# Sewng New Interior Cushions - Help



## malyea (Aug 12, 2009)

Just got the keys to our 'new' '82 H30 and the first cosmetic upgrade is to build/sew new cushions for the interior.

I think we want to do it ourselves rather than have a company produce them. I have a friend who sews and I have some reference magazine articles......

Does anyone have first-hand experience with this project - any tips to pass on...does....don'ts....etc

How about product resources / links for fabric, foam, tools, kits, etc

Thanks


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Make the foam a tiny bit larger than the covers are supposed to be... this will make sure the covers fit snugly and look good, instead of wrinkly.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

We are doing this project right now. My suggestion is to get a sailrite catalogue and they are offering a free CD this month on tips.

My wife has done projects on the boat like a new bimini, dodger and windows as well as curtains and sail repairs. My suggestion is that you get new "reflex foam" for the cushions. as it drains moisture easily. We originally were going to get fabric in one of the discount stores, but were instead use a sunbrella furniture fabric...yachtsman series which is soft as well as resists mildew and moisture. Originally we were going to do a mix of poly and cotton, but due to the ever present moisture a boat has switched over to 100% acrylic. Get good zippers also. Feel free to PM me as we are just getting started with our project.

Dave


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## eMKay (Aug 18, 2007)

malyea said:


> Just got the keys to our 'new' '82 H30 and the first cosmetic upgrade is to build/sew new cushions for the interior.
> 
> I think we want to do it ourselves rather than have a company produce them. I have a friend who sews and I have some reference magazine articles......
> 
> ...


Yes! I just did this on my new to me Hunter 27. I bought pretty much everything from Sailrite, Details are in my blog,a link to which is in my signature.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

I'd point out that EmKay did a nice job IMHO... so his tips would be well worth listening too...


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## SPC (Nov 26, 2009)

I have been boat shopping for too long and I can recommend that you consider the Grand Banks cushions. I do not know what they use, but their cushions and fabrics are much better than the cushions that I have seen on any of more that a dozen sailboats. 

For example, yesterday, I saw and set on original 25-year old Grand Banks cushions on an exposed fly bridge that looked and FELT great. Try sitting for even 5 minutes on any other cushion.


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## daydreamer92 (Feb 16, 2010)

What a timely topic! We dove right in while down at the yard today getting the title and emptied out our new-to-us-T27 of eight or so years of stuff that's been sitting.

"Good" stuff went in the car to be cleaned or sorted out later, and trash went in the (surprise!) trash. One set of things I hauled off to the dumpster were the two cabin seat cushions and their equally smelly, stained, icky covers. So we will be wanting to do is replace them, as do-it-yourself-y as possible.

Thanks for the topic and tips!


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## bljones (Oct 13, 2008)

If you are going to redo the cushions, don't throw out the old ones, use them as patterns. It will save a you a lot of time.


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## sarafinadh (Jun 16, 2009)

I feel that cabin cushions, which will not be exposed to conditions like a cockpit cushion are not as demanding as far as materials go. For cabin cushions I suggest you look at overstock.com and see the foam mattresses. I got a king 4" for 100.00 including shipping. 3 " firm foam, 1" memory. That is ALOT of foam for a 100 bucks. Makes very comfy cushions and berths. Use an electric carving knife to cut. Fabric for an indoor application need not be limited to sunbrella or other outdoor materials. Ultra leather and ultra suede (my favorite) are excellent choices. Any rugged comfortable fabric, NOT cotton or silk or rayon or linen, would be suitable. Poly comes in many very attractive upholstery fabrics with very nice hands. DO use a heavy fabric, not a light weight one. It is much more difficult to get professional looking results with a light weight fabric cover.

You might consider making a practice cover from an old sheet and then use that as pattern. Use heavy weight thread, not what you find for dress making. Again for interior cushions you do not need gortex thread.

Sailrite is a good resource for info.

a standard sewing machine in good repair will make cushions with no difficulty.

Welting is an attractive option, I suggest you purchase it ready made as making welt is challenging and you will need lots of it.

Study cushions that have zippers set into the center of the cushion side not the seam. This is what you want to do so that the cushion can be sat on comfortably on either side.

Professional upholsters use poly batting to wrap cushions to give a softer edge and feel and stuff out the corners with additional wadds of batting to make them look nice and tight.


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## j34035 (Nov 10, 2006)

When you go to put the foam inside the new covers, wrap the foam with saran wrap to let the foam slide against the cover. After you get the foam where you want it, carefully tear the wrap and remove. It will make putting your foam in a not too bad job. We have done 3 boat interiors and did not know this trick for the first one. It reduces the frustration and work considerably!
DD


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

I just did this for our C27. Had no old cushions so had to use butcher paper for templates, etc. They turned out great but you'll be amazed at the price of good foam (and you want really good foam). 

I'll pay to have them made next time. I'd found a couple of places online that could have done it for 400 to 500 more than what I spent. It would have been worth it.


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## malyea (Aug 12, 2009)

I've said it before - What a great forum by great people - THANKS a bunch!


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## Lostmt (Jun 4, 2006)

I'm not tired them yet but plan on doing so in the near future. Price seems reasonable and you can order the foam cut to fit.

Foam


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## boomertug (Mar 18, 2010)

Sarafinadh...your input on sewing boat cushions was so helpful. We are finishing the interior of our steel tugboat (sorry, not sailors..) and I will be making the cushions out of Ultraleather for the aft cabin. I'm very interested in the mattress you ordered from Overstock.com - I've looked and the only one I'm finding that sounds similar to the one you describe is a Serta Rejuvenator 4" Memory Foam Mattress topper - has 2.5" of foam and 1.5" of memory foam - am wondering if this is the one you recommend - will it be dense enough to not sink into when sitting. I'll continue to look, but, if you get the chance to reply with any more info, I'd appreciate it. 

Also, I'm looking for advice for fabric for the underside of the cushion. I'd assumed I'd use Ultraleather, but am reading that some use Sunbrella-type fabric instead. Thanks again for the good advice. Boomertug


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## genieskip (Jan 1, 2008)

Last winter I made a full set of cushions for my boat, this past (almost over) winter I made a set for my son's boat. I strongly recommend getting the Sailrite CD on making cushions. I knew nothing about the subject before starting last year yet with the help of those CD's I was able to get some damn near professional results. It isn't really that hard and if you don't have someone you can watch do it, following the work on the CD is almost as good.


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## boomertug (Mar 18, 2010)

Thanks so much, genieskip...will look for the CD now.


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## carl762 (Jan 11, 2010)

Thanks guys. Great information. I have a new sewing machine, will get that CD and make up some cushions one of these days. I want to do my own Bimini as well.


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## inshallamiami (Jan 2, 2004)

The first, and last, time I sewed _anything_ was a snow white costume for my daughter, 20 years ago. That worked out nice, (she still talks about the puff sleeves) but unfortunately my sewing skills have not translated to the marine environment.

I bought several books, had a good machine, good materials, I pored over the sailrite site, but when it came to the actual sewing, i dunno. The first cushion was kinda crummy but my skills eventually did improve a little. I found it tedious and frustrating. I did save money but these cushions really need an afgan thrown over them. I did curtains too, which combined with the cushions give my main cabin kind of an "off kilter" look. My husband thinks they are great but he's just a really nice guy. I should have had someone who knows how to sew make them.

sometimes a woman's just gotta know her limitations.


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## sarafinadh (Jun 16, 2009)

boomertug said:


> - I've looked and the only one I'm finding that sounds similar to the one you describe is a Serta Rejuvenator 4" Memory Foam Mattress topper - has 2.5" of foam and 1.5" of memory foam


That's the one! We are very happy with it for the berth for sleeping and it's an excellent choice for cushions.

As far as the bottons go I would do them in the same fabric both sides. One side gets soiled you can turn it to the other until you can get it ckeaned, or, god fa-bid, someone sits with something sharp and slices it you can turn the patched side down.

If we were talking outdoor cushions sunbrella on the bottom would make sense, the sunbrella would allow some ventilation, but in that case you really should use a mesh for the bottoms if you are really concerned. Again for outdoor cushions I like both sides the same so it can be used either face up.

Good luck!

Sara


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## Sabreman (Sep 23, 2006)

For the bottom of our cushions, we used a mesh material to let the whole cushion breathe. We also remove ALL the cushions when we lay the boat up in the fall. That one act has extended the life of our cushions dramatically!

