Brand New Boot carpet

[sportston]

So I wanted to cover up the old black worn plasticky boot mat for the family HC. Didn't want to spend a fortune on buying the real deal from a car restorer.
So I got a free offcut bit of carpet from "freecycle". Brand new and my wife's favourite colour. Purple! Dubious choice of colour I know, but it's not my car, its the wife's.
I also had a load of grey knitting wool. So I got the wool and my sewing kit with the big sail maker needles and sewed all aroung the edge of the carpet. I had already cut it to shape by using the old mat as a template.
So now I have a purple carpet with grey edging. Looks a lot smarter than the old one!
See picture below
What would I do different?
I wouldn't sew the wool quite as deeply into the edge of the carpet. 10mm is plenty.
I wouldn't recommend using a foam backed carpet. Mine was a woven hessian type. I would think that felt backed carpet would be even better!
TIPS:-
1. Don't fold the edge of the carpet. I found it makes the carpet wrinkle around the curved edges.
2. Double up the wool thread as much as the eye of the needle will allow. It saves loads of sewing!
3. Sew close together, evenly and no deeper than 10mm into the carpet. That way you'll only have to go around the edge once and it will look neat.
4. Be patient. It took hours of sewing during the evening to do the edging, while watching TV.


Hmm I wonder if the extra carpet could be used to make a tailored set of mats for the footwells...

[hbpeter]

That looks rather smart. Fancy making me one!!

Peter

[sportston]

Sorry Peter, I don't fancy making them for others. It took me so long to make I'd never have any time left to do anything else. It only makes financial sense to do it when the labour is free. e.g. doing it yourself. Its not too difficult, just time consuming. I think it would be a lot faster if I had a machine to do the edging in. If you wanted, you could cut the carpet to shape and take it to Carpetright or similar and they will do the edging for you relatively cheaply. They charge by the metre I beleive.

If I ever get a machine that does it, I'll let you know. At the moment I only have an old Singer sewing machine. It takes my trouser legs up a treat, but I think carpet would be too tough for it.
Best Regards
Tom