From all the pictures I've seen, the red would look great with a with the color combination you have. The debate that has been going on here and the Camaro forum is whether to use the dye pens or the Elmer's paint pen.

The paint pen definitely has a sharper color, but it's paint, not dye. Long term, I'm not sure what that means. Once you dye the threads, they are done. That may be the case with the paint as well. Mandingo needs to chime in here as he just finished his interior with the red paint pen, and it does look great.

My concern with the paint pen is dying the threads on the Alcantara door panels. I've tried using the paint pen, and I (me only) am having trouble not getting paint on the Alcantara which won't wipe off like the leather. Now, a number of guys seemed to have pulled that off; it's just a matter of what your OCD meter is willing to accept as far as overrun. Obviously, I struggle with it.

I'm in no hurry to get this done. I'd rather do it right, than rush it and be unhappy with screwing up the interior of my new $40k+ car.

Having already done this, I can say that the Elmers pen was not as precise as the Uchida dye pen. The Uchida had a super fine 'brush' tip and was easy to apply and wipe up. The alcantra is tricky but didn't take more than a few minutes to do with no issues.
Picture is a little blurry, but you get the idea.

http://www.the370z.com/members/wheee...-stitching.jpg

The dye pen will not 'leech' out onto clothing and will last longer and resist fading. The Elmers pen may be brighter and add more punch but I would still recommend the Uchida dye pens as my first choice.
Finished seat:

http://www.the370z.com/members/wheee...ather-seat.jpg

I would love to do this but my seats are cloth base seats.

Tong, if you're careful, you can do it with a dye pen. I've seen some guys on the Camaro forum who used the paint pen on cloth, and it came out well.

Now, you could always go with red Plasti-dip...............................:happydance:

wheee your pink stitching looks great!

Pink? That's a perfect match to the black rose! (cherry)

Flash makes it pink lol :p

Check out Falcor's ride. He had cloth seats too and did a great job.

No, I've seen it.... it's pink!:stirthepot:

That was my thong you were looking at....

I finished dying the stitches in my cloth interior a while back. This truly is not for the faint of heart. I managed to get all the red on the stitches and not on the seat with the Fine tip (since Elmers discontinued the Ultra Fine red pen :mad:).

Firstly you must get a brand new, very sharp razor blade and sharpen the hard-felt tip on the pen. Do this while the tip is new otherwise it will make a mess. I'd take a picture but its pretty self-explanatory. Just don't sharpen the tip too much or the capillary action of the tip will cease and no paint will flow.

Have plenty of light. Bring extension cords and small desk lamps in the car if you have too. I used one with a heavy base and a metal, snake-like flexible post so I could position the light optimally.

Steady your hand in imaginative ways. Think about when you fire a rifle in the woods. If theres a tree nearby you would put one hand on the tree and use that to steady the stock. Use seat bolsters, dash pieces, bring in other little steadying objects from the garage. Sounds overkill I know :rofl2:

I haven't taken any pics other than the one on the previous page but I'll get around to it this weekend I'm sure.

Oh, I also did a stress test on the dyed stitches on the back of the seat. I just rubbed some bluejeans on the stitches, medium pressure for about a minute. I observed no flaking or fading. The stitches had dried for about a week at that point and had set in the hot sun (not sure if that matters).

In for finished pics!

Okay, I finally did it. I love how it came out. :happydance:

Took about three hours. You guys that painted the stitching on your cloth seats have my full respect! I could see a little "dye creep" into the Alcantara, but a quick swipe with a damp cloth pulled most of it out. Since it has a nap to it, it's impossible to see what little dye was left. It's not red, just darker black.

I ended-up first dying the stitching orange, followed by the red. It came out in a shade of red that leans to the orange side.

I've got to admit the orange stitching looked pretty cool, but I really wanted red. I wouldn't hesitate doing it in blue either.

How the light hits it makes all the difference in the world. I was inside my garage with the door open and the overhead flourescents on, and it definitely looked orange/red. No hint of magenta.

