1967 Morris Oxford Traveller - Holy thread revival batman

Ok - Standby your carpets & sewing machines - I let Mrs GN take a look at the thread & the pics - For those that don't know Sharon has spent well over 40 years in creating costumes for lots of very well known actors / films / theatre productions / videos / television / bands / solo artists etc and in doing so has worked with every material / fabric imaginable (You will be amazed at what goes into some of the special effects costumes) But she also has qualifications within the upholstery industry - she explained that there specialist feet for machines and then disappeared to her workroom returning several minutes later with 2 tins full of them





They can perform all sorts of tasks 



These are for pleating & ruffling - this is only the reserve collection - the main collection left with a van load of kit to Glasgow this morning in advance of her commencing a new series of 'Outlander' on Monday (Apparently a 6 month + production) - So nothing here to picture what you need - But a quick online search yielded a pic of one 



You need a compensating foot - this is a stepped foot in order to allow for the thicker material height on the binding side - available in both left & right hand configurations - she also suggests that if at all possible you source the foot in teflon rather than metal - The metal foot is creating friction against the fabric which then leads to the bunching / difficult feed through the foot - the feet are available with a quick search and are circa £5 - £8 each, she suggests that you purchase both a left & right hand - note that they are different step heights available so you might want to do a little measuring research before ordering - Apparently the way to stich the binding is to do the upper side first then wrap over the edge and then do the underside - A more professional finish is to stich the binding with it facing inwards towards the centre of the carpet then wrap it over the edge to stich the underside - Using this method means that you only see one line of stitching - Let me know if want any further info or Sharon could always talk you through the process should you wish  


  

for all of us. this is the one area i have never tried but want to so all this helps alot
cheers

Likewise, I'd love to attempt this at some point. I'm going to the shed now to dust off my mum's old Singer, which she purchased new in the early fifties. I'm pretty sure the warranty cards and manual are all still with it.

Great work on the carpets, very detailed. The interior is really shaping up nicely!

When you've got lemons, you've got to make lemonade - or whatever the saying is.

I hunted high and low for the cotton twill edging in burgundy, because it is easier to handle. Everywhere is sold out.
Well Woolies, Amazon and eBay - that is as far as my world extends.

The various feet that Peter and Chris suggested were proving surprisingly elusive, in the UK and for my Singer 99K.

But I don't have lemons - cocktail consumption over the holidays, was at an all time high.
But I do have a 3D printer.

First up was a simple guide to keep my stitching straight-ish.
There were already a couple of holes in the bed, but as my machine is 1955, they were probably BA, Whitworth or some other nonsense.
2 seconds with a drill and an M4 tap, and I've got something usable.



Next up was a strap cutter.
As seen on Repair Shop for cutting leather belts etc.
I found a design on the internet that takes Stanley blades, hence the "Safety" duct tape.



Pass it down a roll of leathercloth, and it produces edging - in my case 48mm wide.
My material is flexible, but a small cut with a pair of scissors gets it started, from then on it is easy and very satisfying.



Marking and cutting this lot with scissors would have done my nut in.
The piece of vinyl I've got only 1.4m long, so I'm down to working in relatively short lengths,



A technique I've used before, and others have suggested.
Hidden stitch on the reverse.....




Then fold it over and glue it.
I was trying to make the corners 45degree miters, but was a bit messy.
A more methodical approach with more ventilation for the glue fumes will see it neater hopefully.



The reverse is tidy enough for me.



This is the rear passenger foot well laid into place.



Pretty happy with that. The first piece isn't perfect, I can get the others a little neater now I've got a plan.

It is a pretty quick and painless method too, so I'll hope to do a little more over the weekend.

Thanks for all the tips, sure has been useful to me, and others who've got this on their to-do list.

3500v8 - absolutely - I love the concept of using stuff like 3D printing in combination with a 1955 sewing machine.
and I love doing stuff myself, the only thing I've farmed out on this build is bench seat upholstery.
This car is more of a hobby and learning exercise than a form of transport for me.

Quite a productive day with glue and the sewing machine.
The gearlever gaitor was knackered, Morris ones seem to be about £30.
An MGA one is £8, but is smaller.



I fancied a leather gearlever gaitor anyway.
So, I sewed up a simple cone, and then placed it into the chrome trim ring, so I could cut it to size.



All the gluing done, and ready for reassembly.



The carpet around the gearlever was always going to be a challenge.
I stitched on a short length of webbing, this gave me the 3-D shape necessary



Finagling the large section of carpet to sew on the edging was awkward.
A machine with a proper reverse would have made this a lot easier.



I put that all together, along with the passenger front footwell carpet, which I edged this morning.



Very happy with that.

Next is to make a panel for the side of the centre console, and then trim it in leathercloth.
Then I can push the car over in the garage and do the drivers side.

Thanks for looking.

Looks sumptuous. Can't help thinking that the bare ally door cards look a little at odds against all that plushness thats going in now.

Aye - you may well be right.

I've got the option of trimming them further down the line, and maintaining the style.
I reckon some very thin self-adhesive closed cell foam would follow the design quite well.
Then glue on some mulberry leathercloth to that.

Best I get it running and driving first though 

Just wrapping up a three day weekend, and spent a lot of it buttoning up the interior trim.

The front is pretty much done for now.

• Added furflex to both o/s doors - I hate fitting furflex, but it is done now.
• Ply panels made, trimmed and fitted for the centre console
• Kick panel fitted and carpet glued on the sills etc.
• All the floormats have now been edged and press-studs fitted to hold them in place.

The rear is pretty much done too.
Whilst the seat was out of the way I re-did the b-pillar trims.
They've been done in two halves, the top half, is trimmed in headliner material.
The bottom half just brushed ali to match the door trims.
Most of that will get hidden when the seat belts go in.
I've ordered some new grey ones, as the others were bright red - and I'm trying to work out the bright fittings.



The other side is done too.



The section between the front and rear foot mats, is largely covered by the bench seat.
But because I've mounted the bench further back a lot of bracketry and nonsense is on show.

I've put the bench seat back into place, so now I can see what I still need to cover.



I'll try and get those mats made up and some other bits and bobs tidied over the next week or two.

As always - thanks for looking.

More great work, you've clearly been busy! The console, gear shift, carpets and binding marry it all together nicely.

The exposed bracketry you mention doesn't look too bad as it's black, but would you consider painting it in the same colour as the leather cloth? I had a similar issue and ended up covering most of the seat mounting parts in matching vinyl: