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Interior Cushions

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At Ease
Admiral

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672 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/01/2003 : 20:29:37

Any suggestions as to how to recover and/or replace the interior cushions? It does not look as if Catalina Direct has any in stock. What about the folks that repair auto seat covers? Any success stories would be appreciated. Thanks.

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atgep
Master Marine Consultant

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1009 Posts

Response Posted - 09/01/2003 : 21:52:36

I am in the process myself. Here is what I have done.

1. purchased 18 yards of marine grade fabric on ebay-$100
2. 10 yards of marine vinyl from Jo-anns 50% off - $30
3. new foam where required from Jo-anns 50% off $20 a sheet- $100
4. thread , buttons , velcro(no zippers) $75

The deck leaks ruined my factory cushions.(thanks PO) I have been shopping very carefully. After 2 weeks of lurking on ebay I found 2 lots of fabric totaling 18 yards. This is more than required but I am also making pillows and lee-cloths. I have been to joanns during the past couple of weekends to use the 50% coupons. They com in the sunday paper 2-3 weekend out of the month. All but 3 cushions had to be replaced. No big deal on the foam. They sell a spray adhesive that joins them and glues on the batting. I am sewing this with a good quality home sewing machine(husqvarna). I used velcro instead of zippers. It seemed easier than aligning a zipper. Working good so far. I found some coverable buttons. I have NO experience sewing with patterns. I just cut it and sew till it looks right! Sure there a lot of details that a professional could put into these. But... as my kids snacked today I had no worries as I knew that it was CHEAP and I could FIX It. I figure it saved me at least $1000.00 I will post pics when closer to completion. VR Tom.

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 09/01/2003 : 23:23:49

We spent a little more than Tom... Used an auto/boat upholstery shop, picked a linen-like Sunbrella upholstery fabric (not their canvas), and specified 4" medium-density foam for all seat bottoms and berths (originals were 3"). The upholsterer added a 1" fiber mat the seats and berths for a softer feel. The total for 12 cushions was close to 20 boat units, and the results are beautiful.

To get quotes, I drew the shapes and showed the dimensions of the cushions, and took the drawing around to several shops. Catalina Direct's were a little less, but not as nice and with only two choices of fabric (blue or green velour).

Dave Bristle - 1985 C-25 #5032 SR-FK-Dinette-Honda "Passage" in SW CT

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rwall10597
Deckhand

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USA
11 Posts

Response Posted - 09/01/2003 : 23:47:07

I keep my boat in Lake Lanier in GA. I bought it knowing I would have the cushions recovered right away, the foam was actually in fine shape.

I got prices from several places. I ended up taking them to a place in South Carolina. The whole bill for the fabric and all the work was under $800. I went with a nice blue instead of that nice camper brown plaid, but it made it look like a brand new boat.

Could be just me, but I feel like I got a great deal. They still look as sharp as the day I got them, and that is after two years of use.

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Gary B.
Admiral

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USA
969 Posts

Response Posted - 09/02/2003 : 11:45:59

I am cheaper than most. I bought upholstery fabric in roll ends for maybe 5 dollars a yard and sewed "seat covers" for Encore! I simply installed grommets in the hemmed edges and "laced" them on with cord. The original vinyl was in good shape and so was the foam. Basically, I radically improved the look of my boat's interior for less than $100 total. The fabric is slightly different pattern in the V berth, but the same colors. One has to really pay attention to notice. I am quite pleased with how it turned out. I couldn't see paying a large percentage of the boat's worth for upholstery. The money I saved bought a new main sail and lots of other maintenance upgrades; maybe a new 130 for next season!

Gary B.
Encore! #685 SK/SR

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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 09/02/2003 : 20:25:32

I did the whole job for about $200 and working a couple of hours every evening for 2 weeks. I bought 8 OZ stretch denim from JoAnns fabric, plus nylon thread and some BIG needles. I cut the old plaid stuff off, keeping the foam and the vinyl bottoms. I stretched the denim around the foam, putting pins in at each corner. Then I put the vinyl on top of the foam and hand sewed all around the cushion, joing the denim to the vinyl, and pulling the pins out when I got to that corner. It was easy, although time consuming. The thought of saving $2000 was a great incentive (price from sailnet and Catalina Direct).

The boat looks great, the cushions are not professional quality, but you couldn't tell just by looking at them. I threw away the seat backs in the salon and use throw pillows instead. Denim is more comfortable than sunbrella and easier to sew and work with (in my opinion). I didn't do the V-Berth (it's fine) and I still have the large quarter berth cushion to do someday.

<img src="http://www.indiscipline.org/cat25/pictures/icon.jpg" border=0>Indiscipline 1978 FK #398

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Doug
Captain

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USA
457 Posts

Response Posted - 09/02/2003 : 20:52:11

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote> I threw away the seat backs in the salon and use throw pillows instead. <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Hmm... That's an idea. Don't need the seat backs to sleep on. The keep falling down when we sail. In the way when I'm making the super bed...

Doug - #1913 Noeta

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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 09/02/2003 : 22:56:14

Throw them away, you'll never miss them....
<img src="http://www.indiscipline.org/cat25/vacation03/heidi.jpg" border=0>

<img src="http://www.indiscipline.org/cat25/pictures/icon.jpg" border=0>Indiscipline 1978 FK #398

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LOREN SOUERS
Navigator

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USA
100 Posts

Response Posted - 09/03/2003 : 15:01:49

We decided to get new upholstery two springs ago. cost about $800. We took the old ones (Catalina originals, pretty well shot) to an Amish upholsterer in north central Ohio. We left the old ones with him about 2 months. They were done in the spring and look and fit great.

Loren Souers, skipper
Nimue, the Lady of the Lake

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At Ease
Admiral

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672 Posts

Response Posted - 09/03/2003 : 18:51:00

Thanks for the input. Called Catalina Direct today (the cushions are not in the catalog), you mail your old covers to them and they will either make just the covers or make new covers over new foam. Color choices are navy blue or forest green. Cost for covers and foam is $1105 plus $175 shipping.

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