Heh, thanks, but it's really not too hard. The downtubes especially are easy, I'd recommend it to anyone. If you want to leave off the stitches, it's literally 10 minutes work. Cut some leather. Spray glue on downtube. Wrap leather around tube. Smooth out creases. Trim excess. Voila!

 

Thanks, that's really helpful! I'll have to give that method a go, you've definitely got a nice even stitch line there.

 

Damn...YOU'RE GOOD!!!!

 

Here is a better shot...

Also, how are you running your thread for your stitching? I tried two different ways and found one method INFINITELY better than the other.

The first way I tried was weaving the thread (running stitch) through the holes along the whole length of the leather, looping around the edge of the leather and running it back. I got some irregular stitches this way because of the uneven tension on the holes depending upon which direction had stronger tension.

What I do now is to simulate a sewing machine. (Hope this makes sense) I take the thread and run it half the length of the thread through the first hole, wrap the remaining half (the tail) around the end of the leather to the other side. I then take the needle and loop it around the tail thread and back out through the same hole. Pull both threads tight, but a bit tighter on the tail thread so the loop stays on the backside of the leather. Also, you will want to loop the stitch thread around the tail thread in the same direction each stitch (i.e. loop clockwise or anti-clockwise). It keeps it a bit straighter doing that as well.

I can try to take pictures of this if my description doesn't make sense.

Finally, remember leather is dynamic. It isn't a uniform thickness. It also stretches if you pull on it, pull too hard on the thread or don't support it when punching your holes.

 

Perfect, thanks. I guess I'll have to try again. You make it look easy.

 

Good job by the two of you. You totally make this look easy and very professionally done! "Rough".....you're so discounting your skills. Well done!

 

YAY! Looks great.

 

Ok, here is a pic of the threading technique I use...

The "tail thread" forms the stitch on the back side of the leather.

 

thanks for the compliments... xray's looks really good too; it was their work that inspired me to try automotive leather work on my MINI.

 

Xray, I bought some leather today and plan on doing my downtubes this weekend. Would you mind giving a little more detail on the actual pattern/installation of the leather to the part? I read on a different thread that your stitching is decorative, but can't figure out then where your actual 'seam' is... did you just get the cut ends to meet in the back when gluing down?

I'm really nervous about doing this myself, but my husband's knee brace has whacked the heck out of my downtube and it looks like crap after only a month of ownership so it must be done! If I can get it even close to looking as good as yours I'll be happy!

 

I'm planning on doing the same thing myself. I will be removing the downtubes, cutting the leather to fit (wrapping it around the tubes, marking then cutting) adding the decorative stitching down the front, then sewing by hand so the seam is facing the fire wall.

I did this with my emergency brake handle and my door handles and it turned out fine both times. Allowed me to get a good snug fit too.

 

Unfortunately I don't have any patterns or dimensions of the leather piece I used to wrap the tubes. There was a lot of trial and error involved in finding out what worked. This was also due to the fact that it was my first time using a sewing machine and working with leather too.
I started off trying to sew two curved pieces together, with the curve matching the curve of the downtube side on. This didn't work too well at all, so eventually I just used a rectangular piece with two seams stitched down the center of the piece.
So, just make sure your piece is a couple of inches longer than the tube, and about 4 times wider than the flat side of the tube. Run a couple of stitches down the long axis and you're done. Now just coat the tube in glue and attach, starting with the area under the stitching. You'll need to pull and stretch it to fit, but try not to pull too hard otherwise you'll get an obvious stretching pattern in the leather. The seam at the back isn't actually particularly pretty, but as you can't see it, it's kind of a moot point. I just wrapped both sides around so they met, then tried to trim as best I could along the rear edge and get a straight edge. You might get it looking better if you fold the edges under themselves, but it's really just about impossible to see unless you're looking for it (head in footwell)

Honestly, it all makes sense once you start gluing. Just start pressing it down from the front, then once you get to the back you'll see how best to trim it. The top of the tube is even easier as you can just glue the edge down inside the area that will be hidden by the radio/ac controls.

Hope that helps! Just take your time, and tack down a little leather at a time. It's surprisingly easy to work with on simple shapes, so you should be fine.

Good luck!

 

This is a much more elegant approach. Mine was just brute force, but it works!
I think the thing I learned most from the whole leather experiment is the importance of seams. Getting large areas covered and looking nice is relatively easy. Getting two pieces to meet, or finishing off edges is much more difficult. All the areas that I'm unhappy with on mine have issues in these areas...

 

I'm also doing it that way because I don't want to glue the leather to the tubes. I didn't glue my leather to my hand brake and it hasn't budged with daily use.



I like being able to undo what I've done. Y'know, in case I want to change it someday or who knows.... I'm just weird that way. I've never liked mods that can't be easily undone, because I'm a stockist at heart.... (shhh don't tell anyone!)

 

Okay, so I started out just fine today getting the tubes wrapped, but now I'm SO frustrated.

Got the center console apart and the cutting/wrapping/gluing thing done easily. Then I decided to put the first tube in before starting on the next just to see how it'd look. There the trouble starts...

The tube wouldn't go back in with any reasonable amount of force, so I headed back to the store for thinner leather. Found the slimmest piece there and, since I already had a 'pattern' I slapped the new bit on.

It STILL doesn't fit! Has anyone else had this problem? What now?

ANY suggestions welcome

 

Well... If you are going to cover it in leather, why not take a rasp (a very strong file) to the bottom of the downtube that goes into the center panel? Thin it down... maybe a bit of taper starting a few cm above the place where the top of the center panel is.

This is just an idea... I'm definately not talking from experience here!

While I'm spouting untested, half-baked ideas, maybe it would be better to file down / sand down the inside of the hole that the downtube fits into. That piece is much larger, though, and might be much more expensive than just buying a new downtube should it not work right.

Or maybe some lube? (There's always time for lubrication!) Some leather conditioner, perhaps, or saddle soap?

 

ok, so you gonna make some of these for nam and sell 'em or what?

i think they look fantastic! I'd love to get that shiftboot for my '03

 

My thoughts had already been headed in that direction, and using good ol' American girl ingenuity I took an emery sponge to the section that holds the downtube, used a piece of a sandwich bag as a 'lubricant' in the middle of the tube where it was getting stuck, and... viola - in they went!

So Xray and Creseida's 10-minute job took me most of the day, and I didn't even do the stitching. BUT I'm still really thrilled because it's the first time I've ever taken apart part of a car and put it back together by myself! The MINI continues to make life more fun and rewarding