Today: Working the first dinette seat cushion - the u-shape connector piece.
Determining a preferred cushion corner piping look, I found a suitable template to round the top plates - a large flat washer and cut each corner to size.
Then located the mid points of the long sides and the center point of the boxing, and made small notches. That way I can align things during assembly.
A little big on that one.
Before laying out the basting tape, I came in 1/8" and made marks, in essence giving me a seam allowance of 3/8".
That's the only one I did like that too, because the cover ended up being a bit too snug. The remaining four were loosened slightly by going right to the fabric edges and using just a 1/4" seam allowance. Those were still tight, and difficult to compress and staple, but easier than this one.
Where I butt jointed the piping I followed the video instructions and folded the vinyl pieces together, then folded one end into a half point, kind of like the first fold on a paper airplane to get the point. I got a look I didn't like. If it was just thin fabric it would have been okay, but since it was thicker vinyl fabric it was just too bulky.
This was the only one I did like that. The rest were left unfolded as kind of seen in the piping attached to the staple flap above.
I'll talk more tomorrow about doing the actual sewing when I show the other cushions. For today, here's the finished cover.
Back in the garage, I moved some staples to make room for the same sort of rounding on the boards, cut the carpet back and then used a jig saw to round each wooden corner.
Once stuffed we had this.
After fitting, I pulled it back apart and stapled the front edge of the cover to the backer board, then re-stuffed and compressed and pulled the thing together, stapling down the other three sides. I didn't get pictures.
Determining a preferred cushion corner piping look, I found a suitable template to round the top plates - a large flat washer and cut each corner to size.
Then located the mid points of the long sides and the center point of the boxing, and made small notches. That way I can align things during assembly.
A little big on that one.
Before laying out the basting tape, I came in 1/8" and made marks, in essence giving me a seam allowance of 3/8".
That's the only one I did like that too, because the cover ended up being a bit too snug. The remaining four were loosened slightly by going right to the fabric edges and using just a 1/4" seam allowance. Those were still tight, and difficult to compress and staple, but easier than this one.
Where I butt jointed the piping I followed the video instructions and folded the vinyl pieces together, then folded one end into a half point, kind of like the first fold on a paper airplane to get the point. I got a look I didn't like. If it was just thin fabric it would have been okay, but since it was thicker vinyl fabric it was just too bulky.
This was the only one I did like that. The rest were left unfolded as kind of seen in the piping attached to the staple flap above.
I'll talk more tomorrow about doing the actual sewing when I show the other cushions. For today, here's the finished cover.
Back in the garage, I moved some staples to make room for the same sort of rounding on the boards, cut the carpet back and then used a jig saw to round each wooden corner.
Once stuffed we had this.
After fitting, I pulled it back apart and stapled the front edge of the cover to the backer board, then re-stuffed and compressed and pulled the thing together, stapling down the other three sides. I didn't get pictures.
Today: Playing with Piping
Things are looking up!
Oh I don't discount the the same problems and difficulties, and every day, new damages come up. Now SoCal is burning and takes its place in the news cycle where so many others have come and gone: the Bay area fires, and before that - when this summer Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon were burning - what's being called by firefighters in California as the "Fire Year", as opposed to the "Fire Season", which they describe as the new normal.
Earthquakes in the middle of the country, the hurricanes affecting Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico and so many of the other islands. Flooding everywhere, and very similar examples all over the world!
And that's just the weather - which is one of the ONLY serious things we can talk about, and only because these can be tied to the difficulties our fellow truck camper campers are faced with day in and day out.
My spirits were recently lifted when I was personally encouraged by our son, and his vision, his hopes! He had been living in Santa Rosa, which perhaps you remember burned a few weeks ago. The local coffee shop where he and so many others used to gather each morning to solve the world problems, burned to the ground! The local Home Depot - where he bought materials while making his living - burned. His landlady's home was spared. This all happened shortly after he had moved to a nearby community which did not burn.
Some of his previous coffee-house friends were living in tents in the hills, where he and they discussed and planned around the campfire, what comes next. There is a rebuilding plan, and it's being put into play. But it's not conventional! Necessity is the mother of invention, and traditional building practices are simply too expensive, and materials not available, for the vast majority of those who are affected. Their vision holds great potential, but depends on the old way accepting a need for change - and that is often the most difficult part to get authoritative "heads into".
Then Time Magazine lifted my spirits in their selection of their "Person of the Year". Only when we recognize - and make our standard - what we can all contribute together: male and female, old and new, yesterday's greatness with tomorrow's hopes of a sustainable share for all, will we as a species move into the destiny that awaits us. First we must see it, then we can "pluck it" and survive!
Once we figure out how to fully uncover, and remove from our system, the criminal element, which uses their illegal or immoral funds and excessive available time, to twist our work and efforts into their gains, we will rise to our full potential as a species. Thank you Time Magazine!
Now where was I? Oh yes, piping.
This stuff is meant to mimic our gimp, the interior trim beads that cover our wood edges.
The first step was to install the piping foot.
Note the quarter rounds on the bottom surface of the wide foot. That's to run a double piping. I'll be using just one run of piping, which is the left side of the foot. Then there's a narrow foot in the middle, that the needle goes down through. The narrow middle foot holds the piping seam tight around the other round of the seam. And all together, it "walks" the project as the needle stitches.
Now let's get the practice piece assembled.
Two pieces of scrap fabric, one piece of piping.
I laid a length of 1/4" basting tape on one edge of the finished fabric side, and peeled the paper back from the double sided sticky tape.
This was eerily similar to my "butyl tape" experience used all over Lil' Queeny's exterior moldings.
Then I laid down the piping, then a second run of basting tape, playing with "distances" from the edge in an effort to obtain: needle position away from tape glue, roughly uneven edges, so as to find my 3/8" seam, as opposed to the preferred 1/2" seam due to the "finished size" of the cover based on advice from the practiced cushion makers, etc. Much of this detailed thinking ended up being overkill and over-thinking the whole thing. As we shall eventually see.
I had bought 1/4" basting tape so it wasn't near the needle in a 1/2" seam, and had bought 1/4" piping - thinking it meant the round diameter part, but in actuality, likely means the 1/4" flange.
Next I put the piece in the machine and lowered the foot to hold it tight.
And started my engine, drove it down the track.
And that's all there is to it.
Riiiiight!
Things are looking up!
Oh I don't discount the the same problems and difficulties, and every day, new damages come up. Now SoCal is burning and takes its place in the news cycle where so many others have come and gone: the Bay area fires, and before that - when this summer Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon were burning - what's being called by firefighters in California as the "Fire Year", as opposed to the "Fire Season", which they describe as the new normal.
Earthquakes in the middle of the country, the hurricanes affecting Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico and so many of the other islands. Flooding everywhere, and very similar examples all over the world!
And that's just the weather - which is one of the ONLY serious things we can talk about, and only because these can be tied to the difficulties our fellow truck camper campers are faced with day in and day out.
My spirits were recently lifted when I was personally encouraged by our son, and his vision, his hopes! He had been living in Santa Rosa, which perhaps you remember burned a few weeks ago. The local coffee shop where he and so many others used to gather each morning to solve the world problems, burned to the ground! The local Home Depot - where he bought materials while making his living - burned. His landlady's home was spared. This all happened shortly after he had moved to a nearby community which did not burn.
Some of his previous coffee-house friends were living in tents in the hills, where he and they discussed and planned around the campfire, what comes next. There is a rebuilding plan, and it's being put into play. But it's not conventional! Necessity is the mother of invention, and traditional building practices are simply too expensive, and materials not available, for the vast majority of those who are affected. Their vision holds great potential, but depends on the old way accepting a need for change - and that is often the most difficult part to get authoritative "heads into".
Then Time Magazine lifted my spirits in their selection of their "Person of the Year". Only when we recognize - and make our standard - what we can all contribute together: male and female, old and new, yesterday's greatness with tomorrow's hopes of a sustainable share for all, will we as a species move into the destiny that awaits us. First we must see it, then we can "pluck it" and survive!
Once we figure out how to fully uncover, and remove from our system, the criminal element, which uses their illegal or immoral funds and excessive available time, to twist our work and efforts into their gains, we will rise to our full potential as a species. Thank you Time Magazine!
Now where was I? Oh yes, piping.
This stuff is meant to mimic our gimp, the interior trim beads that cover our wood edges.
The first step was to install the piping foot.
Note the quarter rounds on the bottom surface of the wide foot. That's to run a double piping. I'll be using just one run of piping, which is the left side of the foot. Then there's a narrow foot in the middle, that the needle goes down through. The narrow middle foot holds the piping seam tight around the other round of the seam. And all together, it "walks" the project as the needle stitches.
Now let's get the practice piece assembled.
Two pieces of scrap fabric, one piece of piping.
I laid a length of 1/4" basting tape on one edge of the finished fabric side, and peeled the paper back from the double sided sticky tape.
This was eerily similar to my "butyl tape" experience used all over Lil' Queeny's exterior moldings.
Then I laid down the piping, then a second run of basting tape, playing with "distances" from the edge in an effort to obtain: needle position away from tape glue, roughly uneven edges, so as to find my 3/8" seam, as opposed to the preferred 1/2" seam due to the "finished size" of the cover based on advice from the practiced cushion makers, etc. Much of this detailed thinking ended up being overkill and over-thinking the whole thing. As we shall eventually see.
I had bought 1/4" basting tape so it wasn't near the needle in a 1/2" seam, and had bought 1/4" piping - thinking it meant the round diameter part, but in actuality, likely means the 1/4" flange.
Next I put the piece in the machine and lowered the foot to hold it tight.
And started my engine, drove it down the track.
And that's all there is to it.
Riiiiight!
Today: Making accessories decisions and orders and a bit-o-practice.
Then it was into the head. I better figure out the rest of that mattress before I go using up the remaining fabric all willy-nilly. I wasn't quite ready for that just now; had to think about the whole moisture barrier thing, being a mattress and all - as opposed to just a seat cushion style.
But did a bit-o-checking at my new favorite web site - Sailrite, and found this as a fabric (bottom plate) for the mattress cover. I think it was the better of three types offered.
Cushion Underlining.
And for under the top plate fabric, a sort of moisture barrier, but not in noisy plastic.
Pillow Wrap.
Three yards of both of those, and 7' of white zipper, two white zipper pulls (in case one is messed up when it gets here), and another roll of 1/4" basting tape (temporary holder of pieces to be sewn, instead of using pins).
The tools and materials are starting to gather. And as that occurs the job doesn't appear so daunting. A little practice every now and then hasn't hurt either!
Snuck into DW's sewing room closet this morning before she got up, and found some scraps and bigger (what she, in all seriousness, had already shared with me). This stuff is beige black-out fabric, used by DW recently as backer for Tow-Mater's Route 66 curtains! Extra. We thought it might work good as "staple-straps" to the under board of the seat cushions, sewn to the bottom edge of the cushion boxings, with the piping. Same tone as the piping.
So I tried a seam again. That's the blackout fabric on top.
And on the outside. Here's where it would wrap over the foam bottom corner and into the backing board, where it's stapled. So I suspect about a 2.5" minimum strap for each of the cushion's four under-sides.
Then I just played with several short seams. The pedal feathering, and assisted hand-wheel starts, and stitch locking, is feeling better and better all the time.