Off topic, but I converted a conference room at my company into a sail loft and am installing a new luff tape on a nearly new 140% bi-radial genoa. Viva la Sailrite!


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## Waltthesalt (Sep 22, 2009)

I did my all cushions a few winters back.... there were a lot of them. I'm a guy with zilch sewing experience so I read and used Don Casey's Canvaswork and Sail Repair and The Big Book of Boat Canvas by Karen Lipe. If I did only one Karen's book is the better technically but Don's got better illustratins. As I got on a roll I made a number or projects in the books. 

Plan on setting aside a room for several months.

We have an outdoor fabric place here in Seattle (Seattle Fabrics) so I had a lot to pick from. As a salty I was looking for bulletproof stuff so I used a coffee colored sunbrella with dark blue piping. I didn't need the sunbrella UV but thought it would be tougher. What I didn't realize is how hard it was. At some places you're punching through a lotta' layers and this was difficult to do with sunbrella. After that projects with canvass or duck were a dream. In retrospect I'd use a softer fabric.

My wife's machine is Swedish and pretty tough not not a special sailmaking machine. What you need is one that zig zags and a foot that snugs up for sewing zippers.

You want to use the big spools of therad, I made an adapter out on coathanger wire so it would stay in the machine's post.

A roller cutter is a must, like a pizza pie cutter. I also got one of the plastic rotary cutter mats surfaces to use it on. I got mine at a quilt shop. Be careful still to avoid cutting the diningroom table as well. Heed the warning on the blade guard. Besides donating a finger tip to the project you'll bleed over expensive fabric. 

As a short cut I used a ripper to disassemble my original covers and used them for dimmensions. Don't use them for a pattern.

I ripped and resew the seams frequently when I made mistakes, no problem

Other lessons learned:
Cushion Lessons learned:

Get a second piece of tailors chalk

Be very careful about cutting fabric square. 

Get bias tape that is unfolded.

Use a softer rope instead of poly cording material.

Baste cording

Remeasure and recut the zipper band after the zipper is sewn in

Be careful to keep the zipper on the track so it will go into the fold. Baste it in place.

Inspect each side seam and resew to get a good match on top.

If one side is bigger than the other, sew the bigger first and sew/cut the diagonals when doing the smaller side.

Mark seams well for sewing and cutting 

Good luck it's worth it and if I can do it anyone can.


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## tomwatt (Dec 11, 2009)

When I first got started sewing (haven't done my cushions yet, but I will), I got all sorts of help from the little ol' ladies at the fabric store... they volunteered a lot of suggestions. For zippers, they suggested sewing the seam together first with a coarse basting stitch, installing the zipper, and then popping the seam apart to reveal the zipper. After playing with this approach, all my zippers come together quickly and easily now.


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## PeterSailer (Mar 20, 2010)

I don't know if anybody mentioned this but close cell foam might be a good idea
unless soft close cell foam does't exist??


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## Volkhard (Feb 19, 2006)

*Sewing can be fun!*

I just did my cockpit cushions last month. Phifertex with Nagehyde piping.
I replaced the old cushions but was able to reuse the foam. 
The instruction DVD from Sailrite (where I bought all my material from as well) helped me to get started.I never used a sewing machine before. It took a little bit more time than expected but the results are great! I used a good PFAFF household machine(Select 4.0) with integrated walking foot. Perhaps not as heavy duty as a commercial machine but she did extremly well and punched easily through 4 layers of Phifertex + zipper. I don't know whether the outcome would have been the same without the walking foot. I would leave the comment on that to te experts. Bottomline : It was a fun project, saved a lot of money and makes the boat just a little prettier for the upcomming season.


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## Omatako (Sep 14, 2003)

The one thing I have not done before on my boat or anywhere else for that matter, is sew stuff. I've always been told that the standard domestic sewing machine would not be able to do the fabrics that I want to use (canvas, thin leather, sailcloth, window clears, etc) so I've never bothered.

This thread got me fired up so I decided it was time. I went out and bought this:










It is apparently in perfect working condition (been replaced in an upholstery factory upgrade), fully industrial, able to sew just about anything and I got it for just NZ$150. I'm stoked.

