How much Leather is needed

[M&M CAPECOD]

We are planning on having our front couch in our '02 28' Classic reupholstered in leather. I would like to go up to the leather district in Boston and pick up the hides myself since I don't want to chance the color being wrong. I found a site online that was selling whole hides at $250 each and they said that it was approximately 50 sq. feet. My question is, how many square feet do I need to redo the front couch??? The trailer is the wider trailer (8 1/2'). The couch is very comfortable to sit on or nap. We would like to add some height to the armrests but are very happy with the softness of the couch itself. Do we have to worry about leather making it less so and should we adjust for this? Also, the couch appears to be two sections back and bottom. It has some gathered fabric on the back and bottom essentially giving the illusion of being three separate cushions on each. I worry that if we repeat that with the leather that it will become a stress point on the bottom cushion. Anyone have an opinion about this? We are not planning on doing this ourselves but would like to have some knowledge before I talk with the upholsterer.
Thanks for your help. Mary

[Over59]

You would be best served by finding the person who is going to do the work first. He / She is going to have their own idea about how to do it or how they will and will not do it. Will they need to (willing to) come to your trailer or do they have a place to put it while they work on it. I think the yardage is the least of your challenges. You might want to make the sections removable and do get extra leather in the event repairs are needed later. That said, what's the Boston leather district. I am about an hour from Boston and will be doing my own work, so a premium source for leather that close would be very helpful.
Thanks

[M&M CAPECOD]

Originally Posted by Over59

That said, what's the Boston leather district. I am about an hour from Boston and will be doing my own work, so a premium source for leather that close would be very helpful.

Hi,
The Leather District is in the South End of Boston by South Station. I spoke with a gentleman today about having the couch done and he said it could take up to three hides but didn't want to guess until he saw it. He said he used to get his leather from the district but he found a supplier that he felt had better quality so he doesn't do it anymore. He did say that if I didn't find the color or finish I'm looking for to go there because they'll dye it for me. I don't have any details on who, what, where or how much but I do know that the guy I'm talking with says his hides are about $300 each. I found a place online down in Tampa that was selling them for $250 each. You can only buy whole hides though. Don't know anything about the company but it's Gary's Upholstery in the Tampa Bay area. Here is the link:
http://www.garysupholstery.com/
I know I've seen hides for cheaper but I want to make sure I'm getting good quality and Gary's will send you up to 2 samples. So I'm going to try that route first and then maybe take the samples up to Boston and see what I can find up there. If anyone has any info on other leather suppliers I'd appreciate it.
Thanks

[airstreamcha]

Originally Posted by M&M CAPECOD

We are planning on having our front couch in our '02 28' Classic reupholstered in leather. I would like to go up to the leather district in Boston and pick up the hides myself since I don't want to chance the color being wrong. I found a site online that was selling whole hides at $250 each and they said that it was approximately 50 sq. feet. My question is, how many square feet do I need to redo the front couch??? The trailer is the wider trailer (8 1/2'). The couch is very comfortable to sit on or nap. We would like to add some height to the armrests but are very happy with the softness of the couch itself. Do we have to worry about leather making it less so and should we adjust for this? Also, the couch appears to be two sections back and bottom. It has some gathered fabric on the back and bottom essentially giving the illusion of being three separate cushions on each. I worry that if we repeat that with the leather that it will become a stress point on the bottom cushion. Anyone have an opinion about this? We are not planning on doing this ourselves but would like to have some knowledge before I talk with the upholsterer.
Thanks for your help. Mary

mary,

if you can email a pic I can tell you how much you will need
hides can be as large as 74sq ft. keep in mind it might be better to change cushion style as not to have to many seams
airstreamcharlie
tradewinds upholstery company
clanton,al.

[M&M CAPECOD]

Originally Posted by airstreamcha

if you can email a pic I can tell you how much you will need
hides can be as large as 74sq ft. keep in mind it might be better to change cushion style as not to have to many seams
airstreamcharlie
tradewinds upholstery company
clanton,al.

Hello Airstream Charlie,
And welcome to the forums, I feel honored that you are sending your first post to my inquiries. Let me tell you first that I have a 2002 28' Classic which has the same layout as the 2005s. I've attached two photos of the couch. The fold out couch has a 78" length by around 48" mattress area. As you can see it has 3 cushions on the bottom and top. I have already decided that I want to make it as clean looking as possible so I would be having them take out all of the tucks and gathers in the cushions. I do want to have the removable armrests beefed up a few inches, they are too low profile and feel uncomfortable to rest your arm on in their current state. I am unsure about whether to add welting to the cushions, any advice would be appreciated. I am currently trying to locate a cherry red leather that is a semi-protected aniline hide. I do like the look of the natural scarring that is in this type of hide. We have an aniline hide living room set and are very pleased with it. It is on the north side of the house and we don't have to worry about sun damage or excessive wear. I thought that having some protection would be better for the trailer and we hope to be spending some extended time in the trailer in the future. Am I way off on this? Should I be looking at a more durable leather? I don't really care for the hides that are embossed but if you think that I should be looking at a more durable leather please let me know what it is. If you also know of where I could locate this, I'd appreciate it. The place doing the upholstering said it was fine for me to get the leather elsewhere since they didn't have what I was looking for. It's too bad that you are so far away, I'd really like to have it done by someone who knows what kind of stresses with heat/cold, trailering, moisture, etc. an airstream couch goes through.