But I've hardly looked at the roll of piping, let alone installed the piping foot onto the machine! That's like higher clearance, for we off-road types - the piping foot. The machine's "walking foot design" itself, is more the the four-wheel drive.
Then it was into the head. I better figure out the rest of that mattress before I go using up the remaining fabric all willy-nilly. I wasn't quite ready for that just now; had to think about the whole moisture barrier thing, being a mattress and all - as opposed to just a seat cushion style.
But did a bit-o-checking at my new favorite web site - Sailrite, and found this as a fabric (bottom plate) for the mattress cover. I think it was the better of three types offered.
Cushion Underlining.
And for under the top plate fabric, a sort of moisture barrier, but not in noisy plastic.
Pillow Wrap.
Three yards of both of those, and 7' of white zipper, two white zipper pulls (in case one is messed up when it gets here), and another roll of 1/4" basting tape (temporary holder of pieces to be sewn, instead of using pins).
The tools and materials are starting to gather. And as that occurs the job doesn't appear so daunting. A little practice every now and then hasn't hurt either!
Snuck into DW's sewing room closet this morning before she got up, and found some scraps and bigger (what she, in all seriousness, had already shared with me). This stuff is beige black-out fabric, used by DW recently as backer for Tow-Mater's Route 66 curtains! Extra. We thought it might work good as "staple-straps" to the under board of the seat cushions, sewn to the bottom edge of the cushion boxings, with the piping. Same tone as the piping.
So I tried a seam again. That's the blackout fabric on top.
And on the outside. Here's where it would wrap over the foam bottom corner and into the backing board, where it's stapled. So I suspect about a 2.5" minimum strap for each of the cushion's four under-sides.
Then I just played with several short seams. The pedal feathering, and assisted hand-wheel starts, and stitch locking, is feeling better and better all the time.
But I've hardly looked at the roll of piping, let alone installed the piping foot onto the machine! That's like higher clearance, for we off-road types - the piping foot. The machine's "walking foot design" itself, is more the the four-wheel drive.
Today: Thanksgiving - and finding a big enough mattress chunk out of my remaining fabric.
Well the home remodeling thing isn't a factor now. The kids had to replace a furnace instead. Happens to all of us at one time or another. Plans just have to change.
And today is a day for reflecting on the things that we are thankful for. I'm thankful that this year we're not putting on the event; nope, DD and her family are doing the thing. (Secret shout out to the Thanksgiving Gods!)
Hey! These things are big deals! And guys? Lend a hand for crying out loud! I remember childhood (and teens, and then early married years and even later) where everyone eats and then the guys disappear to the couch and my Mom (and ALWAYS DW) would be in putting stuff away and dishes and stuff. What is that? It always kind of torqued my fasteners to watch the theatrics.
In our home, DW is the chef, you know due to skills and stuff. But I can rinse a friggin' dish! And keep an eye on the trash! When are we going to wake up and realize how much easier life is when we can consider others over our own selfishness and laziness?
This ridiculous world system we've created for the power hungry to screw us all over, just so we can participate in our own "little levels of privilege" is kind of disgusting, and becoming more and more transparent. I can still see the after dinner newspaper up in front of Uncle Dan's fat face. Privilege! Bah.
So I'm Thankful for being born with an ability to see, and an upbringing to be familiar with, those times when I had to stand up for my Mother in a system like that. Thanks Mom! I'm a Thankful Son.
Course I never HAD to learn how to sew. I could have. I mostly didn't have the interest. Wood. That's me, a wood guy. But anyway, before I got further into this cushion thing I had to see how much fabric was left over for the mattress, right? Same stuff, at least on the top plate and the boxing. The bottom plate could be something different, and now will HAVE to be.
I placed the remaining down on a big floor and put the mattress on top. Wow! Barely! And I knew I'd have to seam the peak from the get-go, due to fabric widths.
With these two pieces of scrap I kind of planned out an "add-on".
Down on the cutting table I set in a square and trimmed it.
Then ran the butt seam in the middle of the peak.
You can see a bit-o-pull. Not exactly sure what that is, but the technical term MIGHT just be "learning curve" on my handling while it sews.
Then I pressed it out.
And got it back down on the big floor with the mattress. The instructional videos and things talk about using the mattress as a template for marking your cut line. I made the marks just a tad loose, but after seaming those edges in 1/2" all the way around I expect it will be compressing the mattress good, keeping the fabric tight enough.
Then you come in and join the points (of the mattress corners), with a straight edge; a new cut line. I also "compare measured" the marks, to the mattress, and adjusted sizing ever so slightly as I thought might benefit the overall install.
Then cut it all out.
Now I have enough fabric for both the mattress top plate, the front edge boxing, and likely the remaining boxing, maybe even enough for the zipper plaque on the front hidden peak edge.
But I don't have enough now for some planned bottom-plates on the dinette cushions like I had been thinking about doing, after telling you I wasn't.
So I still have the dinette cushion bottom plates and/or staple strips to decide. But at least I have enough for the mattress. I'm so glad I didn't cut more for the dinette and lose that size for the mattress.
And I'm Thankful for that too!
May you enjoy this special holiday season with your loved ones, and if you have to talk about that, do it with an eye of working together. ๐
Well the home remodeling thing isn't a factor now. The kids had to replace a furnace instead. Happens to all of us at one time or another. Plans just have to change.
And today is a day for reflecting on the things that we are thankful for. I'm thankful that this year we're not putting on the event; nope, DD and her family are doing the thing. (Secret shout out to the Thanksgiving Gods!)
Hey! These things are big deals! And guys? Lend a hand for crying out loud! I remember childhood (and teens, and then early married years and even later) where everyone eats and then the guys disappear to the couch and my Mom (and ALWAYS DW) would be in putting stuff away and dishes and stuff. What is that? It always kind of torqued my fasteners to watch the theatrics.
In our home, DW is the chef, you know due to skills and stuff. But I can rinse a friggin' dish! And keep an eye on the trash! When are we going to wake up and realize how much easier life is when we can consider others over our own selfishness and laziness?
This ridiculous world system we've created for the power hungry to screw us all over, just so we can participate in our own "little levels of privilege" is kind of disgusting, and becoming more and more transparent. I can still see the after dinner newspaper up in front of Uncle Dan's fat face. Privilege! Bah.
So I'm Thankful for being born with an ability to see, and an upbringing to be familiar with, those times when I had to stand up for my Mother in a system like that. Thanks Mom! I'm a Thankful Son.
Course I never HAD to learn how to sew. I could have. I mostly didn't have the interest. Wood. That's me, a wood guy. But anyway, before I got further into this cushion thing I had to see how much fabric was left over for the mattress, right? Same stuff, at least on the top plate and the boxing. The bottom plate could be something different, and now will HAVE to be.
I placed the remaining down on a big floor and put the mattress on top. Wow! Barely! And I knew I'd have to seam the peak from the get-go, due to fabric widths.
With these two pieces of scrap I kind of planned out an "add-on".
Down on the cutting table I set in a square and trimmed it.
Then ran the butt seam in the middle of the peak.
You can see a bit-o-pull. Not exactly sure what that is, but the technical term MIGHT just be "learning curve" on my handling while it sews.
Then I pressed it out.
And got it back down on the big floor with the mattress. The instructional videos and things talk about using the mattress as a template for marking your cut line. I made the marks just a tad loose, but after seaming those edges in 1/2" all the way around I expect it will be compressing the mattress good, keeping the fabric tight enough.
Then you come in and join the points (of the mattress corners), with a straight edge; a new cut line. I also "compare measured" the marks, to the mattress, and adjusted sizing ever so slightly as I thought might benefit the overall install.
Then cut it all out.
Now I have enough fabric for both the mattress top plate, the front edge boxing, and likely the remaining boxing, maybe even enough for the zipper plaque on the front hidden peak edge.
But I don't have enough now for some planned bottom-plates on the dinette cushions like I had been thinking about doing, after telling you I wasn't.
So I still have the dinette cushion bottom plates and/or staple strips to decide. But at least I have enough for the mattress. I'm so glad I didn't cut more for the dinette and lose that size for the mattress.
And I'm Thankful for that too!
May you enjoy this special holiday season with your loved ones, and if you have to talk about that, do it with an eye of working together. ๐
Today: Determining Queeny's cushion sizes, sizing and cutting dinette cushion top plates and boxing strips.
Our comfy seating at the dinette is the main goal of our cushion fit. In other words, the cushion thickness determination was first. More is better right?
We had pulled covers off the foam pads we got out of the kid's Skamper Camper. Some were worse than others - like the one with the cigarette burn. And while the covers had some "durability" built into the cover layers (like a thin foam quilted layer inside the outside surface layer), they were the wrong color - blue - and the wrong size. Of COURSE we would replace them. But thickness? The pads were 3".
Unless it's an extremely "firm" foam, 3" gets compressed pretty quick and your butt is on hard flat surface beneath. Naw. What about 4". Yeah 4" - that's the ticket! See the bed mattress is 5", and 5" at the dinette might be thick cushy, but get too thick and the seat backs start pushing you off the edge. There's a limit. Picture 12" cushions. Nice and comfy, but you're pushed way forward to the seat edge. Edge sitting is one of the WORST factors in the "comfy equation".
Yeah we chose 4".
We had DGS overnight this past weekend. He was helping GMA get something out of the garage fridge for dinner and I was inside the house. DW apparently showed him "his bed" in Lil' Queeny (the dinette), which is probably accurate. I don't really see anyone beyond him ever using that bed, unless it's DW in our old age. I can't fit on it myself.
But DGS came in from the garage all excited and talking about how comfy his bed will be (he crawled up on the poly covered foams).
And BTW, we all watched the Netflix video "Undercover Grandpa", rated PG13 I think. Just a little juvenile, but Oh My Gravy! - That was a funny show for any of us Grandpa types, especially if you have a grandson, say between 7 and 18 years old, to watch it with. Hilarious!
But the cushion thickness of 4" seems to be the right choice.
Now the next sizing issue is the width/length. We all know the cover will compress the foam somewhat, right? And when you place the dinette cushions down into bed mode, you want a compressed fit, nice and tight, so your elbows, knees or hips don't weedle the cushions apart and leave you trying to get comfy on the hard board beneath. So you size larger. But how MUCH larger you ask? I'm glad you asked!
I had to do my "graph paper" thing to decide. Let's start with the bed length, shown here as 75". In essence, the length of a twin, double, or "camper queen" bed. But upon detailed measuring the other day, I discovered it is actually 74 3/4". I'll explain why that matters in a minute.
And the bed width? 38". Yeah I know, a twin is 40". But we're not using a bed width slide-out board, and there's the whole truck cab to camper wall window width to think about, so 38".
And then you divide the bed length total into your cushion sizes to obtain appropriate puzzle pieces. We got 21" x 38" then for the seat bottoms, (19" x 34" for the u-shape connector seat bottom), and 15" x 38" for the seat backs. That combo, in conjunction with the 4" thickness, allows for a surprisingly configurable bed makeup.
For instance, put the u-shape seat bottom connector (less wide at 34") in play as a head board (camper box front wall) and that makes the bed length 4" shorter, because it is a thick headboard, right? Now your bed is only 71" long (plenty for a young GS). Then the other pieces: 21"x2+15"x2+4"=76". 76" squeezed into the 75" of space, makes for a nice tight fit that hips find it hard to work down through.
