Cushions and Upholstery

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The orange and brown plaid fabric on the original cushions of No News was lcearly dated and somewhat dingy, so it was time for an upgrade. We have the aft cockpit, and the quarterberths are seldom used for sleeping, so I planned to just recover that foam but to purchase new 4" foam for the rest of the cushions. The original settee cushions had a 4" edge with 3" for the rest of the cushions. This meant some adjustments on the back snaps and also a 1/2" trim off the plywood port settee backrest that folds down to make the rest of V berth.

We did use an original idea on the quarterberths and cut a cushion out of the full cushion. This is just the size of the engine opening, and this cushion was covered separately. We did this so we could inspect the engine from the side by just removing the small cushion so the door could open. Otherwise, the entire quarterberth would have had to have been unloaded and the large cushion removed to get to the engine room opening.

A local upholstery shop was a great help in order the foam, which was HR3133 polyurethane, and then cutting it to duplicate the original cushions. I had salvaged some of the vinyl backs and most of the zippers. My Elna Super sewing machine from the '70s is a real workhorse and had no trouble with the four or five layers of upholstery fabric. Double-sided tape was used to baste the layers of fabric together.

The fabric decision was the most difficult since we wanted something that was light in color (to make the space look bigger) and a tight weave, but something that would not show dirt. The teal fabric we chose is a textured weave like a tweed.

The shop also sold me Dacron batting to cover the cushions and soften the edges. This was cut to size and then glued on with a spray glue. A thin film of non-woven fabric called "Cushion Eze" was then wrapped around the foam and batting in order to make it slide into the fabric covering.

The Sailrite catalogue has a lot of the necessary supplies. 800-244-6715. I'll also be glad to give more details to anyone attempting this project.

We decided to fill in the footwell in the aft cabin. John made fiddles and a plywood "cover" for the space, and we had a cushion made to fit there. Now the entire aft cabin area is the same height, and if we wish to sleep athwartships we can. (I'm short enough that I fit "in the stern.") In the footwell "locker" we keep extra fenders, line, and our dingy anchor.

When we bought our boat used, the cushions and upholstery were in very poor condition. (I will refrain from a description of the orange and brown plain fabric -or- the orange shag carpeting....) In the aft cabin, there were holes in the upholstery from people stepping into the cabin repeated at the same spot. When we reupholstered (yes, we threw away the old foam and started over), I had the upholstery shop put vinyl on these "step areas" (and also on the footwell cushion (see above). Now we can step in the after cabin with wet feet and not worry about getting the fabric wet, too. Also handy when it rains in or we there's a surprise sea.