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Interior & Exterior Cushions

Having never made cushions before and being a perfectionist made this somewhat of a daunting task. Sailrite videos, their fabric calculator and the ability to think upside down, inside out and backwards made it happen.  All of the cushions are made with sunbrella fabric, (interior and exterior marine grade), and phifertex bottom pieces which hold them in place and  allow moisture to pass through their tight vinyl weave.


The core of the exterior cushion is a dry cell foam which you can literally pour water through so mold and mildew are never an issue. The core of the interior cushion is antimicrobial foam which is wrapped in batting before being stuffed into the cover. The result is a cushion that resists bacteria and is firm but feels really plush.

For my own boat and as my first attempt, I was fortunate to be able to use the existing foam from the salon and quarterberth cushions. They required about 2 weeks of sunning on the patio to get the diesel smell out but it did dissipate. Wrapping them with the batting, ( using spray glue to adhere it ), and covering them with sunbrella interior linen fabric brought them completely back to life. They have the phifertex bottom panel for air flow.
Two different angles on the cockpit cushions. I made these before attempting the interior cushions. Sunbrella marine grade fabric and phifertex for the bottom panel.  My first experience piping around the edge and cutting dry cell foam. No beveled edges & an old school electric knife you once used to carve Christmas dinner simplified cutting the foam. The piping was a different story but it worked.

Full interior cushion redo for Whiskey Run
Whiskey Run belongs to a friend who wanted a complete redo of all the interior cushions. He picked out the sunbrella fabric which is a marine grade interior. It was my first experience with stripes and super stretchy material. The combination made matching the stripes quite the challenge.  The vberth cushions are 6" antimicrobial foam covered with batting and a phifertex bottom panel. 
The salon and settee cushions are all 4" foam for the seats & back and are built the same way as the vberth cushions.

The last picture is a custom wedge piece the owner wanted to put on the long salon seat against the navigation table for reading. He is a live-aboard and wanted extra support for his back.

                                                Sleeping berths cushion redo for Misty Blue

Misty Blue Yonder was one of my most challenging projects. She's one of San Juan Sailing's charter fleet boats hosting many crews for charter and sailing classes each year. She has undergone a major refit over the past year with several folks working on her not the least of whom were her owners.

The berths all have many angles, cutouts and wedges that need to be factored into the crafting of the cushions.  The first challenge is patterning and cutting the foam precisely as everything else builds from that. Much to my delight when all 4 berths were completed all the cushions fit perfectly.

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