Or you can use that odd lengthed 34" connector cushion in the bed surface, with the other cushions shifted into position, except one seat back still on the top of the bed, for a head board (or moved completely out to get a full 75" of sleeping length) and in that equation you get 21"x2+15"+19"=76" - again, a nice tight fit into the 75" space.
So there was some finagling to reach our foam sizes. Then we ordered.
AFTER we received the cushions, I came across this instruction from that guy I like at Sailrite? Where he says about half way down under the SECOND heading "Seam Allowances", to make your foam cushions 1/2" larger all the way around than your finished size. Whoops!
So as an example, my 21" cushion should have been 22".
But these cushions seemed plenty tight, probably in part due to the poly wrap, which was also explained as "not considered" for sizing.
And the whole reason I'm even bringing some of this up is because NOW I had to "use what I got", instead of ordering based on what I have. That's okay - regroup right?
To make the cushion's top plate (the top surface - I don't need a bottom plate because I'm doing a different attachment method of the cover to the plywood seat base), I'm supposed to cut it to the size of the foam, which is supposed to be 1/2" larger all the way around (which mine is less than that), so that when you sew in a 1/2" seam allowance all around the plate (to the boxing strips - or height of the cushions) it will size down the top plate's dimension by one inch in both directions, compressing that foam by one inch both ways (1/2" all the way around) giving you a nice tight fit that doesn't just keep the fabric stretched, but also compresses the foam enough that it over-all feels firmer. More like a seat, and less like a pillow. Makes sense to me!
But I was behind the power curve; my foams were smaller than that rule. So I confused myself with the measuring tape and the size available and the cushions dimensions and the calculator, and came up with this.
The front note - called Top Plates; ignore the "boxing note" for now. And you can see I went 3/4" larger than finished, instead of 1" (1/2" all around equals 1" by dimension). That was a compromise, so I didn't compress it too much, which might cause loose cushion fit on the bed length. Yeah, it was a small amount, but with several cushions involved, it all adds up. Just calculator work, trial and error. I sure HOPE I calculated right.
Now what about the Boxing? That's the strip which covers the cushion height (4") and back to the Sailrite link above (Seam Allowance) you add 1/2" (total then of 4 1/2"). Why not 1/2" all around? Making it 5" total? I don't know - but I surmise because it is a shorter overall finished distance (4") than is the top plate (15"-21"), so less squeeze is needed. I can see that - even if it is an assumption.
Now you can look at the Boxing note.
And that's a lot of narrative just to describe where I'm going to set the table saw fence to rip my material.
Oh wait! I was thinking plywood. I can't push this fabric through the saw blade!
Enter DW! She provided a cutter, cutting mat, square frame style rule, and a straight rule. In this picture you also see the scrap I'll use for the head rest cushion.
But the cutting mat is for small pieces. My larger plates, and longer boxing, didn't fit the scene real well; I went back to the sheet-rock tee and scissors.
After marking the back side to the "seam allowance" dimensions, I got this on the first one, the connector seat at the bottom of the u-shape.
Then I did the other four slightly larger plates (seat bottoms and backs) and set them all aside.
Next? The boxing strips. Again I found it best to measure and mark cut lines - then cut out. But now, the cutter wheel was used on the soft surface of the table top itself, made from a material very similar to the cutting mat. Cool!
After squaring up the starting edge, full length, in conjunction with the remaining fabric layout planned for bed cover, un-seamed boxing, mattress zipper plaque, etc. I got something like this.
Then I gathered it all up and set it all aside.
The next step is to attach the piping (like the beaded gimp throughout the camper) to the appropriate cover portions (I think both edges of the boxing), then attach THAT to the top plate, and to whatever I decide to use on the bottom edge for "staple attachment".
And once again, I have to go back onto the web site to learn those methods.
Now what with the learning, and the doing, and the upcoming holiday, and the fact that we're going to be getting into a "home remodeling" thing with the kids, cushion progress may see a bit of retreat for awhile.
But we'll be back sometime or another.
Our comfy seating at the dinette is the main goal of our cushion fit. In other words, the cushion thickness determination was first. More is better right?
We had pulled covers off the foam pads we got out of the kid's Skamper Camper. Some were worse than others - like the one with the cigarette burn. And while the covers had some "durability" built into the cover layers (like a thin foam quilted layer inside the outside surface layer), they were the wrong color - blue - and the wrong size. Of COURSE we would replace them. But thickness? The pads were 3".
Unless it's an extremely "firm" foam, 3" gets compressed pretty quick and your butt is on hard flat surface beneath. Naw. What about 4". Yeah 4" - that's the ticket! See the bed mattress is 5", and 5" at the dinette might be thick cushy, but get too thick and the seat backs start pushing you off the edge. There's a limit. Picture 12" cushions. Nice and comfy, but you're pushed way forward to the seat edge. Edge sitting is one of the WORST factors in the "comfy equation".
Yeah we chose 4".
We had DGS overnight this past weekend. He was helping GMA get something out of the garage fridge for dinner and I was inside the house. DW apparently showed him "his bed" in Lil' Queeny (the dinette), which is probably accurate. I don't really see anyone beyond him ever using that bed, unless it's DW in our old age. I can't fit on it myself.
But DGS came in from the garage all excited and talking about how comfy his bed will be (he crawled up on the poly covered foams).
And BTW, we all watched the Netflix video "Undercover Grandpa", rated PG13 I think. Just a little juvenile, but Oh My Gravy! - That was a funny show for any of us Grandpa types, especially if you have a grandson, say between 7 and 18 years old, to watch it with. Hilarious!
But the cushion thickness of 4" seems to be the right choice.
Now the next sizing issue is the width/length. We all know the cover will compress the foam somewhat, right? And when you place the dinette cushions down into bed mode, you want a compressed fit, nice and tight, so your elbows, knees or hips don't weedle the cushions apart and leave you trying to get comfy on the hard board beneath. So you size larger. But how MUCH larger you ask? I'm glad you asked!
I had to do my "graph paper" thing to decide. Let's start with the bed length, shown here as 75". In essence, the length of a twin, double, or "camper queen" bed. But upon detailed measuring the other day, I discovered it is actually 74 3/4". I'll explain why that matters in a minute.
And the bed width? 38". Yeah I know, a twin is 40". But we're not using a bed width slide-out board, and there's the whole truck cab to camper wall window width to think about, so 38".
And then you divide the bed length total into your cushion sizes to obtain appropriate puzzle pieces. We got 21" x 38" then for the seat bottoms, (19" x 34" for the u-shape connector seat bottom), and 15" x 38" for the seat backs. That combo, in conjunction with the 4" thickness, allows for a surprisingly configurable bed makeup.
For instance, put the u-shape seat bottom connector (less wide at 34") in play as a head board (camper box front wall) and that makes the bed length 4" shorter, because it is a thick headboard, right? Now your bed is only 71" long (plenty for a young GS). Then the other pieces: 21"x2+15"x2+4"=76". 76" squeezed into the 75" of space, makes for a nice tight fit that hips find it hard to work down through.
Or you can use that odd lengthed 34" connector cushion in the bed surface, with the other cushions shifted into position, except one seat back still on the top of the bed, for a head board (or moved completely out to get a full 75" of sleeping length) and in that equation you get 21"x2+15"+19"=76" - again, a nice tight fit into the 75" space.
So there was some finagling to reach our foam sizes. Then we ordered.
AFTER we received the cushions, I came across this instruction from that guy I like at Sailrite? Where he says about half way down under the SECOND heading "Seam Allowances", to make your foam cushions 1/2" larger all the way around than your finished size. Whoops!
So as an example, my 21" cushion should have been 22".
But these cushions seemed plenty tight, probably in part due to the poly wrap, which was also explained as "not considered" for sizing.
And the whole reason I'm even bringing some of this up is because NOW I had to "use what I got", instead of ordering based on what I have. That's okay - regroup right?
To make the cushion's top plate (the top surface - I don't need a bottom plate because I'm doing a different attachment method of the cover to the plywood seat base), I'm supposed to cut it to the size of the foam, which is supposed to be 1/2" larger all the way around (which mine is less than that), so that when you sew in a 1/2" seam allowance all around the plate (to the boxing strips - or height of the cushions) it will size down the top plate's dimension by one inch in both directions, compressing that foam by one inch both ways (1/2" all the way around) giving you a nice tight fit that doesn't just keep the fabric stretched, but also compresses the foam enough that it over-all feels firmer. More like a seat, and less like a pillow. Makes sense to me!
But I was behind the power curve; my foams were smaller than that rule. So I confused myself with the measuring tape and the size available and the cushions dimensions and the calculator, and came up with this.
The front note - called Top Plates; ignore the "boxing note" for now. And you can see I went 3/4" larger than finished, instead of 1" (1/2" all around equals 1" by dimension). That was a compromise, so I didn't compress it too much, which might cause loose cushion fit on the bed length. Yeah, it was a small amount, but with several cushions involved, it all adds up. Just calculator work, trial and error. I sure HOPE I calculated right.
Now what about the Boxing? That's the strip which covers the cushion height (4") and back to the Sailrite link above (Seam Allowance) you add 1/2" (total then of 4 1/2"). Why not 1/2" all around? Making it 5" total? I don't know - but I surmise because it is a shorter overall finished distance (4") than is the top plate (15"-21"), so less squeeze is needed. I can see that - even if it is an assumption.
Now you can look at the Boxing note.
And that's a lot of narrative just to describe where I'm going to set the table saw fence to rip my material.
Oh wait! I was thinking plywood. I can't push this fabric through the saw blade!
Enter DW! She provided a cutter, cutting mat, square frame style rule, and a straight rule. In this picture you also see the scrap I'll use for the head rest cushion.
But the cutting mat is for small pieces. My larger plates, and longer boxing, didn't fit the scene real well; I went back to the sheet-rock tee and scissors.
After marking the back side to the "seam allowance" dimensions, I got this on the first one, the connector seat at the bottom of the u-shape.
Then I did the other four slightly larger plates (seat bottoms and backs) and set them all aside.
Next? The boxing strips. Again I found it best to measure and mark cut lines - then cut out. But now, the cutter wheel was used on the soft surface of the table top itself, made from a material very similar to the cutting mat. Cool!
After squaring up the starting edge, full length, in conjunction with the remaining fabric layout planned for bed cover, un-seamed boxing, mattress zipper plaque, etc. I got something like this.
Then I gathered it all up and set it all aside.
The next step is to attach the piping (like the beaded gimp throughout the camper) to the appropriate cover portions (I think both edges of the boxing), then attach THAT to the top plate, and to whatever I decide to use on the bottom edge for "staple attachment".
And once again, I have to go back onto the web site to learn those methods.
Now what with the learning, and the doing, and the upcoming holiday, and the fact that we're going to be getting into a "home remodeling" thing with the kids, cushion progress may see a bit of retreat for awhile.
But we'll be back sometime or another.
Thanks guys; so glad you're getting some positives out of this effort.
Sounds good Jim, just PM me when you're thinking of something like that.
Today: Sewing and installing the dinette "back-wall" cushion.
With the fabric cut, it was time to sew a seam at each of the four corners. These are short, shouldn't be too hard - right?
From the back side, I folded over the first corner into a 45. Lowered the presser foot, and gingerly put my own foot down on the throttle.
Upon flipping it over and turning it inside in, (outside out?) I got this.
Of course that sharp corner was expected. And as expected, I didn't like it. I had pre-planned a "miter" to the corner, and DW showed me how.
