material for interior cushion replacements

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seascape

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hi any suggestions for suitable semi permeable fabric so we can make up replacement interior cushion covers (sadler 29)and bottom material which is impermeable.where can we buy it from. any suggestions for fixings/ best type of construction/ best type of sewing machine bearing in mind we intend to have a go at sprayhood/sail repairs etc in future. many thanks
 
Try Hawke House in Gosport, I bought mine from Toomer and Hayter. I think both will stock a similar range. Get the zips, the thread and buttons, if required, covered to match all at the same time. (There is a special way of fitting buttons which you should find in a book on upholstery, worth getting a book from the library anyway)

Both advertise in PBO or you will find them with Google. Ask them to send you pattern samples.

A decent domestic sewing machine will do quite well. Make the covers just a bit smaller than the the foam to ensure a good tight fit. Or if you are buying new foam get it a liitle larger than the finished size of the cushions. If you can get the covers on easily they are too loose!

Simple box construction ie top, bottom, ends and sides with the back edge incorporating a full legth zip. If you use a patterned material then with a bit of thought you can make the pattern match all the way round. It looks smart if you do that.
Mine are reversible ie same material top and bottom and with a lot of thought the tops and bottoms match as well so that cushions can be swapped from one side of the boat to the other and everything always matches.
I suggest that you do not pipe them but you can if you must. In which case get the piping cord from the same supplier

If you use a Dralon Velvet it is important that the pile runs from back to front. careful sewing is also necessary and I would advise against it for a first attempt.

It is not a difficult job but I must confess to having learnt uphostery at evening classes.

BTW an electric carving knife is just the job for cutting foam
 
Thanks for the advice Vic . Is it really essential to button the foam and covers together?
Any suggestions for canvas suppliers/ methods / machine ?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Is it really essential to button the foam and covers together?


[/ QUOTE ] No . It makes it look posher and it stops the covers sliding round the cushions if they are a bit loose. I did not with the boat cushions but I did with the 3 piece suite.

BTW if you do use velvet, and I suggest you dont, the foam should be covered first as it has a tendency to pull the pile of the velvet out. (I was told)

I used a Frister-Rossman Cub 3. A reasonably good portable domestic machine. (now replaced with a much more expensive Pfaff though)

[ QUOTE ]
Any suggestions for canvas suppliers/ methods

[/ QUOTE ] By canvas if you mean the material for the underside then it should be available from the suppliers I mentioned. HH are a very helpful bunch but T&H the specialists in the field.

I cannot now remember the sequence I used for sewing it all together. Start by making the back strip with the zip in it, then attach all the edge strips to the the top then sew on the bottom I think, but I can't remember at what point I did the vertical seams at the corners. (You can take the front strip round the corners a liitle way so that the seam with the end strips is out of sight.)

Allow about 1 cm or a little less for all the hems but cut some of the surplus away at the corners

Make sure the pattern on the visible front edge matches the pattern on the top and match each other all round the boat.


PS swmbo says make sure you open the zip before you finish sewing up all the seams (other wise it is almost impossible) She thinks i did the corner seams after attaching all the edge pieces to the top panel. that way you dont have any worries about getting the corners to line up but you do when it come to sewing on the bottom though.

It would be sensible to start with a cushion that does not show too much, one from the fo'c's'l perhaps.
 
Thanks for your help. Will the type of sewing machines you mention be up to any jobs around the boat ? Such as sewing new dodgers , sprayhood , cockpit tent , sail repairs?
 
I have not tried any of the things you mention but provided you do not sew through umpteen layers I would think so but take it gently. PVC stuff is difficult to feed through the machine I believe. It sticks. There are special needles for some materials as well.

We did not choose either of those machines for boat work they were what swmbo chose for dressmaking. The Pfaff is a beauty. Just spent £80 on a service for it but got the F-R serviced as part of the deal on buying the Pfaff. That is earmarked for our daughter.
 
also keep an eye out on ebay. We bought enough material to do our boat twice over for about £30. The material was left over from a caravan manufacturer and fully fire retarded and has not suffered any ill effects from a marine environment so far, two years. I used velcro instead of zips and also used the velcro on the sides of the boat and the back of the cushions to stop them falling over every time we heel. It was a learning curve to do but very satisfying and all done on a domestic sewing machine. I bought a book called The Big Book of Boat canvas by Karen S Lipe which described the techniques to use. It has all the usual projects plus some unusual ones such as life jacket bags, bicycle bags, canvas buckets. It just about stops short of sewing together a canvas tender!!
 
This has come up in the past, and as has been said, most decent domestic machines will sew marine fabrics, of all types, without fuss. If you do external stuff like dodgers use sailmakers Dacron thread in order to defeat u/v degradation problems. I have an older Husqvarna machine which has a neat low gear, giving you more power and less speed, ideal for learners and duffers like me.
 
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