I have a friend who sails with us who is a skilled seamstress and is happy to lead me through the start-up of my upholstery career. I'll also start checking all the references in this thread for info and assistance.

Thanks for the inspiration.


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## sarafinadh (Jun 16, 2009)

Omatako said:


> I'll also start checking all the references in this thread for info and assistance.
> 
> Thanks for the inspiration.


way to score!

OK;

Start simple. flat square things with out curves or weird angles. Pick projects that are not as visible for your first attempts. you will get better and improve your results!

Go slow. measure twice (or three times!) and cut once. use an old sheet for practice especially setting zippers. The zip can be set into scrap and ripped out until you have it down and then your real fabric won't get ratty looking.

Use long stitches that are easy to pull out to begin and then when you have it all done correctly go over it and stitch with a shorter stronger stitch.

Plan on being patient and ripping a lot. Get a ripping tool or three. they are cheap and make an annoying task got faster and easier. using scissors to rip seams is not fun.

canvas and sail shops are pretty generous with their scraps and will let you have their bin bits to practice on.

When you start making mistakes stop. you are tired even if you don't know it. let it rest and come back to it it will go better later on. A sewing machine is not a hammer and needle is not a nail! and sewing is more fatiguing than newbies realize.

make sure the light is good and that you have everything at hand in your work space.

remember that it is NOT rocket science and you can do it. enjoy the process.

and did I say plan on ripping a lot?

Have fun! and good luck!


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## GaryHLucas (Mar 24, 2008)

On the subject of cushions, has anyone here tried the Froli sleep system? I looked at it at the Annapolis boat show. It was quite clever, but I wondered how it works in the real world. I am interested because I alway hurt when sleeping on a 4" thick foam mattress. My boat has a slide out bunk in the main cabin. Currently I have a real nice inflatable mattress that fits the space exactly! It has a 120 vac blower that I run off a 400 watt inverter. It inflates in about 30 seconds, deflates in the same, and rolls up into a tiny package. It is very comfortable and can be adjusted for just the firmness you like. Fits standard fitted sheets too. About $100.

Gary H. Lucas


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## sarafinadh (Jun 16, 2009)

froli is incredible. we love ours. its in the vberth with a serta foam mattress 4" thick from overstock.com. it's 2.5" of dense foam and 1.5" of memory foam.

we think it may be the most comfortable mattress we have slept on. I like it much better than the air mattresses.


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## Omatako (Sep 14, 2003)

sarafinadh said:


> way to score!
> 
> OK;
> 
> Start simple. flat square things with out curves or weird angles. Pick projects that are not as visible for your first attempts. you will get better and improve your results!


Thanks for the advice Sara. Yes I think my first task is going to be knocking together some lee cloths for bunks which are really square bits of canvas, hemmed and a couple of pressed in eyes for ties. And if they don't look fantastic, they're mostly concealed under the matresses. 

I have huge range of stuff to do: lee cloths, hatch covers, winch covers (wonder about the need for them though), the once I'm a bit more practised a binnacle cover, covers for instrument pods, repairs to our cockpit enclosure, new UV covers for the older sails and my personal target - remanufacturing my Doyle Stackpack that got damaged in a storm.

So I have a lot of stuff to practice on building up to the important ones. I also had my cockpit cushions professionally covered a little while ago and bought about 250% of the fabric I needed so I have several metres of canvas burning a hole in my conscience.

Again thanks for your advice and all that was posted by others earlier. I feel pretty confident about this but note that I will only show you the stuff that went well.


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## Baywind (Dec 7, 2008)

Anyone have any thoughts about using Gore-Tex for the cushions? I acquired some light blue Gore-Tex that is soft and waterproof. It seems tough and feels more comfortable than vinyl or Sunbrella. Best of all it is just $4/yd at a local outlet. 

I too just took up sewing to repair sails ect. I got the free Sailrite CD and will be making cockpit cushions in the near future. A good first project is flags. They are straight stitches and add color to your boat. I made a few this winter and feel much more confident to tackle the cushions now.


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## sarafinadh (Jun 16, 2009)

Inside prolly fine so long as the fabric is heavy enough to stand up to the wear and has enough body to give you a good finished look.

