Cabin Cushion Making for Dummies!
 

Ta Da! After watching the Sailrite videos, several times, choosing and ordering foam, choosing and ordering Sunbrella fabric, basting tape, poly thread, and velcro, I had the pleasure of working on the first cushion for my 1972 Seafari with my wife - for about 14 hours over 3 weekends.

Things I learned: Even though I have used a sewing machine before, and my wife has a masters degree in conservation of textiles from FIT, sewing heavy material accurately, in complex curves, is not for the faint of heart. The 5 inch cushion was challenging enough to cut perpendicular, but the angled curve on the hull side was out there. And the velcro opening turned out too short from top to bottom - so adding of fabric was necessary. The finished result won't win any awards, but should give me a good night's sleep!

Looks comfy to me!

Wow, great job! I need to do the same thing for my boat,
but so far I've made do with an air mattress and a couple
of pillows.
I'd say you're ready to turn pro!

Men don’t use sewing machines.... they use cloth welders. Nice job!

My 91 year old mother taught me how to sew as a young boy...:eek:
If you can spool a bobbin and thread it you are home free !!

It is amazing how you never forget how to use a sewing machine !

Nice work there..:cool:

:D

Thanks for reminding me to pay someone else to do this job.

5” foam should work well! Mine was 3” and definitely not enough! I think the V-berth cushions in the DeFever were about 5”, although we’re having new memory foam mattresses made for all bunks. The new bride is insistent on being comfortable! Master cabin queen mattress will be about 7” thick!

I bet Granny has pics.

Here are the new cushions in place in the cabin: What do you think?

Comfy!

I think you’ll be glad you went with 5” foam! Looks good!
BTW, I found some mesh hammocks that I suspended from hooks on the anchor locker bulkhead and underside of side decks; very handy for stowing life jackets, towels, etc. and keeping clutter off the bunks!

So how much do you think you have in the project? (Your time excluded of course)

The materials cost $487.00 approximately, as follows:

Sunbrella fabric 5 yards 60" width: $130
5" Reticulated foam: $325.00 (I ordered 4" foam at this price, and they shipped 5"!) measures 30 x 72 inches, two sheets

Basting tape 3/8" x 60 yards : $16
Spool poly thread: $6
1 inch velcro 10 meters: $10

Also, 1 yard of striped sunbrella-like product from Walmart at $10 - nice accent, since I did not have enough of the blue to do the center square keystone..

We stitched everything on a standard sewing machine, but did not try to stitch in piping on the seams since I thought that would overload the machine.