Salon cushions are at the heart of most cruise lines. Although you can spend most of your time in the cockpit in warm climates, in cooler weather at night the saloon is there for you while you are sailing and is the center of activity on the boat. But because of this, it can be intimidating to tackle this key renovation project. And it takes a long time. And you want it to last for years. These are demanding criteria.
I have just finished the salon cushions for my third boat. I learned a few things along the way that are a shortcut because I screwed it up and figured out how to fix it! Maybe I can save you the messed up part. I feel like many of you – I started sewing from patterns and the thought of “starting from scratch” was scary at first. I’ve scoured many different ways to make pillows, but no scheme has been complete. There are tons of great videos out there, for example, but I’ve found that they almost never talk about the kind of problems you’re likely to find on your sailboat – the “standard” irregularities like non-rectangular shapes. I’ll help you figure out how to deal with some of these irregularities.
And most self-help articles start with a specific design – how do you decide which type of design? Replacing your boat’s original cushions can turn out to be very sophisticated designs that require molded foams, buttons, pleats, and the like. If you decide you need to be of the same level of design and this is your first project, you will likely be happier to rent the design, or at least you won’t need my less professional help. But after a long hand-wrestling process, I decided that my boat needed comfortable, well-made, easy-care, and attractive pillows, but that I could go with a modern, streamlined look. Call it Danish modern and it sounds fancier. Here are my choices about some of the design “features” of my previous boats:
No pipelines. I love piping, but it is time consuming and requires a lot of material especially for bevel cuts. They can also be bumpy to sleep on. I use piping on my cockpit cushions which are large sheets (and the piping helps keep the pillows in place), but for the salon I needed smaller pillows to make it easier to get into the trash cans below. Anyone who sleeps on these pillows will be spread across multiple pillows so I skipped the piping. If you don’t have any trash cans to worry about downstairs and only have the piping on the very edges, check out my article on traditional piped boxing pillows. Otherwise, stay with me and I’ll show you a faster, easier way.
No buttons. Buttons and ruffles are obstacles for removable covers. Boats get wet and dirty. Sometimes really really wet. There’s nothing like the end of a nasty wet storm or hard crossing to get to a washing machine and wash all of those covers. Cut out buttons and sew on again? Probably won’t happen on my boat. And yes, there are ways to make the buttons easier to use, but either way it’s not fun to sleep on. Salons are supposed to deal with sleeping guests and it is also our sea berth in our boat when crossing the oceans. No buttons for me.
No molded foam. Good foam that only lasts is expensive. I found some very reasonable prices online, but not for foam with neck or knee rolls. If you have a great shop near you that puts the foam in these shapes and you really want them then go ahead, I’m not your guide. However, if you only have trapezoids (not all of them), quarter circles, or curved backs, I can help you with that. They are made of flat foam, but are easy to assemble.
Secured back. I haven’t found any good sources for attaching the pillow backs to the bulkheads. Ok, I realize that ordinary people’s couches and window seats are not sailing around at exciting heel angles, but like our sailors, and we have to secure them. I’ll show you a simple snap method that you can live with. Do your future self a favor and don’t use Velcro, even the really sturdy one. It finally makes a sticky mess. Snapshots are cleaner.
To look professional, boat cushion must completely fill the space they are in, be plump and full with minimal wrinkles in the material, and be made of excellent materials. With the first two criteria, I’ll help you by offering the relative sizes of the room, foam, and cover. The third criterion is first class materials that you provide and I will give you some tips on buying quality foam. So if you want simple, albeit irregular, modern pillows with no rollers or buttons, and want to spend hours, not days, on each pillow, let me see if I can help.
Sumber: https://sailingeurybia.com/easy-salon-cushions-for-a-boat/