Stitching it up at Blackcat Vinyl & Upholstery
While the pandemic impacted our nation in devastating ways, one Soldiers Grove woman, for a lack of better terms, made lemonade out of lemons.
“Once COVID hit, I lost my job. A friend of mine has a hot rod shop asked if I wanted to do upholstery. So, I worked for him for a little bit, just getting my feet wet with it and eventually went on my own,” said Blackcat Vinyl & Upholstery LLC owner Rebecca Patterson. Patterson said she was more or less “just self-taught”, though she admits to having always working on automobiles.
Working on her second year in business, Patterson opened up a year ago this past August. When asked why the upholstery business, Patterson replied, “I have always been a fairly crafty person. I like to do a lot of that. Anything really, but I always knew how to sew and I think he (owner of the Hot Rod shop) seen that in me. He's like, ‘you're crafty. You want to give it a whirl?’.”
At the time, there was a local gentleman that was retiring the family business and her friend bought him out. “The retiree just kind of gave me the basics of what he did, but otherwise it was all self-taught.” Patterson also said she spent a lot of time reading about mobile upholstery and watch YouTube videos on the art/craft. She credits her mother, grandmother, and Home Economics class in school for learning how to sew. “My mom had a sewing machine and I would just kind of watch, grab something and make something. As I got older, I dabbled in making blankets, some miscellaneous things, but just as a side hobby. I was always hands on and obviously I enjoyed it,” she said smiling.
The business itself is automotive restoration upholstery, but Patterson said it is not limited in the sense. “The job can be RVs, snowmobiles, motorcycles, UTVs, boat interiors and covers, etcetera. It can be a classic or a newer vehicle. So, I do a lot of custom work, not just your general ‘my truck has a crack in it’. Whatever the job may be, I'm gonna fix it. I do that stuff you know, on a newer vehicle say, but I focus on custom work. For example, I have a vehicle coming up, I believe it's a 60s 768 GTO, full interior. The owner will prep the interior. I've done it where I've prepped the interior, but I will do everything from the carpet to the headliner, the seats, the trunk. The job includes me personally shaping the foam, all custom, so designing it, putting it together and making it look like something. It’s sort of my art, especially if you're forming something out of a solid block of foam.”
Patterson said to sculpt the foam into whatever she needs to make, she uses an electric turkey carving knife. “There are really expensive tools, like a heat foam slicer which would be amazing to have, but honestly, just to do little bits at a time it works perfect. I have a foam shaver so I can cut it down to kind of get the basic shape, and then shape it with a file.” Patterson said using a turkey cutter was suggested to her by the retiring upholsterer that used the same his whole career. Patterson pointed out that using a turkey cutter in the business is not uncommon.
As for the future of Black Cat, “it's gonna be here as long as I need it to be here,” she said with a chuckle. “What I've learned in the upholstery automotive world, is that there's a desperate need for it, because it is a dying trade. Just for a simple fact that most upholstery businesses are family owned, and when dad's retiring or grandpa's retiring, the newer generation is not taking over. I've been finding that out going to shows and talking to people and seeing how amazed they are to find somebody that still does custom upholstery. I'm still learning and finding other businesses that do the same or do what I do, but offer service that I may not be comfortable doing. So, we all kind of work together in.”
In an ode to her beginnings in sewing, Patterson said she offers some simple garment repairs. “I replace zippers on jackets and stuff like that. I do dabble in a lot in different little things if you just need a general repair. I've repaired a local lady's purse strap, I've done hunting vests, snaps, repairs like that.”
Patterson added that she can also manage industrial heavier duty materials with her machine, stressing that not only can she repair leather jackets, but handles leather work when it comes to vehicle seats.
A true entrepreneur and loving what she does, Patterson said she plans on growing her business as long as she is able.
Visit Black Cat Vinyl & Upholstery on the web or on Facebook.
Editor’s note: Black Cat Vinyl & Upholstery is being featured as one of three sponsors of DriftlessNow.com’s 2023 Winter photography contest. Details of the contest will be posted in the near future on our Facebook page.