The gist is to cap off the seam with a short perpendicular cross seam. To get there, you fold the fabric/corner into a sort of "house peak" shape, with the first seam straight up and down in the vertical.
Depending on the project, you might fold the first seam to one side or the other, or cut a small slice and fold to both sides. I just folded to the "sides" of the finished cushion.
And "hand-rolled" several stitches, then went back over it - for kicks, if nothing else.
That capped off the sharp corner like this. It's not perfect, and each corner looked slightly different, but it made for a better finish in my mind.
Here's all four.
Then it was back out to the shop.
Here I took a little scrap and added it to the foam rubber length, as the Skamper Camper cushion used, was a little shorter than our dinette area, and even the shortened area we were covering on the wall.
That's on top of the carpeted plywood platform board, carpet face down now.
I cut the Thermolam corners and fitted it to the foam size.
Then rolled it over, folded it in, and stapled it (3/8" T50 staples) to the board.
Then did the same with the fabric. Now here is some discussion.
The foam is thin (1.5") and weak. Easily compressed. So instead of having a "mitered corner" box cushion, it was like, "pull that sucker in tight". No need for the seams or anything!
This would have just as easily been done with a flat piece of fabric, and folded, trimmed corners! But oh well, like my Mother told me after I was lamenting how my my disc-jockey schooling didn't lead to my actual career, she said, "no experience or schooling" is wasted. It all adds to "foundation".
I could tell you stories about my Mom's strengths! Especially in the workplace of the 60s and 70s, and in light of what I agree is an imbalance between the genders in our society, something that's starting to become a subject of worthwhile discussion - but maybe I'll save that reflection for when we do "Fairweather June". Suffice for now, that I take a stand for the respected balance of both! Working together!
Anyway, the fancy corners I created, made for a nice spot to pull down into the plywood corners!
I had to trim some out to get the folds satisfactory. And the results were like this.
I guess the seams actually worked well, even if the installation took on a slightly different use of same.
Set in place it was something like this.
Now to fasten it to the wall, I wanted visual balance, and screws into framing, not just paneling. As it turned out, that worked well with this pattern. I used 2" black construction (sheetrock) screws, with the brass decorative washers, in play throughout the camper.
And I liked that height for the slight visual of the cream colored trim behind, and at the top of the cushion.
Note the temporary spacer boards below the cushion holding it up 2"
Drilling the screw holes through the cushion (big enough to help prevent screw twist to the fabrics) was CRAZY! First I used a leather punch on the carpet side. Then 1/8" drill bit through the wood, pressed down on a scrap board edge through the foam, the Thermolam, and the fabric. The Thermolam was the least cooperative, but worked best with firm (two knees and full body weight) on top of the carpeted board, full foam/fabric compression and drill pressure downward into the scrap wood edge below. The Thermolam really wanted to twist up. Tough Stuff!
Here's the one end, and access to the internal camper corner bracket.
And the other end.
The space underneath.
And with other pieces in place.
Note the wall cushion's height is handy for an arm rest. And with the mounting screws in the middle of the cushion's height, the cushion is flip-able if the top ever gets soiled or worn.
These poly wrapped foam pieces will "compress" further as the covers get put on. There's a sizing method to that end; something I learned about regarding how big to size your foam, and covers. So that'll be next. If I can figure out how to do it.
Sounds good Jim, just PM me when you're thinking of something like that.
Today: Sewing and installing the dinette "back-wall" cushion.
With the fabric cut, it was time to sew a seam at each of the four corners. These are short, shouldn't be too hard - right?
From the back side, I folded over the first corner into a 45. Lowered the presser foot, and gingerly put my own foot down on the throttle.
Upon flipping it over and turning it inside in, (outside out?) I got this.
Of course that sharp corner was expected. And as expected, I didn't like it. I had pre-planned a "miter" to the corner, and DW showed me how.
The gist is to cap off the seam with a short perpendicular cross seam. To get there, you fold the fabric/corner into a sort of "house peak" shape, with the first seam straight up and down in the vertical.
Depending on the project, you might fold the first seam to one side or the other, or cut a small slice and fold to both sides. I just folded to the "sides" of the finished cushion.
And "hand-rolled" several stitches, then went back over it - for kicks, if nothing else.
That capped off the sharp corner like this. It's not perfect, and each corner looked slightly different, but it made for a better finish in my mind.
Here's all four.
Then it was back out to the shop.
Here I took a little scrap and added it to the foam rubber length, as the Skamper Camper cushion used, was a little shorter than our dinette area, and even the shortened area we were covering on the wall.
That's on top of the carpeted plywood platform board, carpet face down now.
I cut the Thermolam corners and fitted it to the foam size.
Then rolled it over, folded it in, and stapled it (3/8" T50 staples) to the board.
Then did the same with the fabric. Now here is some discussion.
The foam is thin (1.5") and weak. Easily compressed. So instead of having a "mitered corner" box cushion, it was like, "pull that sucker in tight". No need for the seams or anything!
This would have just as easily been done with a flat piece of fabric, and folded, trimmed corners! But oh well, like my Mother told me after I was lamenting how my my disc-jockey schooling didn't lead to my actual career, she said, "no experience or schooling" is wasted. It all adds to "foundation".
I could tell you stories about my Mom's strengths! Especially in the workplace of the 60s and 70s, and in light of what I agree is an imbalance between the genders in our society, something that's starting to become a subject of worthwhile discussion - but maybe I'll save that reflection for when we do "Fairweather June". Suffice for now, that I take a stand for the respected balance of both! Working together!
Anyway, the fancy corners I created, made for a nice spot to pull down into the plywood corners!
I had to trim some out to get the folds satisfactory. And the results were like this.
I guess the seams actually worked well, even if the installation took on a slightly different use of same.
Set in place it was something like this.
Now to fasten it to the wall, I wanted visual balance, and screws into framing, not just paneling. As it turned out, that worked well with this pattern. I used 2" black construction (sheetrock) screws, with the brass decorative washers, in play throughout the camper.
And I liked that height for the slight visual of the cream colored trim behind, and at the top of the cushion.
Note the temporary spacer boards below the cushion holding it up 2"
Drilling the screw holes through the cushion (big enough to help prevent screw twist to the fabrics) was CRAZY! First I used a leather punch on the carpet side. Then 1/8" drill bit through the wood, pressed down on a scrap board edge through the foam, the Thermolam, and the fabric. The Thermolam was the least cooperative, but worked best with firm (two knees and full body weight) on top of the carpeted board, full foam/fabric compression and drill pressure downward into the scrap wood edge below. The Thermolam really wanted to twist up. Tough Stuff!
Here's the one end, and access to the internal camper corner bracket.
And the other end.
The space underneath.
And with other pieces in place.
Note the wall cushion's height is handy for an arm rest. And with the mounting screws in the middle of the cushion's height, the cushion is flip-able if the top ever gets soiled or worn.
These poly wrapped foam pieces will "compress" further as the covers get put on. There's a sizing method to that end; something I learned about regarding how big to size your foam, and covers. So that'll be next. If I can figure out how to do it.
Today: Getting familiar with the sewing machine - again (first time was months ago). Cutting the first fabric.
Getting feet wet meant leaving the comfort zone of the shop, and setting up in the new "sewing room", downstairs in the laundry.
This unfinished room in the basement was originally finished as a bedroom by the previous owner. At that time, the laundry - on the other side of the wall - was shared with the water utility room, and it was cramped and spidery and had to be accessed through a 3/4 bath. Laundry room accessible only through the bathroom! Weird. We moved the laundry onto the opposite side of the same wall, bringing it out of the dark, and into the bedroom, making it a large laundry room - AND DW's sewing room.
Eventually as kids moved away, we brought DW upstairs, setting up her sewing room on the main floor, in another bedroom. So when we picked up this new machine, with its own larger footprint, we put it down here in the old sewing/laundry room.
We found the government issued gray tables (one table, and one credenza) recently at a second-hand store - for cheap - and snapped them up. When we first married, I had a job as the foreman for a paint crew that re-painted these sorts of government office furniture pieces "on-site" at various military and federal government offices in northern Utah. So I was intimately familiar with their build quality - which was high. We also have a two-section glass door bookcase - repainted, and used quite attractively in our living room.
The machine table came with the machine, but I re-worked it. For one thing, I went through it with the paperwork and cleaned and oiled and checked adjustments as described by the manual (online - most helpful was a military maintenance manual).
This photo was more recent, after the current oiling. There must be 30 or so points to oil on this machine regularly!
A number of the holes you see in the body of the machine are places to put a drop or two of oil.
Front and back, and underneath, and behind doors. Johnny, show us what's behind Door #1!
Yup. 8-10 places in here. Okay, maybe 6 or 7. But some machines, like the Japanese copy of the Singer - called a Consew - have a little red paint at each place. Not on this baby. You have to have recollection, an instruction book, or routine familiarity - to remember where all the oiling points are.
I also set the adjustable table height, and the foot pedal, etc., to my body size, and replaced the larger pulley on the motor with a smaller pulley, to slow the machine down.
New belt to fit.
Check out the needle threading. Up top - in from the back, over and in through the side. In front, down, back up, down again. Over to the tension-er discs and spring.
It's THAT knurled nut adjuster, that gives the needle thread tension. That's important - I learned. In essence, it keeps the lock of each stitch (needle thread hooked around the bobbin thread) in the middle of the fabric, or project thickness. If the "stitch lock" position is too far to the bottom of the project (bobbin side) the needle tension is too loose, because it allows more needle thread into the stitch, than bobbin thread. So you tighten the tension slightly, and try again.
Like this. Note on this photo, the top surface, or the needle thread side, the stitch looks awesome!
But on the downward side, or the bobbin thread surface, the needle thread is coming out onto the surface and is seen as a small point at each stitch (mostly only visible in this photo at a few spots toward the middle-right). That means the needle thread tension is too loose.
And of course, if that visual stitch problem is on the top surface - the needle side - then the needle tension is too tight, and should be loosened to get the stitch lock position more into the middle of the project thickness. Any seamstress/seamster probably gets to where it's second nature to adjust on the fly - as they fly. Me? Way slower process. But I used some scrap and got fair enough to start.
After the needle thread tensioner, the threading continues down around another disc/spring thing, that helps control the thread as the needle mechanics go up and down. It continues up and down through the various guides and the lever and such, eventually through the needle eye. Lots of correct threading here, and I have to refer to the instructions each time. That should get less as I get better.
Here's a close-up of the needle, and the walking foot. Walking foot means the foot and the dog (the jagged looking middle piece), move together to pull the project through the machine, so you don't feed it, you let it move the project.
It pulls. You just need to keep things aligned. Like when we learned to drive and Dad said, "keep it between the lines". And we drove at about 5 mph. It was tough! But after we got a little "seat-time", we could increase the speed - and look at us all today! Pulling big loads and stuff down the high-speed highways!
That's how this machine feels to me - 5 mph. But even after slowing it down - reducing it's speed with the pulley change - it is really fast. And jackrabbit starts? Don't get me started!
Here's the bobbin mechanism with the plate pulled back.
And see that "scribed line" on the plate? When the plate is back in position, that line represents 1/2" from the needle. So I'm using 1/2" seam allowance on all seams, so that I can align fabric edges to that line.
After cutting out the first piece of fabric, I had some scrap, so starting practicing stitches, setting tension, various stitch lengths and running short straight seams. I think I settled on 8 - maybe 7 - stitches per inch, which of course would be about 1/8" stitches.
