Marine Fabricator September/October 2020 - 31

Create project departments
Something we recommend for any
size shop is breaking up a project
into stages. This helps in a variety
of ways. For example, when clients
inquire about where their projects
are in our work in progress (WIP)
queue, we can tell them the exact
location. Establishing departments
helps customers understand that
there is more to our skills than
what the general public assumes.
Here are the stages or departments
a client's project goes through after all
the front office items are handled:
* Breakdown
* Patterning
* CAD
* Cutting
* Sewing
* Installation
* Quality control (QC)
Streamline the breakdown
When we're patterning, we break
down upholstery projects with
covers that are still soft and pliable
differently than projects with covers
that are hard and brittle. We used to
spend a lot of time heating cushions
up with a heat gun and trying to get
the parts to lie flat using weights of
some sort. We spent too much time
wondering if this line was straight
and does that line have a slight curve?
Does this end wrap that way and
finish off here? Sound familiar?
At Southern Stitch, we moved away
from using weights for the soft patterns
of upholstery projects and found, for
us, it's better to just staple down the
patterns on a soft cutting surface and
capture our pattern.
For the most part, we capture our
projects digitally for repeatability and
cutting on our CNC.You can still use
these processes for hand cutting as

well. We still do a ton of hand cutting,
even with having the CNC. Storing
patterns digitally is something I would
recommend even without a CNC.
For those projects that have brittle
covers or parts missing, we don't want
to spend all day heating and trying to
identify oddly shaped parts.We "prepattern" our cushions to get the patterns
needed and never break them down
until it's time to install.We do this for a
few reasons. The breakdown of cushions
really needs to be done by someone other
than the main fabricator in the shop,
whose skill is more valuable elsewhere.
I know you're thinking, "Well, I want
to see how it breaks down, so I know
how it goes back together." Right?
That's why we leave the cushions
together until it's time to install the
new covers. When that time comes,
we get Break Room Bobby (when you
can't find him, check the break room)
to break down the cushions with the
installer so he or she knows how to
install and trim out. Everything is fresh
on the mind, and it's time to make the
cushions shine like a new dime.

Rolling a full bobbin around the edge of
the pattern allows you to effortlessly mark a
½" seam allowance.

Find spray can
grips online and
in hardware stores.

Back in the "sticky station," the userfriendly handle attachment keeps ﬁngers
free of stickiness and makes it easier to
spray adhesive evenly.

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Marine Fabricator September/October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Marine Fabricator September/October 2020
