Upholstery and curtain replacement

[vdubyafans]

Hi Everyone!

I'm new to this site.  We recently purchased a 1995 Coleman Fleetwood Utah pop-up camper.  The camper is in great shape, but I HATED the color of the
upholstery and curtains . . . so I decided to make my own cushion
covers and curtains. It turned out GREAT!!!!! Then I purchased bed
sheets to put on the mattresses with match my color scheme
(orange). I have had a sewing machine for over 20 years and used to
sew my own clothes (until I had children and priorities changed).
Anyway, I just wanted to share this with everyone.

Cushion Covers: I bought fabric and made covers to go OVER the
existing cushions and upholstery. I did not make them with a zipper
to close them, as my goal was to have something I could put on and
take off easily to wash (my kids are 7 & 3, so washing is
necessary). I made the cushion covers similar to a fitted sheet for
a mattress with elastic around the edges (so it fits over the top of
the cushion and wraps under the cushion. They turned out great.

Curtains: I decided to make curtains but didn't know how to go
about it because the clips that held the original curtains onto the
sliding track were sown onto the curtain itself. I found clips that
fit my sliding track which actually snap onto my new curtains. It
works great. So I replaced every curtain in the pop-up. I decided
to use a mix/match color scheme. My favorite color is orange, and I
love VW Beetles, so I incorporated that into my scheme.

Since I had so much fun with this project, I mentioned it to a local
RV dealer, who informed me that I should have business cards printed
and they would display them for me. They said people are always
asking if they know of anyone who can re-decorate their camper
interior. So, what do you think? Should I give it a try? If so, I
guess I would just be able to do it locally so I could take
measurements of their campers myself. Also, I have no idea how
much to charge for this service. Do you think it should be an
hourly rate plus the cost of the fabric and parts?

I just think that campers are so much more fun and enjoyable if they
are "personalized". Each customer could choose their own color
scheme. They could choose their fabric (solids, stripes,
patterns . . . or all three). They could choose their own theme,
such as hunting, camouflage, flowers, golf, sports, dogs, cats,
fish, stars & moons, Christmas, Autumn, Halloween, Summer, beach,
music, motorcycles, hearts, cars, John Deere! The sky is the
limit!

I live in Charlotte, NC. If you have any suggestions for me, I
would be very interested in your opinion(s). Also, if you would be
interested in this service, let me know. I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks!
Theresa
vdubyafans@...

[beacher]

Sounds great!  My dad was in the upholstery business when he was younger.  It's labor intensive, (yours), but it can be very profitable if you cater to certain clientele, and your work is really good.

Before WWII my dad would fix fine leather chairs at private men's clubs that had been cut, scratched, or burned.  His only training was a leather project at Boy Scout Camp, and my grandmother's Singer sewing machine.  Word spread, and he was soon working on private yatchs and aircraft, (kinda like floating and flying RVs).

He didn't return to it after the war, but he always talked about "the market" for custom upholstery, especially with RVs becoming so popular.

[vdubyafans]

Thanks for the encouragement!
Theresa

Sounds great!  My dad was in the upholstery business when he was younger.  It's labor intensive, (yours), but it can be very profitable if you cater to certain clientele, and your work is really good.

Before WWII my dad would fix fine leather chairs at private men's clubs that had been cut, scratched, or burned.  His only training was a leather project at Boy Scout Camp, and my grandmother's Singer sewing machine.  Word spread, and he was soon working on private yatchs and aircraft, (kinda like floating and flying RVs).

He didn't return to it after the war, but he always talked about "the market" for custom upholstery, especially with RVs becoming so popular.

[wavery]

Hi Theresa,

Sounds like a great venture.

My wife and I lived on a sailboat for 14 years. We sailed around the world a couple times. It started out to be a 3 year voyage then return to the "Real world". While we were in New Zealand, we had some unexpected repair expenses and realized that we would shortly run low on money. We started designing and building custom canvas covers for boats. We didn't have any knowledge of canvas work so we bought a "How-to" book from:
http://www.solentsew.co.uk/sailrite.htm
It really started out exactly the way that you are. We started by building some stuff for ourselves and turned that into a business.

It ended up being such a lucrative business that we were able to extend our voyaging for many more years. In fact, after 6 years, we bought a new bigger yacht and took another trip around the world.

The reason that I bring this up is, don't limit your market. Boats are just another form of RV and have even a higher demand for custom upholstery and canvas work. The demand for custom canvas work (both RV and boats) is unbelievable.

We started out charging by the hour and found that (in the beginning) the cost was too high because we were too slow. We started bidding jobs based on the number of hours that we figured that it "should" take. That took the pressure to perform off. We found that our work was better. After a year or two, we were still charging the same prices but were producing twice as much because we were more experienced.

We ended up farming some of the work out to other people on yachts that had sewing machines and need $. We made the design, cut the material and they did the mundane sewing. Trust me, there is a lot of $ in custom design and sewing jobs.

Good luck to you.

__________________

[Camping Coxes]

I had the same problem when I bought my 1998 Coleman Sun Ridge.  The curtains were this horrible rust color that was really faded and I didn't feel matched the cushions very well.   I went to the local fabric store intending to buy something lightweight, like sheeting or muslin, but got the perfect color (deep tan) in clearance priced curdorouy.  I lined it with drapery lining, and let me tell you, that trailer stays dark in the morning when I want to sleep in!  I used the original clips on top along with the attached netting for the bunk-end curtains and just cut it off at the fabric portion since the netting was in good shape.  For the other curtains along the windows, I got new clips at CampingWorld.  For the ruffle, I chose a burgundy and got new clips at CampingWorld.
 
It was a lot of work and my shoulders were sore once I was done, but I have better-than-original curtains that are a color that I like better.  The only thing I didn't replace was the ruffle above the door.  At first it was an oversight, but then DH said he didn't want to deal with a ruffle in his way when he was putting together the door, so I never bothered making one.
 
Congrats on  your ingenuity!  Yes, I'm sure there would be a market for what you did.  You could always require them to send the original curtains to you so you can match the size and clips for them if they're too far from you.

[mercedes1976]

I made new curtians for my 79 Jayco.  I could not find any clips that would fit into my track, so I cut a strip off the top of my old curtians and sewed it onto the back of the new curtains.  They look great!  I am still waiting to tackle the new cushins. I am thinking about just taking them to an upholstry shop instead of frustrating myself trying to sew them.  So yes, I would deffinatly pay someone to sew them for me.  In fact, email me at mercedes1976@verizon.net and maybe we can work something out!  I would love to have them ready for my first trip this spring!

Mercedes

[mcfay]

I used to work for an interior design work room. If you go and find the fabric for the customer, then you charge double what you paid for the fabric. (That covers your time) Then for the sewing part you charge so much per yard for covering the cushions, and making the curtains. You could call an interion design store and ask what they charge for making simple curtains. Act like you need them to make you some. That way you can get an idea of the local pricing.