And I was able to feather my foot-pedal pressure to be "reasonable" - especially when using your hand on the wheel for short and slow assistance - but there's a "feel" that will only come with time and practice. Yes - variable speed.
This picture shows how I got a straight seam at first, and then when it came to the end (fingers close to the needle area) the machine whipped it out of my control, and ran off to the side! I equate it to a golf swing slice.
There's no reverse on this machine. The beginning or ending "lock" of a seam is usually accomplished by a short reverse, but is done on this machine in a couple of different ways. Normally, this unit is for lots of straight, fast seaming of thicker, lengthy projects, locked later when a cross seam is made over the first seam. However, there are ways to lock the beginning and end of a seam on here, by raising the foot and re-stitching over a couple of stitches, or by turning the project 180 degrees, etc.
Alright, let's cut my fabric.
This "fold mark crease", where the fabric width was folded in half to roll it onto the bolt, had set up a bit-o-memory, so I laid out the piece in such a way as to avoid having the crease in the project surface.
I marked with a ball-point pen and used the sheet-rock tee, along with my normal tape measure.
After cutting the fabric piece, I used it as a pattern for the Thermolam. Up to this point, I was just using scissors.
So that gave me a large section of "flat", with fold-over tabs on all four sides, like a modified "cross". It's those corner cutouts that will be seamed together to create a sort of large shallow "box" with no bottom. That box goes over the thin foam padding, and fastens to the back of the plywood "bottom". We'll do that maybe tomorrow.
Getting feet wet meant leaving the comfort zone of the shop, and setting up in the new "sewing room", downstairs in the laundry.
This unfinished room in the basement was originally finished as a bedroom by the previous owner. At that time, the laundry - on the other side of the wall - was shared with the water utility room, and it was cramped and spidery and had to be accessed through a 3/4 bath. Laundry room accessible only through the bathroom! Weird. We moved the laundry onto the opposite side of the same wall, bringing it out of the dark, and into the bedroom, making it a large laundry room - AND DW's sewing room.
Eventually as kids moved away, we brought DW upstairs, setting up her sewing room on the main floor, in another bedroom. So when we picked up this new machine, with its own larger footprint, we put it down here in the old sewing/laundry room.
We found the government issued gray tables (one table, and one credenza) recently at a second-hand store - for cheap - and snapped them up. When we first married, I had a job as the foreman for a paint crew that re-painted these sorts of government office furniture pieces "on-site" at various military and federal government offices in northern Utah. So I was intimately familiar with their build quality - which was high. We also have a two-section glass door bookcase - repainted, and used quite attractively in our living room.
The machine table came with the machine, but I re-worked it. For one thing, I went through it with the paperwork and cleaned and oiled and checked adjustments as described by the manual (online - most helpful was a military maintenance manual).
This photo was more recent, after the current oiling. There must be 30 or so points to oil on this machine regularly!
A number of the holes you see in the body of the machine are places to put a drop or two of oil.
Front and back, and underneath, and behind doors. Johnny, show us what's behind Door #1!
Yup. 8-10 places in here. Okay, maybe 6 or 7. But some machines, like the Japanese copy of the Singer - called a Consew - have a little red paint at each place. Not on this baby. You have to have recollection, an instruction book, or routine familiarity - to remember where all the oiling points are.
I also set the adjustable table height, and the foot pedal, etc., to my body size, and replaced the larger pulley on the motor with a smaller pulley, to slow the machine down.
New belt to fit.
Check out the needle threading. Up top - in from the back, over and in through the side. In front, down, back up, down again. Over to the tension-er discs and spring.
It's THAT knurled nut adjuster, that gives the needle thread tension. That's important - I learned. In essence, it keeps the lock of each stitch (needle thread hooked around the bobbin thread) in the middle of the fabric, or project thickness. If the "stitch lock" position is too far to the bottom of the project (bobbin side) the needle tension is too loose, because it allows more needle thread into the stitch, than bobbin thread. So you tighten the tension slightly, and try again.
Like this. Note on this photo, the top surface, or the needle thread side, the stitch looks awesome!
But on the downward side, or the bobbin thread surface, the needle thread is coming out onto the surface and is seen as a small point at each stitch (mostly only visible in this photo at a few spots toward the middle-right). That means the needle thread tension is too loose.
And of course, if that visual stitch problem is on the top surface - the needle side - then the needle tension is too tight, and should be loosened to get the stitch lock position more into the middle of the project thickness. Any seamstress/seamster probably gets to where it's second nature to adjust on the fly - as they fly. Me? Way slower process. But I used some scrap and got fair enough to start.
After the needle thread tensioner, the threading continues down around another disc/spring thing, that helps control the thread as the needle mechanics go up and down. It continues up and down through the various guides and the lever and such, eventually through the needle eye. Lots of correct threading here, and I have to refer to the instructions each time. That should get less as I get better.
Here's a close-up of the needle, and the walking foot. Walking foot means the foot and the dog (the jagged looking middle piece), move together to pull the project through the machine, so you don't feed it, you let it move the project.
It pulls. You just need to keep things aligned. Like when we learned to drive and Dad said, "keep it between the lines". And we drove at about 5 mph. It was tough! But after we got a little "seat-time", we could increase the speed - and look at us all today! Pulling big loads and stuff down the high-speed highways!
That's how this machine feels to me - 5 mph. But even after slowing it down - reducing it's speed with the pulley change - it is really fast. And jackrabbit starts? Don't get me started!
Here's the bobbin mechanism with the plate pulled back.
And see that "scribed line" on the plate? When the plate is back in position, that line represents 1/2" from the needle. So I'm using 1/2" seam allowance on all seams, so that I can align fabric edges to that line.
After cutting out the first piece of fabric, I had some scrap, so starting practicing stitches, setting tension, various stitch lengths and running short straight seams. I think I settled on 8 - maybe 7 - stitches per inch, which of course would be about 1/8" stitches.
And I was able to feather my foot-pedal pressure to be "reasonable" - especially when using your hand on the wheel for short and slow assistance - but there's a "feel" that will only come with time and practice. Yes - variable speed.
This picture shows how I got a straight seam at first, and then when it came to the end (fingers close to the needle area) the machine whipped it out of my control, and ran off to the side! I equate it to a golf swing slice.
There's no reverse on this machine. The beginning or ending "lock" of a seam is usually accomplished by a short reverse, but is done on this machine in a couple of different ways. Normally, this unit is for lots of straight, fast seaming of thicker, lengthy projects, locked later when a cross seam is made over the first seam. However, there are ways to lock the beginning and end of a seam on here, by raising the foot and re-stitching over a couple of stitches, or by turning the project 180 degrees, etc.
Alright, let's cut my fabric.
This "fold mark crease", where the fabric width was folded in half to roll it onto the bolt, had set up a bit-o-memory, so I laid out the piece in such a way as to avoid having the crease in the project surface.
I marked with a ball-point pen and used the sheet-rock tee, along with my normal tape measure.
After cutting the fabric piece, I used it as a pattern for the Thermolam. Up to this point, I was just using scissors.
So that gave me a large section of "flat", with fold-over tabs on all four sides, like a modified "cross". It's those corner cutouts that will be seamed together to create a sort of large shallow "box" with no bottom. That box goes over the thin foam padding, and fastens to the back of the plywood "bottom". We'll do that maybe tomorrow.
Today: Phabric, Phunction and Philosophy.
Wow! What a journey it was trying to choose upholstery fabric! DW is always on the lookout for deals - clearance aisles - you know? (Have you ever tried to correctly spell aisles without spell check? Holy Mackerel Andy!)
A long, long time ago, in a Walmart clearance aisle far, far away, DW bought the ends of two fabric bolts at their clearance prices of $3.00 a yard. "Faux leather" stuff with some sort of petro-chemical (called micro-fiber I think) spread onto a thin canvas-like weave: a black (which we feel won't work on Queeny), and this color in what's called Nubuck (which we chose and chose against, several times, finally settling on "chosen".
Originally more than double that.
And as we looked for fabric online, or at another of the fabric stores in town (brick and mortar stores in OUR area cannot justify the selection available online - but we still try), we found prices generally MUCH higher than either the clearance price we paid, or even its regular price of just under $8 a yard.
And in the last post, I up-sold the online company called Sailrite, even while calling attention to "being careful" about their pricing. Since that post I read this, first paragraph - a note from Jim Grant, and now I'm fully sold on the site, prices included! Hey - I like the guy! His goal is to "help others".
But pricing is relative. What's the project? How many yards are required? If it's 8 yards (pretty good size chunk), then 8 times $3 is $24. Yeah baby!
Now a higher quality outdoor fabric might come in closer to $25 a yard. 8 times $25 is $200. Is $200 a lot more than $25? Absolutely! Is $200 too much to pay for material to cover a major project? Probably NOT! It's all relative and subjective.
Still, we lean toward cheap! And we like it. Heck we LOVE it!
But, there's always that whole thing "you get what you pay for". I think part of the whole "quality of service and product" these days is driven by the consumer demand of "I want more stuff". And as a society, we try to spread our money around to all those things, expecting cheaper pricing on everything. Perhaps instead, we should be more willing to pay higher prices for fewer things - just what we really want/need - not every little "squirrel" that pops up as we wander through our day. Our society's priorities seem to be unbalanced. And manufacturers are only too happy to try and satiate our demands, with cheap, stupid stuff, that we feel empty about anyway, once we get home with it.
But it ain't that simple either! Like everything in life, we try and over-simplify our world-view. We're all in different economic levels. We're all in different "financial disciple" levels. We're all in different "how do I fit in with MY crowd" levels. And all these things create what's called our "paradigm" - our world-view. Like for example, almost ALL of us believe laws are for others, not us. Even such stupid things as adherence - or not - to turn-signal use.
But then we go too far - in our minds. We conclude that "because how we see it, is the correct way" (or we wouldn't hold that view right? We're not going to hold onto an incorrect view, that would just be stupid), then it is ALSO the correct view for EVERYONE to hold. And when we run across those people who DON'T hold our view, it is our job to correct them. And if they don't come along willingly, then we have the right and the responsibility to force them into submission. What the heck is that?
It seems to me we're getting closer and closer to a full on attitude of "screw others", and "I'll take, take, take". Where did that come from? Society isn't individuals, it's an organism. That organism is made up of millions and billions of individuals, but overall it's an organism. Our organism is in bad shape right now - like its immune system is attacking itself.
Right when I retired, I got Congestive Heart Failure. No, not the regular causes, maybe a virus, maybe just the "luck of the cards". But if it was a virus - and that seems the most likely in my case - here's how that works. Intestinal bug, migrates from there to the heart muscle. The body's immune system recognizes both the heart characteristics and the bug as "one and the same" (similar biologies that I don't understand, but Science does, and I'm okay with that) and the immune system attacks both the bug AND the heart. Next thing you know - Heart Failure.
The Body attacked the Body! (And it was working on Lil' Queeny those first two years that gave me the drive and goal to complete her before the heart problem "rolled me away", and I really thought I was a goner. Oh sure - all stable now. Thanks for asking!