Thanks for your help, I appreciate your insight.
Mary

[M&M CAPECOD]

Well we ordered our leather (4 hides) in Jester Red and took them along with the couch to the upholsterer. We have it back with a bit of leather to spare and it looks great. I reupholstered the overhead cabinet end cap by the door and exposed the speaker that was hidden behind the fabric, it looks great. I plan on taking out the mirrors in the bedroom overhead cabinets and doing the same with the leather. After redoing the fabric on the valances the place is starting to look more like ours and not my gramma's. We plan on painting the walls of the kitchen a green apple and then we'll install the backsplash behind the stove. I had stainless panels cut for the fridge and the backsplash in the bath, I'll install those once the weather warms up a little. Here are a couple of pictures of our progress.

[gryphon]

WOW!!! That looks great. Be sure to post the pictures of finished project.
That's what I love to see. "home"

[wheel interested]

I think it's great to make your home really your home like you are doing. I give you credit. That's a lot of work but well woth it in the end. I would be interested in how you got the stainless for the fridge and how it attaches. Thanks. BTW what are you doing for bedspread?

Originally Posted by M&M CAPECOD

Well we ordered our leather (4 hides) in Jester Red and took them along with the couch to the upholsterer. We have it back with a bit of leather to spare and it looks great. I reupholstered the overhead cabinet end cap by the door and exposed the speaker that was hidden behind the fabric, it looks great. I plan on taking out the mirrors in the bedroom overhead cabinets and doing the same with the leather. After redoing the fabric on the valances the place is starting to look more like ours and not my gramma's. We plan on painting the walls of the kitchen a green apple and then we'll install the backsplash behind the stove. I had stainless panels cut for the fridge and the backsplash in the bath, I'll install those once the weather warms up a little. Here are a couple of pictures of our progress.

[InsideOut]

Look's GREAT! Love the new direction ~

Shari

[eljay]

I have a weak spot for red leather. Looks wonderful!

[M&M CAPECOD]

Originally Posted by wheel interested

I would be interested in how you got the stainless for the fridge and how it attaches. Thanks. BTW what are you doing for bedspread?

Hi Carol,
I've changed out the bedding to light weight red down comforters and coordinated it with new valances in blue. I currently have a dometic fridge with oak panels that I plan on taking out and replacing with the brushed stainless. The panels are held in by trim that is screwed in. It should be pretty straight forward to replace them. I may have to add a little shim to the backside to obtain the same thickness as the oak. I'll post a picture when it's done. In the meantime, here's a picture of the bedroom.

[markjoandall]

Mary,

The work you are doing on your trailer is making me very jealous. Wow that looks fantastic. We live in New Hampshire, almost in your backyard, although we just have less snow. Your folks on the Cape have been blasted this year.

I wonder, now that you have paved the way so well, could you share the people that did the upholstering job? I looks as if they did a great job. Our trailer is only 4 years old and the ugly fabric on the sofa is already showing signs of wear. We have leather in our house also and love it. We would like to do the same to our trailer. Help.

Mark

[M&M CAPECOD]

Mark,
Thanks. Let me tell you first that after surfing the web and having samples sent from two different suppliers, both were good quality leathers, I decided on color. The supplier was under $200 a hide, which is a great price. The web address is: http://www.rochfordsupply.com/index.asp
I spoke with a guy named Luke, who was very helpful. Remember to tell him that you want to make sure you'll be able to get more from the same dye lot if you need. I went with the Caprone Jester Red.
As for the upholstering, I took out the couch and brought it to a place in Hyannis, 'The Fabric Loft'. I won't recommend them to you though because he tried to get another $100 above the written quote when I picked it up and that left a bad taste. It took them a little over two weeks to finish it but we had a snow storm and the holidays to deal with. Now is a good time to have it done before we get into the springtime. It didn't take that long to have the samples sent and then the hides once I decided which to go with but all those things take time and you don't want to be too long without it when you want to get out this Spring. I think if you ask around up your way you'll find a good upholsterer closer to you. If you can't I have a friend who told me about someone after I had the couch done, I can get the name for you if you need.
Here's hoping the snow melts soon, finally shoveled a path out to the trailer yesterday.
Mary