For outside you want to know if it has uv protection. I am not an expert on goretex, but I would not be confident that all gore tex is uv treated... some is, but I don't think it all is.


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## Baywind (Dec 7, 2008)

According to their website it is UV resistant. I think it isn't usually used because it is really expensive. These are over runs, and are 25% of everywhere else I have looked. At this price I will make the covers out of it and replace it over the winter if it doesn't hold up.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

sarafinadh said:


> Inside prolly fine so long as the fabric is heavy enough to stand up to the wear and has enough body to give you a good finished look.
> 
> For outside you want to know if it has uv protection. I am not an expert on goretex, but I would not be confident that all gore tex is uv treated... some is, but I don't think it all is.


Sara, sup sista? Where you been? Are you guys throwin' down some big sails with that Cal? How 'bout some pics?


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## rayjanine (May 8, 2006)

*Interior cushions and the bottom mesh material*

Hi Sabreman:

I have a 1993 Sabre 362 that I am redoing all my interior cushions. I noticed you also did yours and you used a mesh material for the bottom of the interior cushions. Could you tell me the type of material it is? I heard that Textilene Plus is a good material to use. What do you think? Does the textilene sew well to Sunbrella Yacht Upholstery Fabric and Ultrasuede? I will be using Sunbrella for the berths and Ultrasuede for the main cabin. Also what foam did you use for the berths vs the main salon area? I am thinking of using the following foams:

35 - 40 lb compression and 5 inches thick for seat bottoms
25 - 30 lb compression and 4 inches thick for seat backs
2.3 ppcf density

4 inches thick of blue density foam and 2 inches of latex on top for all the berths

I am also wondering what type of sewing machine you have and what thread you used.

Thanks for your help.

Ray
Second Wind


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## Waltthesalt (Sep 22, 2009)

I recovered my interior cushions 4 years ago. I was new and a klutz to sewing if you’re likewise these may be of some value to you otherwise it may just be overload. 
It was a great winter project. I had 8 cushions to recover and it took several months. I set aside a room for the project. 
Reading books on the subject were essential to me. I used The Big Book of Boat Canvas by Karen Lipe and Don Casey’s Canvaswork and Sail Repair. Either would have done the job. Lipe’s book was more detailed and step by step.
I use Sunbrella as I wanted it to be bullet proof and hard to soil. As this is a guy-type boat simple and sturdy trumped comfortable and pretty. But that is oversimplified. Sunbrella is made to handle exterior weather and UV so it’s overkill for interior use. It also has a relatively hard and less porous surface. Finally it’s tough stuff so sewing it even on a sturdy machine is a lot more difficult than sewing softer interior fabrics. This is not an issue when you’re sewing two layers but with zippers and corners you’ll be punching thru 4 or more layers. I also found it difficult to adjust bobbin tension with sunbrella. When I later made some cotton cleanliness covers out of canvass sewing was a breeze.
The point of all this is that you really have a wide range of fabrics to consider that will work well besides sunbrella as long as it’s mildew resistant. Both books talk about the pros and cons of various types. There was also an article on fabrics to use in the July ’04 Good Old Boat.
I don’t recall the thread I used only that was a big, commercial spool. I got my stuff from a recreational fabrics store (Seattle Fabrics) who sell stuff for making tents, sleeping bags, knapsacks etc. They were very helpful on what I would need. Besides a lot of sturdy fabrics to look over they also had all the other stuff over like heavy duty zippers, snaps needles etc. There may be a similar store near you. It would be miles ahead of a regular sewing store. Quilt shops are a good source for miscellaneous tools.
A rotary fabric cutter that looks like a pizza cutter was invaluable. I went thru two blades. Take the warning seriously to keep the blade shield on when not in use. It’s not so much slicing off a piece of your finger but bleeding all over some expensive fabric that’s the problem.
I found a special 2 ft square plastic mat made for using the cutter helpful in minimizing the times I cut thru the dining room table cloth and into the table. 
A seam ripper is also essential as from my inexperience I found myself ripping out and resewing seams fairly frequently until I got the hang of it. I found typically that I’d complete a seam but find out that I’d need to resew it to get a good match on top.
I used my original foam as replacing it was $$$$. That also let me disassemble and use the original covers to make measurements (not templates) for the replacements saving lotsa’ time. Make sure you mark which side is inside and which is out.
Taylor’s chalk, is great for marking where to cut and where to sew.
I put in piping. The stuff I used was plastic and kinda’ stiff. A more flexible core would have been helpful. Also I found the pre-folded bias tape a pain to work with compared to the unfolded tape. 
I found that I needed to remeasure and recut the zipper band after the zipper was sewn in. I also had to be careful to keep the zipper on the track to ensure that it would go into the fold.