When I finished the first head rest, I took it out into the direct sunlight, and wow did it pop. In the sun, it has a metallic look to it. Chalk that up to dyeing silver threads.

I've got some carbon fiber bits coming in sometime soon. Once all is done, I'll take pictures.

Just finished the interior on my base model. Looks perfect. I had red stitching with suede on my charger r/t. This brings back memories of the chargers seats.

Anyone that has a red marker can do this. You don't need a special ELMERS sharpie. A normal whiteboard eraser or Crayola will work. Its just making the white stitching red.

I bought the red fabric dye pens @ Michael's but after trying it on the back of my pass seat I don't think it looks very professional.
If you back up 3-5 ft it looks good but any closer and it looks like a add on and since I sit right on top of it I changed my mind.

I also noticed on my door panels the stitching on the outside is gray/silver but the one that goes through the middle is black.

If anybody is going to do this in red I have 2 reg size and 1 big Marvy Uchida fabric markers brand new send me your info and like $5.00 for postage and I will send these to you b/c I won't be using them.

Ok, so I saw this thread and it got me curious. I ran out and bought blue uchida fabric marker and did a test run on my boot. I went stitch by stitch. It took me about an hour to do the entire boot.

http://www.the370z.com/members/polym...c-marker-1.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/polym...ure46276-2.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/polym...ure46275-3.jpg

wow. an hour. your OCD is wayyyyyy worse than mine! :icon17:

Yeah, you really don't need to be that diligent. Just rub the pen down about six inches of threads, wipe, and repeat. The dye wipes right off the leather.

When I installed a boot on my 7-AT, it took me about three minutes to do the boot.

Haha I figure if it's going to be there forever I may as well put forth the effort.

will this work on fabric seats?

Sure, but you need a very steady hand and a lot of patience. I've got leather, but my door panels are alcantara and I dyed the threads on it.

Anyone of you guys tried to do the steering wheel stitching? I have painted all parts of the dash but I dont know if paint the steering wheel will be a good idea...

what was the blue used in the interior? Uchida ?

Uchida DecoFabric Paint Pen Carded Light Blue -- CreateForLess

Reviving this thread!
 

So I wanted to revive this thread to those who are skeptical about coloring the stitching of their interior. I used a simple paint marker and all of the work took 30 minutes or so. Just simply go down the stitching a few inches and wipe off. I did the whole interior (door panels, seats, center console, etc.). The pictures seem like the color is faded but its much more red than it looks. Excuse the filthiness. :ugh2: Here you go! :tiphat:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/1...e85ccbd3_b.jpg
IMG_3114 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7423/1...6113b604_b.jpg
IMG_3115 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3815/1...c860d2ee_b.jpg
IMG_3116 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5479/1...a6e5fa25_b.jpg
IMG_3120 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7301/1...900f0b9a_b.jpg
IMG_3121 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7361/1...95517d36_b.jpg
IMG_3122 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7392/1...8224190b_b.jpg
IMG_3123 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3693/1...2b2f5110_b.jpg
IMG_3126 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3756/1...0c657cf5_b.jpg
IMG_3130 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7416/1...eaca9230_b.jpg
IMG_3135 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5517/1...94af0053_b.jpg
IMG_3136 by datsunpride, on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5509/1...b95892f6_b.jpg
IMG_3142 by datsunpride, on Flickr

What's going on with the bottom edge of the back of the passenger seat?

Im not picking up what you're putting down..

:icon18:

In this picture, what is that white stuff along the edge on the side bolster?

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7301/1...900f0b9a_b.jpg

air bag tag?

Oh that must still be the coffee that spilled when I had to swerve out of the way on the highway :shakes head:

we talking center console or side bolster? :icon08:


or you telling us secrets we werent suppose to know? :icon08:

:wtf2: I dont even know what's going on anymore

That's probably it. On the side of the seat back.

:bowrofl:

:icon18: hahaha!!

srs airbag tag.

you need to buy yourself a Z before posting up random questions. :shakes head: :icon17: lol

It looked like the seat was coming apart.

it looks like an airbag tag if you owned a Z. :D

:roflpuke2: