The $4.00 Sheepskin Seat Cover Solution
Cool! No Butts About It
The $4.00 Wool Seat Cover (Top) |
Seat Cover (Bottom) |
Ok, for those of you interested in testing the theory that sheepskin covering on your seat will prevent the "sweaty butt syndrome", check out this inexpensive idea.
Go to your local Wal-Mart (Target, K-Mart etc) and into the car accessory section where all of the cleaning products are. Somewhere near the chamois cloths you should see a genuine sheepskin washing mitt hanging there for $4.00. I bought one, turned it inside out, took out all of the stitching that held it together, and cut off the wrist band portion.
You now have two identically shaped pieces of sheepskin (and it really is real sheepskin). I then used the existing stitching holes to re-sew it back together. But, what you do is put the two halves side by side and sew it so that it is now one big piece of sheepskin that is almost the shape of your seat.
Voila!! Mine turned out very nice and you cannot see the sewing line. If you buy two mitts and do this to each, then they will definitely cover the entire surface of any seat out there.
(and become one heck of a conversation piece during butt breaks! Gadget)
Another Way
If two skins are good then eight..well eight or ten would have to be (ummm, doing the math) a 'lot' better right? Check out Scott Harns bike:
Scott says he and his wife used several Wal-Mart Sheepskin wash mitts (about $60 worth) to make this beauty. The skins were oriented so all the 'grain' goes the same direction. Scott says people don't know that it is not all one piece.Here's how they did it:
First we bought a few wash mitts at our local Wal-Mart (I feel so American saying that <G> and found a few that were of the same plushness and same shape and about the same color. We then turned them inside out and used my wife's ripper tool to remove the threads around the edge of the mitts, taking off the elastic band first (an xacto knife or razor blade will do the trick).
Once the elastic band is gone start on the doing the same thing around the mitt (note many will have pieces added) and don't yet remove it around any of the pieces.
Once you have it laying flat (you can leave it attached in the center and then lay it flat, makes it easier) and do the same to the other pieces.Now once you have done this on a few, start placing them on the seat (we removed the front seat and rear pillion pad and brought them into the Dining room table to setup). Once you start arranging them you will see what pattern you want them to follow (nape of the wool etc.) and how it looks. This will determine what pattern you lay out your mitts in. We did ours so 2 of them will form the seat.
We put books and magazines on the table to prop up the seat so the way it would be on the bike. This made it easier to see where we needed to layout the mitts and also to maximize our use of them. Some were then trimmed (on some we simply removed the pieces attached to makeup the mitt sides and pieced these together). This is not a simple half a day project but it can be done in a weekend if you gather the parts first.
We used a darning needle and heavy thread and re-used much of the holes already there. It was done by hand but could be done by machine, but I would recommend doing it manually more control and not going to rip anything.
Also if you do find different colors you can incorporate it into the design, making the mottled look blend, as such it will look like 1 pelt, or close and no one that I have not told knows what it is till I point it out. They all ask how can I get one....well YOU can't...unless you make one.We have several Wal-Mart stores around here, if you go to the Department Manager of Automotive and speak to him/her and explain what you are doing they may let your riffle through there stock (they come in a large box about 20-30) and you can easily find 10 of them (may need less) and if you do not use any, you can always take them back. The biggest thing is to try and find the same plushness and similar color as you can, it makes it blend much better and again try to fix them together as close as you can without adding pieces.
Again it is not a day project, maybe a weekend but better to take your time and a week and do it right. The results, well you can see.