I just took the pictures for this tutorial because I re-did my shifter. The original shifter's leather had hardened into... basically plastic. I didn't want to take the old stuff off just yet but I will when I re-do this.
I made a couple mistakes I will point out.
You can always just buy a shifter that you like (I believe the 2nd gen, atleast, the shifter just screws off... Correct me) but wrapping your own can not only look good but no one else will have it. And they might want to pay you to do theirs... Maybe...
Materials:
-Pleather, leather, an old T-shirt, or whatever you want to use. It doesn't matter - they all stitch the same.
-A 'U' needle you can make from a normal needle. Look below.
-Some tape.
-Thread (I used purple to match my purple dice).
-Patience.
1. First, cut your leather with extra space. A good amount. You can always cut some off but you can't add more. Use tape to hold it in place while you wrap it with your hands to see if everything matches up.
2. Get a long string. Whatever thickness and color you prefer along with a bent needle. What's a bent needle? It's a U-shaped needle that I couldn't do this job without. I took a normal needle and bent it in three spots.
Now, pull out twice as much string as you're gonna need. First I used too little and ran out midway. You put one end through the needle, pull it through, and make sure the two ends of the string meet at equal ends. Tie the end (after it's in the needle) by looping BOTH strings around and making 2-3 knots. That's what's actually going to hold that string in whatever spot you inserted it into. If anything, use a dab of clear glue but no need.
3. See where I marked the curved line? You have to cut the leather so when you wrap it, at most there should be about 3-4cm left. If you don't leave any, you won't have to tuck that in which is how I would do it. Remember: you can always cut more off!!
4. After you're confident your lines will match (side note: the curved lines in this are on purpose. Wanted to try something unique.), start sewing from the bottom. WATCH where you put your needle. Look at my stitches. I'm gonna re-do it but see how they don't look professional? Follow the angles.
TIP: Stitch the side up and you can take a break... Or not.
5. Notice the stitches on the right. The leather ends show because the part that's on the shifter was simply tucked in and not cut. Learn from me. Cut the lines as close as possible. You will see the difference on the left.
6. You want to start all of your stitches from the same angle. I stitched the middle one all the way to the outside leather and put one stitch to hold it together. In this picture I'm showing the angle I start sewing.
TIP: If you see that there's gonna be extra loose leather on the shifter and you can cut it off, do it. Make it tight but don't ruin it. I guarantee you if you do this once, you will learn enough to make a perfect shifter cover the second time.
7. You see how the stitching on the left hides the ugly edges of the leather? It's because I learned from the first. On the right, as I mentioned, I said screw it and tucked in a piece of leather instead of cutting it so it's just perfect.
TIP: If this happens, just undo the stitching on the bad part and fix it once you're done. That's why I sew in sections. On this there's three: the stitches down the middle, to the right of the middle at the top, and to the left at the top. For the right, I can take out that stitching and fix it in five minutes.
8. Done. To me, it's ALRIGHT. I'm gonna re-do it at some point but wanna know something? It looked like sh*t before.
Questions:
How much did I pay for materials? $0.00. I 'borrowed' the needle and thread and I cut the pleather from a couch someone was throwing away.
TIP. That's how you get free materials. Leather? Usually comes in black, white, brown, and... green (I swear). When I see people throwing them out and they're all wet, you can get a LOT of leather from furniture. Good quality.
I will explain where to get other materials like alcantra in a different post.
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