But that's where I fear we are today. The body of society is attacking the body of society. I for one, am not sure I want to live in it anymore - I'm good to go. But that "cop out" attitude brings in another thought I've wondered about too. What if the reason western society doesn't seriously consider the idea of reincarnation, is because if we all really believed we had to "return to this earth" and live again in one or two generations, maybe we would be more concerned about the world we leave behind, and that might disrupt western society's economic model. Selfish motivation "for the now", in other words.
And if society's immune system is attacking itself, we need less "misguidance" (immune system attacking the heart because it resembles the bad-guy bug) and we need more "healthy heart", the "love of mankind" (humankind) that the Man 2000 years ago said we're supposed to have - as have many other special philosophers and teachers over the course of human existence. Love=Heart. Get it?
My neighbor said he's concerned about the world we're leaving our kids. I said, "I'm concerned about the world our kids are setting up for us in our old age". You can tell which generation is in control anytime you want. All you have to do is listen to the current version of "elevator music". If it's your parent's stuff? You aren't yet being asked to contribute your input to the world's problems; maybe the more "enlightened" or "compassionate" of you should start speaking up now anyway! If it's your music in the elevator? Your world choices MATTER! To EVERYONE! If the music you hear bothers you? Not your style, too loud, can't relate? It's likely the generation just younger than you is at the helm, up to bat!
I hope for a world where we can recognize these things. Then maybe we can solve some of these problems, where we currently hate everyone different than ourselves.
Sorry. I forgot where I was. We're not supposed to talk about important things here. Campers, yeah that's what were talking - campers!
Recently, we got this stuff too, what's called Thermolam, for a foam cover on the 1.5" thinner "dinette back-wall" cushion, since it would help the fabric stick to the foam surface (anti-shifting) and act as a little protection where the fabric rolls over the edge of our platform boards.
And all the other fabric considerations? Lots of samples from two different online suppliers. But between fabric stretch in different ways, and colors that may, or may not work, we finally decided to just use what we had, even if the color is a little "bland". It's hard to tell just how it's going to turn out. The camper colors take on one look under the shop lights, and they'll take on another look under full sun. So we'll just keep a good thought.
Also, Lil' Queeny has a certain style to her. She's not really a 4" green and cream vertical striped upholstery" kind of girl. Maybe a more elegant patterned "bronze and cream" or something like that could have worked. Maybe the solid we're choosing will be best due to all of Queeny's OTHER bling. Yeah - maybe we over-thought it all.
One last thing today before I get to work on the first cushion - the recliner lounge tilting thing.
Here's the vision. And it will be easier to fine tune it as we get covers on, so we can sit in here and move around without tearing up the poly cover over the foam pieces. Learn the exact angles needed for our bodies in this setting.
Supports of some sort (I have two or three different ideas), behind and underneath.
Okay, no more putting off. I better get my feet wet.
Wow! What a journey it was trying to choose upholstery fabric! DW is always on the lookout for deals - clearance aisles - you know? (Have you ever tried to correctly spell aisles without spell check? Holy Mackerel Andy!)
A long, long time ago, in a Walmart clearance aisle far, far away, DW bought the ends of two fabric bolts at their clearance prices of $3.00 a yard. "Faux leather" stuff with some sort of petro-chemical (called micro-fiber I think) spread onto a thin canvas-like weave: a black (which we feel won't work on Queeny), and this color in what's called Nubuck (which we chose and chose against, several times, finally settling on "chosen".
Originally more than double that.
And as we looked for fabric online, or at another of the fabric stores in town (brick and mortar stores in OUR area cannot justify the selection available online - but we still try), we found prices generally MUCH higher than either the clearance price we paid, or even its regular price of just under $8 a yard.
And in the last post, I up-sold the online company called Sailrite, even while calling attention to "being careful" about their pricing. Since that post I read this, first paragraph - a note from Jim Grant, and now I'm fully sold on the site, prices included! Hey - I like the guy! His goal is to "help others".
But pricing is relative. What's the project? How many yards are required? If it's 8 yards (pretty good size chunk), then 8 times $3 is $24. Yeah baby!
Now a higher quality outdoor fabric might come in closer to $25 a yard. 8 times $25 is $200. Is $200 a lot more than $25? Absolutely! Is $200 too much to pay for material to cover a major project? Probably NOT! It's all relative and subjective.
Still, we lean toward cheap! And we like it. Heck we LOVE it!
But, there's always that whole thing "you get what you pay for". I think part of the whole "quality of service and product" these days is driven by the consumer demand of "I want more stuff". And as a society, we try to spread our money around to all those things, expecting cheaper pricing on everything. Perhaps instead, we should be more willing to pay higher prices for fewer things - just what we really want/need - not every little "squirrel" that pops up as we wander through our day. Our society's priorities seem to be unbalanced. And manufacturers are only too happy to try and satiate our demands, with cheap, stupid stuff, that we feel empty about anyway, once we get home with it.
But it ain't that simple either! Like everything in life, we try and over-simplify our world-view. We're all in different economic levels. We're all in different "financial disciple" levels. We're all in different "how do I fit in with MY crowd" levels. And all these things create what's called our "paradigm" - our world-view. Like for example, almost ALL of us believe laws are for others, not us. Even such stupid things as adherence - or not - to turn-signal use.
But then we go too far - in our minds. We conclude that "because how we see it, is the correct way" (or we wouldn't hold that view right? We're not going to hold onto an incorrect view, that would just be stupid), then it is ALSO the correct view for EVERYONE to hold. And when we run across those people who DON'T hold our view, it is our job to correct them. And if they don't come along willingly, then we have the right and the responsibility to force them into submission. What the heck is that?
It seems to me we're getting closer and closer to a full on attitude of "screw others", and "I'll take, take, take". Where did that come from? Society isn't individuals, it's an organism. That organism is made up of millions and billions of individuals, but overall it's an organism. Our organism is in bad shape right now - like its immune system is attacking itself.
Right when I retired, I got Congestive Heart Failure. No, not the regular causes, maybe a virus, maybe just the "luck of the cards". But if it was a virus - and that seems the most likely in my case - here's how that works. Intestinal bug, migrates from there to the heart muscle. The body's immune system recognizes both the heart characteristics and the bug as "one and the same" (similar biologies that I don't understand, but Science does, and I'm okay with that) and the immune system attacks both the bug AND the heart. Next thing you know - Heart Failure.
The Body attacked the Body! (And it was working on Lil' Queeny those first two years that gave me the drive and goal to complete her before the heart problem "rolled me away", and I really thought I was a goner. Oh sure - all stable now. Thanks for asking!
But that's where I fear we are today. The body of society is attacking the body of society. I for one, am not sure I want to live in it anymore - I'm good to go. But that "cop out" attitude brings in another thought I've wondered about too. What if the reason western society doesn't seriously consider the idea of reincarnation, is because if we all really believed we had to "return to this earth" and live again in one or two generations, maybe we would be more concerned about the world we leave behind, and that might disrupt western society's economic model. Selfish motivation "for the now", in other words.
And if society's immune system is attacking itself, we need less "misguidance" (immune system attacking the heart because it resembles the bad-guy bug) and we need more "healthy heart", the "love of mankind" (humankind) that the Man 2000 years ago said we're supposed to have - as have many other special philosophers and teachers over the course of human existence. Love=Heart. Get it?
My neighbor said he's concerned about the world we're leaving our kids. I said, "I'm concerned about the world our kids are setting up for us in our old age". You can tell which generation is in control anytime you want. All you have to do is listen to the current version of "elevator music". If it's your parent's stuff? You aren't yet being asked to contribute your input to the world's problems; maybe the more "enlightened" or "compassionate" of you should start speaking up now anyway! If it's your music in the elevator? Your world choices MATTER! To EVERYONE! If the music you hear bothers you? Not your style, too loud, can't relate? It's likely the generation just younger than you is at the helm, up to bat!
I hope for a world where we can recognize these things. Then maybe we can solve some of these problems, where we currently hate everyone different than ourselves.
Sorry. I forgot where I was. We're not supposed to talk about important things here. Campers, yeah that's what were talking - campers!
Recently, we got this stuff too, what's called Thermolam, for a foam cover on the 1.5" thinner "dinette back-wall" cushion, since it would help the fabric stick to the foam surface (anti-shifting) and act as a little protection where the fabric rolls over the edge of our platform boards.
And all the other fabric considerations? Lots of samples from two different online suppliers. But between fabric stretch in different ways, and colors that may, or may not work, we finally decided to just use what we had, even if the color is a little "bland". It's hard to tell just how it's going to turn out. The camper colors take on one look under the shop lights, and they'll take on another look under full sun. So we'll just keep a good thought.
Also, Lil' Queeny has a certain style to her. She's not really a 4" green and cream vertical striped upholstery" kind of girl. Maybe a more elegant patterned "bronze and cream" or something like that could have worked. Maybe the solid we're choosing will be best due to all of Queeny's OTHER bling. Yeah - maybe we over-thought it all.
One last thing today before I get to work on the first cushion - the recliner lounge tilting thing.
Here's the vision. And it will be easier to fine tune it as we get covers on, so we can sit in here and move around without tearing up the poly cover over the foam pieces. Learn the exact angles needed for our bodies in this setting.
Supports of some sort (I have two or three different ideas), behind and underneath.
Okay, no more putting off. I better get my feet wet.
Today: Dinette/Lounge/Guest-Bed Upholstery Beginnings.
This is the part that scares me. Working with fabric - a whole new material - and some different tools.
And I'M fortunate enough to have DW to have my back! But even she - as long-term and skill-built as she is, what with her maternal ancestral teachings, and her own aptitudes and built-upon experience and skill (more hands-on - than this modern computer driven sewing - with quilting, clothes, etc.). But she's never done the industrial size machine stuff. Here's something new for both of us!
I'll get to the fabric, but the "build style" - that's been pretty strong in my head for quite some time now.
You know what we've always said - we want multi-function, small size, quality build, comfortable - and the first question that pops up in the mind is "Comfortable? In a u-shape dinette? Are you kidding me?", and that's usually followed up with evil cackling.
Yeah, that's a tough task. I saw a post here in TCs back ago, about just that very subject. Someone in it said the seat-back should be reclined about 20 degrees. And if your seat back ain't straight up and down, the seat itself will need to be tilted, or your butt will want to continuously slide off! Butt sliding, and straight backs are both uncomfortable. What to do?
I found this yesterday to help illustrate.
Well we decided to make our dinette cushions multi-functional from the start. Now a normal camper cushion is simply a box cushion (we like this Sailrite website, both for purchases and instructional videos and such - watch pricing though). And that sort of cushion is just a block of foam with fabric tight around it. It gets its support from what it sits on. Pretty weak, in and off itself - structurally speaking.
And this Fabric Calculator at Sailrite is so helpful. Note the cushion styles, "box, fold-over, and platform".
For us, we felt a preferred cushion style would be a platform bottom, that we could use as a surface that can be tilted and supported from behind and underneath to create lounging capability. Here's Sailrite's example of that.
Box Cushion on a Platform.
Also, by stapling to a platform bottom, you eliminate need for zippers, while making the piece more "upholstered-like".
But - it's still a tiny space, so a lot of lounging tilt just won't fit. Now with a tilt-able backing on each cushion, we can have three modes: Straight up Dining mode, Tilted Lounge Mode, and Flat Bed Mode.
We'll go through all of those as this thing progresses.
Lately I've been kind of moving back into stuff. After thinking though all the possible platform thicknesses, I chose to just go 1/4" plywood. Thick enough to "bridge" over under-supports (that whole tilt thing), thick enough to hold a staple, flat and rigid surface - instead of compressible foam, and thin enough so each cushion segment won't be TOO heavy.
