re: Question for the upholstery folks about marking vinyl...

Hi. I'm new here and I own a upholstery shop also. I use yellow chalk my self. I sharpen it for a fine line. Also most of my pleats are hidden stitch. Ill post pictures Monday. I'm here to help