Question for anyone who knows about reupholstery

Hello, I’m doing a complete restoration of an Plycraft Eames lounge chair I got and on the edges of the seats there is piping that runs around the bottom of the cushion. My question is since the leather is rolled over to the bottom and the shape is odd how would you recommend I go about measuring to get my piping in the right spot? This is my first time upholstering and I’m comfortable with everything else that goes into this but the piping part is throwing me off.

Thank you

(This is similar to the approach used for making Cosplay patterns for EVA foam assembly. You might find some YouTube guides via this route.)

Cover the leather with Press-n-Seal plastic wrap. Cover that with duck tape. Mark the seams on the duck tape. This’ll make a skin covering the piece. Mark occasional matchup lines across seams to aid in assembly.

Peel the skin off, then cut along the lines. This will make masters for the new patterns.

Make patterns from the masters by flattening them out onto posterboard. Trace around masters and clean up lines, adjusting as needed.

Make parts which should be symmetric just so. If needed, make a new master from V1 tracing, fold to aid in making symmetrical, then unfold to make a V2 tracing.

Mark match lines on tracings.

Add seam allowances to tracings then cut out for patterns.

Important: sticky side of duck tape is the flesh side of the leather, so at some point you’ll need to handle the flip - transferring the match lines to the flesh side of the patterns. Mark which side of the pattern should be visible when working on the flesh vs hair side of the leather lest you inadvertently cut a mirror image of what you need.

Optional: scan into computer with a ruler in the scan, then scale to 1:1 and make digital pattern for cutting vegtan on laser. Don’t forget to handle match lines via small hole or notch on seam or similar.

Or, use patterns to trace directly onto leather. Remember to mark match lines on leather (via pen, punch, or small cut on edge). Is your pattern right side up?

Use lots of small binder clips to help hold leather matched up while sewing. Pre-gluing seams with Barge might be an option for some joins.

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Great reply, I hadn’t thought of making a pattern via wrapping it in something. Thanks so much, I’ll report back

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post pictures when you’re done!

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Finished it up a couple of days ago. Happy with how it came out, I ended up cutting some extra pieces of fabric I had laying around and using those as a rough pattern once I had the new foam and batting on the cushions. Thank y’all for the help!

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Wow! The “after” photos at the bottom of your link are gorgeous. Good job.

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