Rich,

Ah, that old re-modeling again. While I have no idea of NE fabric workers to
do the job, we have had this done several times in different locations--on
different boats. Our favorite and best craftsman happens to be here in our
town--however...

A couple of ideas for you to consider: We, from a lot of living aboard
experience (20+ years) find nylon velour in a solid dark color to be best
suited to a boat's interior. Its wicking ability is superior. It is--or
seems--always dry. It cleans up amazingly well--even engine oil does not
show (from firsthand experience). And most of all, it cast an aura of
elegance combined with the teak.

We found that most--that we experienced--cushion makers have a great
difficulty in making the curved foam pieces. And if supplied with a curved
foam, they cannot properly cover it. If you plan to replace the foam, you
might consider layering foam pieces making the bottom 2/3 firm and the top
1/3 (or approximately) soft. This works extremely well with the berth
mattresses. You might add an inch or two of thickness to these as well. Have
some test foam pads made up to find what suits you. For the bottom coverings
of all the cushions we used the vinyl coated Dacron (as I recall) screen
material. It is tougher and more stable than canvas and not prone to mildew.
Air, water and moisture passes through as well.

As for costs--I have no idea. One plan that we did once was to journey
inland to the fabric mill areas in the mountains of the eastern Carolinas.
There are "factory outlet" stores in this region that sell remnants. We
found enough from a roll that was claimed to be used by Chrysler for some
upscale cars. Nice stuff. Though you might get a bargain on material, you
have to estimate very well because there is no finding more if you run
short. This means probably buying more just in case, in which case some of
the bargain will be absorbed. But you might have extra in case of accident.

Hope this helps.

Tom

MOONSHADOW

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Received on Tue Jun 5 11:04:24 2007