Tips & Trends for Custom Upholstery

There is no denying that a classic car or vintage hot rod's exterior is the very first thing that captures the eye. A stellar paint job and clean lines are what draws people in and often times it's a certain model's stance and finishing exterior touches that sells a car to a collector or enthusiast. That said, unless you only plan on using that classic car as a piece of eye candy that remains in your garage, you are likely to spend much more time inside the vehicle than staring at it from the outside. And so, don't you want an interior that matches the gorgeous exterior? If so, then quality custom upholstery ought to be a top concern.

Tips & Trends for Custom Upholstery for Your Classic Car or Vintage Hot Rod Restoration

First things first, recent years have seen a marked increase of DIY videos and how-to tutorials. We think this rise of get-it-done and do-it-yourself handymen (and handywomen) is great! That said, while there are many tasks that are easy for first-timers to try and accomplish, there are other aspects of car renovation that call for the professionals.

For example, one custom upholstery project that a lot of people think is easy but is really easy to fail at is replacing the headliner. The headliner for most vehicles will cost in material about the same as labor. So many owners will think themselves clever by cutting the cost in half by installing the material themselves... only to find that installing a headliner requires sensitive handling around easy-to-break plastics and thin metal fasteners. Then, once such an owner realizes the advantages of a professional, they throw everything away including the headliner board only to find out once they come into the shop that the board itself was a necessity and the costs are now more than double the original estimate!

A Professional Eye Can Make All the Difference

While headliners are common fabric work we get at CHRA, many of our clients also come to us with requests for custom upholstery for their seats. In fact, our lead upholstery expert Jay has several gorgeous projects he's working on that we are excited to be able to share in the coming months. Jay has nearly 40 years of experience in doing trim and upholstery work on vehicles and was the man behind the cloth on the '39 Olds Convertible that won the 2016 Ridler Award. While he's always here to talk to clients personally about projects, some trends he's seen recently include:

• Decorative stitch work. One-off stitch patterns and diamond stitch patterns are particularly in high-demand right now.
• NOS fabrics. NOS or "New Old Stock" are materials that have never been used in a manner to cause deterioration and yet were manufactured before a given vehicle's release.

Visit CHRA to learn more and talk to Jay about upholstery projects!