Exploring new possibilities we started to experiment with sewing and stitching as we do lots of fabric laser cutting of patterns this seams logical. In this experiment we reversed engineered Mercedes roadster shifter knob leather pouch. It took quite bit of revisions as original leather was stretched over time so new patterns traced from original part did not much shifter ring. At the end we got very good fit of pattern that we can stitch and stretch. Sample photo shows test cut and sewed in suede fabric. Next we will do the same in leather. We will also add laser printed pattern on leather same as we did for Lamborghini project as this add extra nice looks. Though current mod was swapped from black to red color which looks fairly aggressive on carbon fiber interior.
We believe sharing of progress is good thing to do so we posting pasterns here so any one can use them (for not commercial use)
Patterns provided are DXF file in metric (mm) units. Those are designed for laser cutting but can be cut by hand and stretching loops can be sliced with xacto knife, though we only tried cutting with laser as thats what we do every day. Note file is universal for both sides so same file needs to be mirrored (flipped) for a second part. We made everything as one part instead of two as in original as it seams easier to have one file. For this reason please watch direction and orientation of stretch pins they need to much location of loops when you sew parts together. We used Juki quilting machine to stitch this together. Center joint offset about 10mm, then flattening stitches are about 3-4mm to the side (foot center follow joint line and needle in far left or far right form it, stitched form back do bobbin thread is exposed)
You can download DXF pattern for SLK R171 Shifter leather here: Download SLK Leather Pattern
