Prototype Upholstery and Short-Run Trim
Pattern making, seat and panel prototypes, show car and concept interiors, and small production runs for design studios and Tier 1 suppliers.
Engineering experience on the shop floor.
Steve Gamache retired from Lear Corporation after 31 years engineering automotive seating for global OEMs, then bought Shelby Trim.
He knows automotive interior systems, materials, and assembly processes from the supplier side. That sits alongside more than four decades of trim work in the same building.
Show vehicles for GM, Ford, Chrysler, and Volkswagen have been trimmed here, and restoration work from the shop is on display at the GM Heritage Center. More about the shop’s history is on the About page.
Pattern to part, in one building.
Patterns, cutting, sewing, foam, and metalwork, all on site.
Patterns are made here, and panels are cut and sewn on twelve types of sewing machine, enough to duplicate the original stitch style from just about any factory. Foam is skived by hand, with the hand tools to cut any taper or shape a part calls for. When a seat frame needs metalwork, the machine shop on site handles it.
Keeping the work in one building means a change between prototype rounds does not wait on an outside vendor.
Prototype and short-run work
Patterns and prototypes
One-off and early-round parts built from drawings, CAD files, or a sample part.
- Pattern making
- Seat covers and panels
- Hand-skived foam
- Show car and concept interiors
Small production runs
Low-volume runs sewn to a set pattern, for programs too small for a production line.
- Repeatable patterns
- Batch scheduling
- One-offs to small batches
- Matched materials
Send the RFQ to a person.
Prototype and short-run requests go to Steve, not a general inbox.
Call (586) 939-9090 and ask for Steve to set up a request. Drawings, CAD files, and sample parts all work as a starting point, and we sign NDAs when a program requires one.
Fall through early spring is when the shop has the most room for prototype and short-run programs.
For commercial seating, industrial covers, and fleet work, see Commercial and Industrial Upholstery.
Prototype work, answered.
What design studios and suppliers ask first.
What can you work from?
Drawings, CAD files, or a sample part.
Do you sign NDAs?
Yes, when a program requires one.
Do you skive foam?
Yes, all the time. Foam is skived by hand, with the hand tools to cut any taper or shape a part calls for.
Can you build small production runs as well as prototypes?
Yes. Patterns are kept so a run can be sewn to the same pattern, from a one-off to a small batch.
When does the shop have the most capacity?
Fall through early spring.
Start a conversation.
Tell us what you are building and when you need it, or call (586) 939-9090 and ask for Steve.
Start a Conversation