Hope this is of some help


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## rayjanine (May 8, 2006)

*Interior Cushions info*

Hi Walt:

Your info is very helpful but it was exactly what you previously posted. I need answers to the questions that I sent to Sabreman. If you have them then please share them otherwise I will hopefully hear from Sabreman. Also are you using a LSZ1 machine? If so, what are the options that you have installed and were they worth having them.

Thanks,

Ray


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## Barquito (Dec 5, 2007)

One advantage to using the same foam for all the cusions is that you can mass produce the boxing (the side of the cusion). I went with foam slightly thinner than yours (don't remember the density). It is OK, but think I should have gone thicker.


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## rayjanine (May 8, 2006)

*Interior cushions*

Hi Barquito:

Thank you for the info. Any pictures of your interior would be appreciated along with the type of fabric you used and any hints on what I should be careful about. Also if you have any recommended fabric and foam distributors in the NY area would be helpful.

Ray


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## Brent Swain (Jan 16, 2012)

After years of sore backs from sleeping on every type of foam I could find, and some expensive mattresses, I threw out the foam, and replaced it with a couple of layers of thick carpet ,over a single layer of foam underlay. The pain disappeared in a couple of nights. 
My fathers house has several beds, but I can only sleep on them two nights max ,before the back pain returns. So I sleep on the carpet, no problem. A friend with a bad back said the carpet on my bunks eliminates her back pain in a single night. 
If nothing else works for you , try a couple of nights on the carpet. The hardness takes getting used to , but the back pain disappears quickly. 
I've never sewn a berth cushion. I just staple the covering over the foam onto a plywood bottom.
I originally used fabric covers. Once the foam got wet, there was no drying it til spring, even in hours in the laundromat dryer. I switched to Naugahyde, and have never had wet bunks since. Spill something, and you simply wipe it off. Later, I switched to Sampson, a 3 ounce loose weave polyester, saturated with PVC; far tougher, cheaper and available in wider widths than Naugahyde. Don't like sleeping on plastic? Throw a blanket over it, or your original fabric covers. No problem. I've had none of the moisture and condensation problems people with fabric covers are always having trouble with. Solved the problem 40 years ago.


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## captflood (Jan 1, 2011)

GREETINGS EARTHLINGS Buy a zipper foot for yoursewing machine this is a neat pice of kit and enalbles you to do allsorts of fancy jobs Try to work on a clean floor or a large table and manage the weight on the machine neddle to stop it pullin the cotton from the point and use good quality threads nylon or similar GO SAFE!


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## Barquito (Dec 5, 2007)

One thing I did to keep it simple: Eliminate the piping. I like the clean look without the piping. It also looks like it would make the sewing more difficult.

The Sailrite instructions have you make the pattern exactly as big as the foam. Then, when you put a 1/2 inch hem in, the cover will be slightly smaller than the foam, resulting in a wrinkle-free fit. I found that it was just a little too tight. Next time I think I would cut the pattern just a hair bigger than the foam.

I made a couple of throw pillows (of same fabric and thread) b/f I started on the cabin cushions. That functioned as a shake-down for my new (cheap) sewing machine. I had not done much sewing since junior high home econ class.

We went with a solid color b/c we think it looks better than pattern, but, it also makes mistakes less obvious.

There are some on-line fabric stores that sell roll-ends for less than normal price. They also sell small samples for $1 each. We found that some fabrics were stiffer than we would have guessed. It is also difficult to tell what the color and texture really is on the computer screen.

I bought my foam off of e-bay. The auctions usually specify exactly what density the foam is etc. I did a mock-up of all the shapes on graph paper in order to minimize the amount of waste for fabric and foam.


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