We are the new owners of CD27 (#212)"Spirit". We are looking forward to exploring the Chesapeake Bay, around the Chester River area. This is our first boat, and we can't wait for the spring.
We want to reupholster the cushions, both in the cockpit and in the cabin.
Can anyone offer suggestions regarding what type of material (or brand name) to use, and where can it be purchased (Philadelphia area)?
Thanks for the help.
Chuck and Bonnie Bell
cdbell@jersey.net
Fabric choice for cushion reupholstery
Moderator: Jim Walsh
-
Bob Chamberland
Re: Fabric choice for cushion reupholstery
"Sunbrella", BoatUS
Can anyone offer suggestions regarding what type of material (or brand name) to use, and where can it be purchased (Philadelphia area)?
cha62759@traverse.com
Can anyone offer suggestions regarding what type of material (or brand name) to use, and where can it be purchased (Philadelphia area)?
Chuck Bell wrote: Thanks for the help.
Chuck and Bonnie Bell
cha62759@traverse.com
-
Larry DeMers
Re: Fabric choice for cushion reupholstery
Hi,
We rebuilt our cushions last winter, using new foam and material. The best thing to do is to go to a fabric store and look at their selection of printed and plain material on rolls. Look for a heavier weight material that will stand up to your jeans rubbing on it for many years time. Do not use piping on the edges of the cushion. They fray right away as they stand proud of the material.
Carefully remove the old cover, and use a seam ripper to open all seams up and separate the materials. Use them as a pattern for the new material. If you get ambitious and want a nice new feel, replace the foam also. Usually the material store has foam in 1,2,3,4in. thicknesses, and can order 5 in. Save the old foam to use as an exact form to cut the new foam to. Use a Serrated Edge Bread Knife..or an Electric Carving Knife with double Serrated Blades. The serrations are what you want to have, as they cut right through the foam easily.
In the cabin, you will want open-cell foam of medium density, depending on how thick the old foam was (4 in. is normal). Over time, foam gets flattened and becomes more like a rug than a cushion..heh.
Out in the cockpit, we put in Bottom-Siders long ago. Over time, they started to become ugly and ripped here and there thru various causes (lie the skeg on my outboard, set on a cushion momentarily..ouch!). So I got some repair adhesive made for that foam, and repaired the rips, but it was plain that the sun was affecting the white finish, causing it to separate from the foam a bit. Not wanting to spend $500 again, we covered them in Sunbrella, a tan color that matches the non-skid semi-well. It works nicely, and looks great...well, it worked better after we put (contrasting brown color in sunbrella) straps over the cushions. They are just simple cloth straps that snap onto the seat on either side of the cushion. These straps hold the cushion in place when heeling, otherwise they slide down from the high side.
Sunbrella dries very quickly when allowed to air out in the sun, so condensation on the seat bottoms is easily evaporated away while you do the morning wipe down of the dew.
Give it a try..a great project, and one that is a good remedy for winteritis we seasonal sailors suffer from.
Cheers,
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Sailing Lake Superior
demers@sgi.com
We rebuilt our cushions last winter, using new foam and material. The best thing to do is to go to a fabric store and look at their selection of printed and plain material on rolls. Look for a heavier weight material that will stand up to your jeans rubbing on it for many years time. Do not use piping on the edges of the cushion. They fray right away as they stand proud of the material.
Carefully remove the old cover, and use a seam ripper to open all seams up and separate the materials. Use them as a pattern for the new material. If you get ambitious and want a nice new feel, replace the foam also. Usually the material store has foam in 1,2,3,4in. thicknesses, and can order 5 in. Save the old foam to use as an exact form to cut the new foam to. Use a Serrated Edge Bread Knife..or an Electric Carving Knife with double Serrated Blades. The serrations are what you want to have, as they cut right through the foam easily.
In the cabin, you will want open-cell foam of medium density, depending on how thick the old foam was (4 in. is normal). Over time, foam gets flattened and becomes more like a rug than a cushion..heh.
