I am so delighted with Beryl’s new vinyl that I am unashamedly giving her her own Lookbook feature. Beryl the Yellow Peril, to give her her full name, was already a good-looking Li Series 2, with a Series 1 headset and horncast but, the addition of the new vinyl set has made her a bit of a show stopper …but, of course I am biased.
BEFORE…
Beryl with her white vinyl seat, mustard yellow headrest with white trim and Italian 1959 spare wheel cover.
It has been a bit of a journey getting here. I had originally planned to have her upholstered in yellow leather hide but, ended up falling out with the upholsterer (the same company that previously upholstered and recovered Lammy; George’s Li Series 2). My request to bring the whole lot in under £400 was enthusiastically agreed; Oh my god *laughs* of course it will come in well under that price; only to receive a text, some time later that said “the hide has arrived!!! £650 all in!”. We fell out, when the owner tried to argue that £650 was nowhere near 60% more than £400 and, even if it was (it is), that was more than reasonable (it’s not). Did I know how much he hates upholstering scooters (I do now)? I tuned out for my lecture on how much it costs to run his workshop but, did tune back in when he reminded me that he screwed up George’s upholstery, a number of times and, as a result did I know how much time he had wasted (that was his genuine take on the situation)? But no, I didn’t know …or care! Interestingly, despite the number of attempts to get Lammy’s orange leather hide set right, the finished product still has one or two imperfections.
Lammy, George’s 1960 Li Series 2 after inflexinteriors.co.uk got their hands on it!
Leather hide upholstery by inflexinteriors.co.uk (don’t look too close, the contrast stitching shows up the imperfections!)
On closer inspection there is a narrow strip of uneven quilting running left to right, just as the seat starts to sweep up at the back.
Diamond quilting by inflexinteriors.co.uk but they’ve incorrectly positioned the opening of the cover. The spare wheel has to be positioned as square quilting or turned 90 degrees with the opening at the side, messy!
The silver lining to this story is, we found someone who specialises in upholstering scooters to do Beryl’s seat, headrest and spare wheel cover in vinyl, costing about 25% of my original budget (including all the courier costs). Whilst Lammy (George’s orange Li Series 2) does look stunning, albeit with some minor imperfections, we are both agreed that the vinyl just looks right for the vintage of the scooter. We are now waiting for swatches to arrive so we can order new vinyl for Ruby.
THE EXCITEMENT MOUNTS: Lee Hazelden from L & N Products begins to send through photos…
The original seat has been recovered with diamond stitching and extra padding!
New spare wheel cover
The spare wheel cover includes a seperate quilted panel, which encloses the spare, hiding it from view
FINISHING TOUCHES…
A dog choke chain has been used to create a femine touch to the seat strap, which is cosmetic only.
We measured my sitting position before installing the strap & positioned it off-centre for comfort and to avoid damaging the seat.
The inspiration for the design and cosmetic chain strap comes from my slight obssession with the Chanel chain bag, of which I have …absolutely none! I do, however have a collection of bags inspired by the same look, ranging in price from £3 to £50…
My Chanel collection (I wish …Chanel stock photo!)
White with black trim, £3 charity shop. Black faux leather, blue velvet and wine velvet all under £10 each, ASOS
Silver straw chain bag, £35 Zara. Yellow quilted leather chain bag, Borse in Pelle £50 (TK Maxx)
D DAY: The new vinyl set arrives!
INTRODUCING BERYL IN HER NEW CLOTHES…
Click on the Trojan wheel cover below to go to L & N Products Facebook page…
The Mod Closet 