The customer’s story

A wooden Chris-Craft motor cruiser, some seventy years old and kept in Bristol condition, needed new covers for the six cushions of its varnished flybridge settee. The old covers had lost their comfort and no longer sat well with the navy canvas surround and bimini. The foam in the top cushions was sound; the lower cushions needed new foam to ensure a proper fit with the settee furniture. Window curtain tracks in the main cabin had cracked from age preventing smooth opening or closing of the curtains.

The scope

Six new cushions for the flybridge aft settee, and new cabin curtain track, slides and end caps.

The approach

We kept the owner’s foam where it was good and cut new high-resiliency foam for the seats, then wrapped each insert in batting and film for a fuller shape and an easy fit. The covers are Sunbrella Upholstery in Heritage Indigo. Every panel is joined with French seams, reinforced from inside with polyester fabric tape in place of the old corded welt; zippers run halfway round the boxing so the inserts come out easily, and snaps on webbing straps hold the back cushions in place. A custom-fit underlayment keeps the seat cushions from sliding on the varnished settee. While aboard, we replaced the cabin curtain tracks with an exact match in Recmar 5400, centering the joints so the slides run clean, with new slides, end caps and brass screws to finish the refit.

The result

Six cushions that sit square, match the boat’s navy canvas and stay put, and curtains that run smoothly on the new track and slides. Workmanship and hardware carry our two-year warranty.

Materials

FabricSunbrella Retweed Upholstery, Heritage Indigo 18017-0000 · 50,000 double rubs; five-year warranty
ThreadCoats Ultra-Dee, navy, UV-resistant polyester · colour-matched
SnapsDOT nickel-plated brass · on polyester webbing, cushion backs
ZipperYKK #5 coil, single slider · on the back boxing panel, for foam removal
BattingDacron polyester wrap · top and sides, for a crowned, fuller shape
FoamHR2533 high-resiliency, three seat sections · the owner’s sound foam reused in the backs
Wrappolyethylene silk film · encases foam and batting
Underlaymentrug underlayment, custom fit · keeps the cushions from sliding on varnished wood
Curtain trackRecmar 5400, eight sections, with slides and end caps · new brass screws, joints centered

Photographs

Each photograph opens larger.

The flybridge aft settee with its six new cushions in Sunbrella Upholstery Heritage Indigo. — All French seams, zippers half-way around the boxing.

The flybridge aft settee with its old grey vinyl cushions in place, the marina beyond the windows. — Before: the old vinyl cushions

The varnished flybridge settee with its cushions removed, grey carpet on the floor. — The varnished wood settee, measured for the new cushions.

Two navy Sunbrella panels cut for cushion tops on the loft bench, foam blocks behind them. — The first Sunbrella Heritage Indigo cushion panels precisely cut to fit.

A cushion cover inside out on the bench, its zipper sewn into the boxing panel and fabric tape reinforced French seams visible. — The zipper set into the boxing, French seams reinforced; seen from inside.

Cushion cover detail: a zipper placket to hide the ends of the zipper cleanly.

A cushion foam insert wrapped in white Dacron batting, marked UP, on a sheet of film. — A cushion foam wrapped in batting before the silk film goes on.

The corner of a finished navy cushion cover, French seams meeting at a square corner. — Detail of a finished corner. Parallel seams require careful attention to details

The bare settee with a grey underlayment pad cut to the shape of its seat. — The underlayment cut to the seat, so the cushions stay put.

A finished seat cushion on the loft bench, square and crowned. — A seat cushion finished, crowned by its batting.

Two back-cushion panels chalked out on navy fabric, one marked Port Back. — The back cushions marked out, port and starboard.

A finished back cushion held edge-on, the zipper running along its back boxing. — A back cushion, its zipper along the boxing.

The back face of a back cushion with two navy webbing tabs sewn on for its straps. — Webbing tabs on the back, for the snap straps that hold it in place.

A film-wrapped foam insert being slid into its cover through the open zipper. — The insert slides in through the zipper, half-way round the boxing.

A needle and thread closing the last of a seam by hand, close up on navy fabric. — French seams closed by hand on the inside for a fine finish on the outside.

The main cabin, varnished wood and windows all round, curtains hanging on their new track. — The main cabin, its curtains back on the new Recmar track.

A finished seat cushion from above, one corner notched to clear the bimini corner post. — A notched cushion to fit around a bimini post.

The crown the batting gives and a notched cushion.