Out in the cockpit, we put in Bottom-Siders long ago. Over time, they started to become ugly and ripped here and there thru various causes (lie the skeg on my outboard, set on a cushion momentarily..ouch!). So I got some repair adhesive made for that foam, and repaired the rips, but it was plain that the sun was affecting the white finish, causing it to separate from the foam a bit. Not wanting to spend $500 again, we covered them in Sunbrella, a tan color that matches the non-skid semi-well. It works nicely, and looks great...well, it worked better after we put (contrasting brown color in sunbrella) straps over the cushions. They are just simple cloth straps that snap onto the seat on either side of the cushion. These straps hold the cushion in place when heeling, otherwise they slide down from the high side.
Sunbrella dries very quickly when allowed to air out in the sun, so condensation on the seat bottoms is easily evaporated away while you do the morning wipe down of the dew.
Give it a try..a great project, and one that is a good remedy for winteritis we seasonal sailors suffer from.
Cheers,
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Sailing Lake Superior
Chuck Bell wrote: We are the new owners of CD27 (#212)"Spirit". We are looking forward to exploring the Chesapeake Bay, around the Chester River area. This is our first boat, and we can't wait for the spring.
We want to reupholster the cushions, both in the cockpit and in the cabin.
Can anyone offer suggestions regarding what type of material (or brand name) to use, and where can it be purchased (Philadelphia area)?
Thanks for the help.
Chuck and Bonnie Bell
demers@sgi.com
-
Jo Chamberlain
Re: Fabric choice for cushion reupholstery
Look at www.sailrite.com as a source for Sunbrella and other boat fabrics. They tend to have more choices and better prices than BoatUS and frequently ship in less than 24 hours. They also have almost anything you would need for sewing projects for a boat.
jchamber@crosslink.net
jchamber@crosslink.net
-
matt cawthorne
Re: Fabric choice for cushion reupholstery
Chuck and Bonnie,
Congratulations on your new boat. I would suggest sunberlla for your outdoor cushions. The best place to get it is at "The Textile Commission". It is located at the old Frankford Arsenal off of Bridge street. The sales person that I used to deal with is no longer there so I can not give you a name. They are a wholesale outfit, but if you show up with cash they will sell to you. The last time I was there was about 4 years ago when they were still located on Chestnut street. Their prices for material were very, very good , but they do have minimum orders. Thread is sold by the pound, grommets by the gross etc. Cloth is by the yard, not by fractions thereof. They sell Bainbridge Dacron sail cloth, but you really need to know what type you want. Last I checked they sold, and had in stock all colors of Sunbrella. They even had the flower print varieties if you are in to that sort of thing. (215) 923-7440. If you go there e-mail me back and let me know who you deal with and what your experience was like. I always found them great to deal with, but things change.
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
Congratulations on your new boat. I would suggest sunberlla for your outdoor cushions. The best place to get it is at "The Textile Commission". It is located at the old Frankford Arsenal off of Bridge street. The sales person that I used to deal with is no longer there so I can not give you a name. They are a wholesale outfit, but if you show up with cash they will sell to you. The last time I was there was about 4 years ago when they were still located on Chestnut street. Their prices for material were very, very good , but they do have minimum orders. Thread is sold by the pound, grommets by the gross etc. Cloth is by the yard, not by fractions thereof. They sell Bainbridge Dacron sail cloth, but you really need to know what type you want. Last I checked they sold, and had in stock all colors of Sunbrella. They even had the flower print varieties if you are in to that sort of thing. (215) 923-7440. If you go there e-mail me back and let me know who you deal with and what your experience was like. I always found them great to deal with, but things change.
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
-
Bob Luby
Re: Fabric choice for cushion reupholstery
I ordered some new cushions a while back and found Sunbrella "Wheat Linen" to be the best design, at least to my taste.
Your taste may vary. of course.
Rluby@aol.com
Your taste may vary. of course.
Rluby@aol.com