Off we went to the home center.
We picked up carpet runner for the back side of the platforms, under $20...
And one sheet of 1/4" ACX, about $20.
And laid out the sizes of the boards, 1/2" smaller than the cushion, all the way around.
Marked them.
Gave each piece a good edge sanding, to round those sharp corners. Fabric and batting will be wrapping around them.
Then brushed 'em off good and laid 'em out.
Next was to roll out the carpet runner and cut pieces to fit.
I just used 1/4" T50 staples every 8" or so along the edges. No rounding over, because the material is too thick, and this is simply a "finished side" in carpet (instead of more painting and poly, or weaker fabric - as in box cushion, no platform, etc.) against the interior camper surfaces that are either poly finished or carpet as well. Sound deadening, thermal and shifting resistance, visually attractive, structural and supportive, etc.
This shows the finished platforms in place, but upside down for the visual. Once cushioned, these surfaces will be downward, toward the camper's other interior surfaces.
And keep in mind, those head and foot seat backs will be 5" higher, because they will be sitting on top of the seat cushion.
So far - so good. Now to start into this new fabric and upholstery experience with the easier "back wall" of the dinette. You know, as opposed to the head/foot seats and backs. It's the camper's side wall under the window, but I'm calling it the dinette's "back wall". The platform cushion there will be a fold-over style, just because the cushion is only 1.5" and is more of a "mounted-flat upholstered wall-segment" than anything else. It won't recline in other words. I'll do it first for the experience and practice. Next.
This is the part that scares me. Working with fabric - a whole new material - and some different tools.
And I'M fortunate enough to have DW to have my back! But even she - as long-term and skill-built as she is, what with her maternal ancestral teachings, and her own aptitudes and built-upon experience and skill (more hands-on - than this modern computer driven sewing - with quilting, clothes, etc.). But she's never done the industrial size machine stuff. Here's something new for both of us!
I'll get to the fabric, but the "build style" - that's been pretty strong in my head for quite some time now.
You know what we've always said - we want multi-function, small size, quality build, comfortable - and the first question that pops up in the mind is "Comfortable? In a u-shape dinette? Are you kidding me?", and that's usually followed up with evil cackling.
Yeah, that's a tough task. I saw a post here in TCs back ago, about just that very subject. Someone in it said the seat-back should be reclined about 20 degrees. And if your seat back ain't straight up and down, the seat itself will need to be tilted, or your butt will want to continuously slide off! Butt sliding, and straight backs are both uncomfortable. What to do?
I found this yesterday to help illustrate.
Well we decided to make our dinette cushions multi-functional from the start. Now a normal camper cushion is simply a box cushion (we like this Sailrite website, both for purchases and instructional videos and such - watch pricing though). And that sort of cushion is just a block of foam with fabric tight around it. It gets its support from what it sits on. Pretty weak, in and off itself - structurally speaking.
And this Fabric Calculator at Sailrite is so helpful. Note the cushion styles, "box, fold-over, and platform".
For us, we felt a preferred cushion style would be a platform bottom, that we could use as a surface that can be tilted and supported from behind and underneath to create lounging capability. Here's Sailrite's example of that.
Box Cushion on a Platform.
Also, by stapling to a platform bottom, you eliminate need for zippers, while making the piece more "upholstered-like".
But - it's still a tiny space, so a lot of lounging tilt just won't fit. Now with a tilt-able backing on each cushion, we can have three modes: Straight up Dining mode, Tilted Lounge Mode, and Flat Bed Mode.
We'll go through all of those as this thing progresses.
Lately I've been kind of moving back into stuff. After thinking though all the possible platform thicknesses, I chose to just go 1/4" plywood. Thick enough to "bridge" over under-supports (that whole tilt thing), thick enough to hold a staple, flat and rigid surface - instead of compressible foam, and thin enough so each cushion segment won't be TOO heavy.
Off we went to the home center.
We picked up carpet runner for the back side of the platforms, under $20...
And one sheet of 1/4" ACX, about $20.
And laid out the sizes of the boards, 1/2" smaller than the cushion, all the way around.
Marked them.
Gave each piece a good edge sanding, to round those sharp corners. Fabric and batting will be wrapping around them.
Then brushed 'em off good and laid 'em out.
Next was to roll out the carpet runner and cut pieces to fit.
I just used 1/4" T50 staples every 8" or so along the edges. No rounding over, because the material is too thick, and this is simply a "finished side" in carpet (instead of more painting and poly, or weaker fabric - as in box cushion, no platform, etc.) against the interior camper surfaces that are either poly finished or carpet as well. Sound deadening, thermal and shifting resistance, visually attractive, structural and supportive, etc.
This shows the finished platforms in place, but upside down for the visual. Once cushioned, these surfaces will be downward, toward the camper's other interior surfaces.
And keep in mind, those head and foot seat backs will be 5" higher, because they will be sitting on top of the seat cushion.
So far - so good. Now to start into this new fabric and upholstery experience with the easier "back wall" of the dinette. You know, as opposed to the head/foot seats and backs. It's the camper's side wall under the window, but I'm calling it the dinette's "back wall". The platform cushion there will be a fold-over style, just because the cushion is only 1.5" and is more of a "mounted-flat upholstered wall-segment" than anything else. It won't recline in other words. I'll do it first for the experience and practice. Next.
Today: Status report on where we are, relating to all our projects. And Lil' Queeny's Dinette Cushions are here!
It's been a number of months since I've made a Lil' Queeny post. That's going to change now pretty quick.
We got a lot done this Summer - and Spring and Fall.
Finished painting the house. Now THAT was a job - much harder than I remember it being 10 years ago when we did it last. But DW did the lion's share of the actual paint application, while I did prep and installed window trim boards before paint. Then caulking, refinishing fixtures, new in some cases. Nice updated color choices. We're very pleased, and the neighbors have been commenting favorably. So we got that going for us. Which is good.
Bought some more projects.
Found Tow-Mater this Spring and did him up pretty quick. About four or five months I guess. Still some work to do on him, but he's "on the road".
Found another TC - Ta-Ton-Ka. That post describes why we're doing a salvage and harvest operation on him.
Picked up Fairweather June most recently. She'll be a frame off, complete demo, salvage and rebuild. Much custom, and looking forward to that one. DW is calling the shots on her.
We even have a sort of "Campground Setting" taking shape in the unimproved portion of our property - what we've always called the field, or the "North Forty" - where DS and his buds used to dig hideouts and play Army growing up. The purpose being - a place for us to park the results of this new found hobby we are enjoying so much. Maybe in our old age, we'll wander around from camp site to camp site and enjoy beer-thirty in/at one camper or the other, before retiring to our own comfy bed in the house!
Also, on paper at least, and in our minds - and in conjunction with coordination with our son and his girlfriend (DS&V), the "Teal Tripper"! Probably after Lil' Queeny, and before Fairweather June.
And lest I forget, one other future build, we'll simply refer to now as "The Po' Boys". We're staying fairly secretive about this one.
Through all of this activity, Lil' Queeny has been waiting patiently. And we haven't been doing nothing on her. No Sir! There's been work done that has yet to be posted, and like I said in the beginning, that reporting is coming up pretty quick now.
Our plan is to finish Lil' Queeny this winter, and get her on the truck ready to roll! Once we have her operational, and when we find (if we find) she meets our travel needs, we'll get rid of the big Komfort TT - if we can justify a sale. You know how the depreciation works and all.
But for today, let's just show what we got for Lil' Queeny recently. Cushions!
We had been planning to use the foam cushions which came out of the Skamper Camper, and add some pieces to those to make them one inch thicker, and a little larger. Wrap them all up in one cover, know what I mean? But since we are novices at covering cushions, we finally decided it would be smarter to start out with new cushions of the proper dimensions. We used The Foam Factory. The were affordable, and have a pretty helpful web site. Order turnaround and shipping were very professional.
We added the cushion wrap option, which was also quite affordable.
Now see the unwrapped foam is from the Skamper Camper. It will be fastened directly to the wall, but removable. The thicker cushions will move around for the dinette/lounge/or bed configurations.
This odd length piece is the seat between the two dinette ends, and can be used in any number of positions.
Like over here for example.
Even so, a full width here clears the window, becomes a back for the lounge (we have wedge shapes planned to aide in that configuration), and is on the camper's "cold wall" to the outside, whereas the other end of the bed shares the warmer interior bathroom wall.
We also bought zipper and piping feet for the 1954 Industrial Singer 111W155, and a smaller pulley and new belt to slow it down. We have the fabric, need the zippers, and then we'll be covering cushions and the mattress. That may well be the last thing we do on Lil' Queeny - but it's coming.
Other threads besides "Galley and Greatroom" that we'll be in a lot are: Exterior, and in Bathroom, some in Electrical, Night Chamber, and probably several items as last things in Finishes and Finishing. Links to all of these are found in the opening post of each of the Lil' Queeny threads.
For those of you enjoying the posts, thanks for your patience. It's starting to ramp up.
It's been a number of months since I've made a Lil' Queeny post. That's going to change now pretty quick.
We got a lot done this Summer - and Spring and Fall.
Finished painting the house. Now THAT was a job - much harder than I remember it being 10 years ago when we did it last. But DW did the lion's share of the actual paint application, while I did prep and installed window trim boards before paint. Then caulking, refinishing fixtures, new in some cases. Nice updated color choices. We're very pleased, and the neighbors have been commenting favorably. So we got that going for us. Which is good.
Bought some more projects.
Found Tow-Mater this Spring and did him up pretty quick. About four or five months I guess. Still some work to do on him, but he's "on the road".
Found another TC - Ta-Ton-Ka. That post describes why we're doing a salvage and harvest operation on him.
Picked up Fairweather June most recently. She'll be a frame off, complete demo, salvage and rebuild. Much custom, and looking forward to that one. DW is calling the shots on her.
We even have a sort of "Campground Setting" taking shape in the unimproved portion of our property - what we've always called the field, or the "North Forty" - where DS and his buds used to dig hideouts and play Army growing up. The purpose being - a place for us to park the results of this new found hobby we are enjoying so much. Maybe in our old age, we'll wander around from camp site to camp site and enjoy beer-thirty in/at one camper or the other, before retiring to our own comfy bed in the house!
Also, on paper at least, and in our minds - and in conjunction with coordination with our son and his girlfriend (DS&V), the "Teal Tripper"! Probably after Lil' Queeny, and before Fairweather June.
And lest I forget, one other future build, we'll simply refer to now as "The Po' Boys". We're staying fairly secretive about this one.
Through all of this activity, Lil' Queeny has been waiting patiently. And we haven't been doing nothing on her. No Sir! There's been work done that has yet to be posted, and like I said in the beginning, that reporting is coming up pretty quick now.
Our plan is to finish Lil' Queeny this winter, and get her on the truck ready to roll! Once we have her operational, and when we find (if we find) she meets our travel needs, we'll get rid of the big Komfort TT - if we can justify a sale. You know how the depreciation works and all.
But for today, let's just show what we got for Lil' Queeny recently. Cushions!
We had been planning to use the foam cushions which came out of the Skamper Camper, and add some pieces to those to make them one inch thicker, and a little larger. Wrap them all up in one cover, know what I mean? But since we are novices at covering cushions, we finally decided it would be smarter to start out with new cushions of the proper dimensions. We used The Foam Factory. The were affordable, and have a pretty helpful web site. Order turnaround and shipping were very professional.
