How to Design Your Own S10 Blazer Seat Covers

You will need a heavy-duty sewing machine to make durable S-10 Blazer seat covers.

You can design your own S-10 Blazer seat covers to either hide damaged seat upholstery or to protect upholstery that is in pristine condition. Light fabric can tear easily when people slide in and out of the Blazer, so you need to use heavy fabric. The fabric also needs to be slightly stretchy to allow some ease in fitting the covers. You will also need a heavy-duty sewing machine to accommodate the heavy seat-cover fabric.

Things You'll Need

• 1 old bed sheet or 4 yards light cotton fabric
• Straight pins
• Fabric marking pen or tailor's chalk
• Yardstick
• Scissors
• 4 yards heavy knit 60-inch-wide fabric
• Heavy-duty sewing machine with ballpoint needle
• Appliques (optional)
• 1/4-inch-diameter tie cord

Instructions

1. Center the bed sheet over the seat so it covers all the way down the front of the seat and over the back rest if you are covering a bench seat. If you are covering bucket seats, position one side of the sheet over the bucket seat.

2. Tuck the sheet 2 inches into the crack at the bottom rear of the seat where the seat pad and back rest meet.

3. Smooth the sheet with your hands, making sure it is flat against the seat pad and back rest. Pin the excess fabric out of the way using the straight pins.

4. Feel through the sheet with your fingertips and make dots every 2 inches between the straight pins. Mark the corners where the seat upholstery seams meet and the top center of the back rest and the front center of the seat pad using the fabric marking pen.

5. Lift the cover off of the seat. You should not have to remove any of the pins to get the cover off, but if you do, mark the pin's position with the fabric marking pen before you pull it out of the fabric.

6. Measure 1/2 inch out from the dots to create a 1/2-inch seam allowance and make a second line of marking pen dots. Place the yardstick against the outer line of dots and use the fabric marking pen to connect the dots. This is your pattern; cut it out using the scissors to follow the outer line.

7. Place the seat-cover fabric face down on the table, then place the pattern face down on top of it. Use the straight pins to secure the pattern to the fabric, then cut the fabric along the pattern's edge. Leave the pattern pinned to the fabric.

8. Line up the pattern's center marks and seam marks with the fabric, right sides together. Pin the pieces together through all four layers of fabric.

9. Set the sewing machine to make a stretch stitch and sew the pieces together according to the markings you made on the pattern. Fold the raw edges under 1/4 inch and sew all the way around the seat cover. Remove the pins.

10. Put the cover on the Blazer seat. Feel through the cover to locate the seat belt. Mark the position of the seat belt on the cover. If the cover has a loose appearance, mark the spots to place tie strings. If you are adding any appliques, position them as desired and pin them in place.

11. Cut a slash in the fabric where you marked the seat belt's position. Sew all the way around the seat belt hole, using the sewing machine's stretch stitch. If you are adding an applique, sew around the applique 1/8 inch from the decoration's edge.

12. Cut a strip of tie cord about 1 yard long, if the cover looked loose and you marked spots to place tie cord. Fold the cord in half and position the folded end where you marked the cover. Sew across the tie cord four times. Remove the remaining pins.

13. Put the cover back on the seat, slide the seat belt through the hole and tie the cover in place.

Tips & Warnings

• Attaching the fabric pattern to the back of the seat cover adds a little bit of strength to the cover and makes it easier to line up the marks.

References

• Denver Fabrics: Sewing Knit Fabric
• Sewing & Craft Alliance: Sewing Knits
• Sewing & Craft Alliance: Sewing Machine Needles