Spending the cost of the van....on seat covers...latest investment!

Trevor's been in the family for many years now, and you'll know that in that time there's been the need for relatively frequent constant welding jobs to keep him together and to keep the rain out (always a work in progress that issue, as we discovered on our recent trip to Yorkshire!).

Although these patchwork sessions did the job, they weren't the tidiest in other ways and our poor front seats took the brunt of the welding splatter when welding all around the screen. They were pretty nasty to start with and had some of that horrible vinyl covering which your skin sticks to in hot weather (never nice to peel your thighs off the seat). Having said that, the seat covers were basically shredded and pitted so frankly most of our backsides were on bare foam rather than the cover.

Not the most inviting seat!

So as a treat we decided to invest in getting the seats reupholstered. Our local seamstress who lives literally around the corner had just completed seats for a VW camper and did a fab job so we had faith she'd give us some refreshed and replenished seating fit for Trevor!

Some of the foam was replaced during the process, and we chose a cherry red leather (swit swoo) as the new covering.  It looks absolutely awesome now, we were delighted with the result and the chairs are a pleasure to sit in!

now then, that's better!

Our 'things to do' list

Anyone who owns a camper van which needs...*ahem*...attention from time to time, will know about those constant "to do" lists.  We have a full programme for Trevor's winter period when he's off the road.  It seems to be constantly expanding but here's an outline of what we'd love to get done this year...


 - Re-cover front driver and passenger seats.  Here's the "before" photo:

Luxury travel!

The holes in the seats are from extensive welding (as noted in our MOT sheet, ahem...) and they've matured from pin pricks to the full-on seam-to-seam rips you see today.  Pretty, it ain't, and Trevor deserves better.  We're hoping to have them re-done to be back to their full glory, we're not planning on any crazy colours or fabrics, just plain new seats with no holes in! Luxury!


 - Baby bunk - we are aiming to manufacture our own baby bunk to go over the front cab. Sounds ambitious but the Husband found a CF being sold with a baby bunk - it seems they manufactured some to fit in the cab - we have got some pics of the bunk and fixings from the guy who was selling the van (unfortunately he wasn't able to just sell us the bunk without the van in tow). So, Husband assures me its a straightforward job so my job (or rather, my Mother's) is to make the hammock bit.  We'll see how it goes but it's gotta be better than the baby's "Coffin" arrangement!


 - The key barrel on our van is temperamental, to say the least. In fact it nearly caused us to break down just a few miles from home on our last journey of the summer! It also played up in Ireland this year - we ended up with the key stuck in there and having to start/stop the van using the connect/disconnect electrics method - what a total pain.  It would be great to get this sorted once and for all.

Add to this the usual list of 'tweaks' which are needed on a regular basis and you have the recipe for a busy winter! Trouble is, this year, Husband is working in Japan a lot and I really can't see myself manufacturing bunk brackets or doing a spot of welding...

Interior Divine

Although Trevor's interior woodwork and surfaces were fine, and the structure was good, the soft furnishings left a LOT to be desired! These were our faded 70s floral print curtains and rough tapestry style cushion coverings - they had to go!

This needs a makeover!

My Mum stepped in to help us out and before long had whipped up new cushion covers from a hard wearing navy blue fabric, and some utterly lush lined curtains from a wide red gingham check (I bought double the amount needed by mistake, but this has come in handy for tablecloths for parties instead!).  The red, white and blue colours were crisp and vibrant and offset the warm wood tones (don'cha know). The new interior look is so cute!

Nice one Ma!