Today: Finishing up the dinette cushions.
Here we see a seat cushion top plate, basted along the edge with the basting tape, paper backing pulled off and then the piping laid down. Forcing the stiffer piping around a sharp corner requires practice and increasingly improving technique.
After the piping, another layer of basting tape over that, and then the boxing edge. Again the corners require the most effort, as this is where the 90 degree angle will form. It's kind of like trying to spread a peeled world globe surface map off the earth's crust and lay it down flat onto a table top. A method that was worked out long ago by creative thinkers of a scientific mind with such solutions as the
Lambert Conformal Conic Projection.
I know, lots of big words; if nothing else, too many big words is probably why SOME geniuses adhere to the "flat-earth theory". The same group probably thinks we are nothing more than stick people so don't need more than a three millimeter cushion thickness, where boxing becomes unnecessary.
With considerable strain in the corners, I learned that perhaps (at least with this particular piping) a broader corner might be best. But having already done some, I had to try and reach the same - or similar - curves that I began with.
Now here's an example of the butt joint region for both the piping, and the boxing, at the back of the cushion.
Note how the piping flaps overlap to both sides of the boxing seam. The internal piping piece was cut from both ends to butt right at the middle. This was how I ended up doing the rest of the joints after trying the first two methods I discarded early on.
Then it was onto the machine...
And off to the races.
By this stage, this was my GOOD corner...
My BAD corner...
And my UGLY corner.
Yeah I had to pick it out and re-sew. And THEN I ran out of bobbin thread! It was AWFUL I tell you AWFUL! It was as if the gods were punishing me because I had made fun of their "flat earth people", who - I've heard - are considered kind of cute by the gods, because they're so gullible. Apparently the gods find it charming. But - THEY don't have to LIVE with them! :R
Then it was back out to the shop to do corners on THESE two boards...
Then stuffing and stapling.
Now we're seeing the two seat BACKS. Getting those covers done in the sewing room, I was back in the garage stapling down the front edge before stuffing.
This is the under side of the cover, showing the back side of the upper piping seam (for the top of the boxing, or the top plate to boxing seam) laying near to the wood edge. Kind of trying to position it out of the way, but centered, so I could get the other piping flap into the board edge easier.
Then with the bottom plate (staple flaps) to bottom of boxing seam pulled into the plywood edge nice and flat and snug - "BAM"! Staple, dead center. They called my Dad "ol' dead eye". And he kept me secret.
After bringing fabric in, folded once in half and stapled, sort of in remaining centers...
I came back and filled in the blanks every 1-2 inches or so, from 200 yards away!
Getting kind of a start at each corner, but leaving room to work 'em.
Then flipped over, I put in the foam, placing the poly-wrap edge seam toward the back side of the cushions. I don't know how much that matters.
And got those stapled.
I rounded the piping corners to what best look I could get, and stapled the fabric flaps in positions to hold the shapes.
Okay, may we have a drum roll please. (sound of drum-roll. I don't know what that looks like on a keyboard).
I found these in our water heater box recently. I think these are used for "flat-earth theory maps". Not exactly sure HOW they use them but hey! Whatever! They fall for anything! (Yes I know what these are really for, but let's just keep that between us).
Aren't they just so cute!? Like Bugs would say, "What a MAROON! What a Gulli-BULL, what a Nin-COW-poop!"
But I used them to prop forward the seat back boards. And they can easily stow at the mattress foot. We found keeping the seats flat (that's our theory and we're sticking to it) worked just fine for our comfort. We're calling it our "flat-butt theory".
Here's with only ONE "flat-earth theory map roll" behind - for when ships travel slow.
And here's a shot with TWO, count them TWO, "flat-earth theory map rolls" behind - for like when ships go really fast and need to take off! You know, like when they go TOTALLY really fast!
But - we were comfy.