We added the cushion wrap option, which was also quite affordable.
Now see the unwrapped foam is from the Skamper Camper. It will be fastened directly to the wall, but removable. The thicker cushions will move around for the dinette/lounge/or bed configurations.
This odd length piece is the seat between the two dinette ends, and can be used in any number of positions.
Like over here for example.
Even so, a full width here clears the window, becomes a back for the lounge (we have wedge shapes planned to aide in that configuration), and is on the camper's "cold wall" to the outside, whereas the other end of the bed shares the warmer interior bathroom wall.
We also bought zipper and piping feet for the 1954 Industrial Singer 111W155, and a smaller pulley and new belt to slow it down. We have the fabric, need the zippers, and then we'll be covering cushions and the mattress. That may well be the last thing we do on Lil' Queeny - but it's coming.
Other threads besides "Galley and Greatroom" that we'll be in a lot are: Exterior, and in Bathroom, some in Electrical, Night Chamber, and probably several items as last things in Finishes and Finishing. Links to all of these are found in the opening post of each of the Lil' Queeny threads.
For those of you enjoying the posts, thanks for your patience. It's starting to ramp up.
Yesterday's post over in Chapter 13. Exterior, reported on the installation of the Fantastic Vent Fan.
But I wanted to come back here in "Greatroom" to finish it up; interior treatment and operation.
Over there, I had described how I bought the wrong model and decided to drill flange holes to mount it. Like there, I'm asking you here, to be quiet about all that, as I don't want to void my warranty and the less we speak of it in public, the better. Know what I mean?
Here's without any trim, and the wires were hanging. I simply connected white to white and black to black with crimp connectors. Tucked the wires up inside where they were out of the way.
Now for interior treatment, I had this kind of cool old-school, maybe even vintage, metal trim piece that came on my parts Travel Queen. It had this gold, kind of a hammered, paint on it. Because the rest of our interior trims are squared corners, not the rounded that came with my interior plastic Fantastic Fan trim, we found it just looked better with the old style. So I painted it up in the cream color.
Before.
And after, and with some work done to allow for the wiring.
And used the same screw and brass washer treatment found elsewhere.
But there was still this slot and the empty screw holes for the other mounting style.
So I took the inner trim ring...
...over to the table saw and cut off the outer portions of it, allowing it to fill the slot, the screw holes, and come up to the edge of the metal.
And that's how we did the treatment.
But to show operation, that's a little harder with pictures. I had this idea, that I had used to show video over in my Willys snowplow installation operation, two videos that were kind of fun, one to a Bob Seger song and the other to "Lil Willy Won't Go Home, by the Sweet.
So I got Lil' Queeny her own email address and YouTube channel. In this video you'll see a "fringed sheet of paper" I made to show air movement, when I open the window with the fan was on high. Note too, the change of fan sound when the window opens. We were shocked how much flow there was!
Don't make fun of my scissor work; I was always better in wood shop than arts and crafts. For a little more exotic feel I had been looking for DW's grass skirt, but couldn't find it. I did locate the coconut shells though, and my old headhunter mask! Got them stored in the Halloween box where they belong these days.
But I wanted to come back here in "Greatroom" to finish it up; interior treatment and operation.
Over there, I had described how I bought the wrong model and decided to drill flange holes to mount it. Like there, I'm asking you here, to be quiet about all that, as I don't want to void my warranty and the less we speak of it in public, the better. Know what I mean?
Here's without any trim, and the wires were hanging. I simply connected white to white and black to black with crimp connectors. Tucked the wires up inside where they were out of the way.
Now for interior treatment, I had this kind of cool old-school, maybe even vintage, metal trim piece that came on my parts Travel Queen. It had this gold, kind of a hammered, paint on it. Because the rest of our interior trims are squared corners, not the rounded that came with my interior plastic Fantastic Fan trim, we found it just looked better with the old style. So I painted it up in the cream color.
Before.
And after, and with some work done to allow for the wiring.
And used the same screw and brass washer treatment found elsewhere.
But there was still this slot and the empty screw holes for the other mounting style.
So I took the inner trim ring...
...over to the table saw and cut off the outer portions of it, allowing it to fill the slot, the screw holes, and come up to the edge of the metal.
And that's how we did the treatment.
But to show operation, that's a little harder with pictures. I had this idea, that I had used to show video over in my Willys snowplow installation operation, two videos that were kind of fun, one to a Bob Seger song and the other to "Lil Willy Won't Go Home, by the Sweet.
So I got Lil' Queeny her own email address and YouTube channel. In this video you'll see a "fringed sheet of paper" I made to show air movement, when I open the window with the fan was on high. Note too, the change of fan sound when the window opens. We were shocked how much flow there was!
Don't make fun of my scissor work; I was always better in wood shop than arts and crafts. For a little more exotic feel I had been looking for DW's grass skirt, but couldn't find it. I did locate the coconut shells though, and my old headhunter mask! Got them stored in the Halloween box where they belong these days.
It's been about three weeks since I made a post here in Galley and Greatroom. Seems like just yesterday. I thought, 'where have I been'? So I went and looked. Holy Mackerel Andy, I couldn't believe what's been done in three weeks!
I did a range restoration in Propane, the main body color paint in Finishes and Finishing, both 120 and 12 Volt wiring in Electrical, and a drain flange in Fresh Water. My how fun flies when you're having a time!
For those who may not know, this resto-mod is reported in categories, or parts, or chapters - all interchangeable terms on this thing. The Table of Contents links are found as the first post of each category on page one. That acts as a directory for finding your way through this massive project, going on almost three years now.
But I have a goal to get this thing ready for the road by it's purchase date anniversary, in April I think it was. Even so, that whole upcoming upholstery thing might derail that whole plan.
But today I have some finish touches to report on here in Galley and Greatroom. Having completed wiring runs over the archway, and under the dinette floor, I enclosed those, but first - with the vehicle umbilical connection at the left front camper box, just outside the fresh water tank, it was time to cut my access hole for reaching it from inside the camper (access while loaded).
Now if you look close you'll see my mistake holes drilled at the top corners. Doh!
You see, based on the door size, the cut out needed to be 10 1/8" by 13 5/8". The right edge was 2" from the wall (measuring point) and the bottom edge was 5" from the floor. So the top holes needed to be 15 1/8" from the floor. But the left edge holes needed to be 15 3/8" from the right side wall. See that? 15 1/8" and 15 3/8"? Sheesh, could I have made it any harder?
So there's that to fix (and there's a few places like this on the camper). Someday I'll probably do a "mistakes and damages" post.
Anyway, moving forward.
The latch piece on the box extends past the 1/2" plywood. Originally there was a little block of wood here to prevent edge grabbing. I may frame the entire opening in conjunction with that, and in repairing the mistake holes. The camper is 48" wide and the distance between my truck's wheel wells is almost 51", so I have some space for some box bottom edging, and I have a plan and materials to do so in an attempt to protect the bottom wood corners. More on this at a later date.
The door fits very tight so I'll add a thin stick-on weather stripping to the plastic framing for a weather-tight seal.
And gotta watch those door handle swings to not damage wood finish.
Remember this board? It's the only one in the camper that didn't get primer. It's an original piece to the camper and it has that "old camper smell". You know which one I mean - not the offensive odor, but that one that contains lots of happy memories? It's important to feed all the senses in project like this. Besides, the day I built it I didn't want to take time to let paint dry, so there's that.
But by adding surface mount speakers to the dinette floor area walls, I interfered with the slip-in placement of the floor board, so I had to remove some material.
And screwed it down. Skipping centered end holes (with this change and wiring runs nearby) I added four corner screws, for six total.
Now for almost this entire project, at least since I discontinued hanging the trouble light through the roof vent hole to protect the roof surface, I've been hanging it on the propane conduit in the ceiling archway.
But now it was time to enclose. Like the door down below, I was so happy to have completed the finishing work long ago. Putting up "new" stuff is fun. Finishing work is getting very old. But first I had to run the steel wool over the trim pieces. THAT part had not yet been done for these last two strips.
And this one end was the worst portion. Notice these were stapled in place and the board sort of snapped in between them.
It was tight, but I got it to work.
And with the loss of my trouble light hanger, it was time to install lights!
I did a range restoration in Propane, the main body color paint in Finishes and Finishing, both 120 and 12 Volt wiring in Electrical, and a drain flange in Fresh Water. My how fun flies when you're having a time!
For those who may not know, this resto-mod is reported in categories, or parts, or chapters - all interchangeable terms on this thing. The Table of Contents links are found as the first post of each category on page one. That acts as a directory for finding your way through this massive project, going on almost three years now.
But I have a goal to get this thing ready for the road by it's purchase date anniversary, in April I think it was. Even so, that whole upcoming upholstery thing might derail that whole plan.
But today I have some finish touches to report on here in Galley and Greatroom. Having completed wiring runs over the archway, and under the dinette floor, I enclosed those, but first - with the vehicle umbilical connection at the left front camper box, just outside the fresh water tank, it was time to cut my access hole for reaching it from inside the camper (access while loaded).
Now if you look close you'll see my mistake holes drilled at the top corners. Doh!
You see, based on the door size, the cut out needed to be 10 1/8" by 13 5/8". The right edge was 2" from the wall (measuring point) and the bottom edge was 5" from the floor. So the top holes needed to be 15 1/8" from the floor. But the left edge holes needed to be 15 3/8" from the right side wall. See that? 15 1/8" and 15 3/8"? Sheesh, could I have made it any harder?
So there's that to fix (and there's a few places like this on the camper). Someday I'll probably do a "mistakes and damages" post.
Anyway, moving forward.
The latch piece on the box extends past the 1/2" plywood. Originally there was a little block of wood here to prevent edge grabbing. I may frame the entire opening in conjunction with that, and in repairing the mistake holes. The camper is 48" wide and the distance between my truck's wheel wells is almost 51", so I have some space for some box bottom edging, and I have a plan and materials to do so in an attempt to protect the bottom wood corners. More on this at a later date.
The door fits very tight so I'll add a thin stick-on weather stripping to the plastic framing for a weather-tight seal.
And gotta watch those door handle swings to not damage wood finish.
Remember this board? It's the only one in the camper that didn't get primer. It's an original piece to the camper and it has that "old camper smell". You know which one I mean - not the offensive odor, but that one that contains lots of happy memories? It's important to feed all the senses in project like this. Besides, the day I built it I didn't want to take time to let paint dry, so there's that.
But by adding surface mount speakers to the dinette floor area walls, I interfered with the slip-in placement of the floor board, so I had to remove some material.
And screwed it down. Skipping centered end holes (with this change and wiring runs nearby) I added four corner screws, for six total.
Now for almost this entire project, at least since I discontinued hanging the trouble light through the roof vent hole to protect the roof surface, I've been hanging it on the propane conduit in the ceiling archway.
But now it was time to enclose. Like the door down below, I was so happy to have completed the finishing work long ago. Putting up "new" stuff is fun. Finishing work is getting very old. But first I had to run the steel wool over the trim pieces. THAT part had not yet been done for these last two strips.
And this one end was the worst portion. Notice these were stapled in place and the board sort of snapped in between them.
It was tight, but I got it to work.
And with the loss of my trouble light hanger, it was time to install lights!
