So after our time in the shop, progress slowed down. Working out in the cold limits quite a bit of what you can do. Nothing sets right, the dexterity goes way down in your hands, and it’s just an overall slightly painful process that results in a less than perfect product. So progress slowed way down for the season…
When spring finally began to emerge, and the weather began to warm up we were ready to get back to projects! You can usually tell spring is in the air in Alaska by the smell of dog poop in the wind. When people let their dogs outside to go to the bathroom over the course of the winter, the poop usually gets frozen or buried in snow- then frozen. Spring is the season where all of this lovely process resurfaces as the snow and ice thaws. Yay… clean up season! 🤢
So we had a few projects lined up- the first was we wanted to re-upholster the dining area / second bed. There was a metal lip that ran along the edge of the dinette benches, and the cushions were thin enough that when you sad down on them the bottom of your thigh would press into it. We started having bruises on the back of our thighs, and after a little while we found out that was the culprit. 😤
We had managed to collect another awesome memory foam topper, and ordered more matching microfiber to do the job. A difference about this bed and the last one is the cushions were lined with vinyl on the bottom, so it would be durable when you slid the cushions from their couch position to their lying bed position. We wanted to utilize the vinyl in our modded bed for the same purpose. We started by trying to stitch through the vinyl, and managed to do so along the edge of one cushion- it took forever, was tough as hell, and we thought that there had to be a better way. Laura went by our local upholstering business (Nomar) and was talking to the sales agent about the best needle for sewing into vinyl. The agent listened about the job we were trying to do and told her about vinyl cement. Simply spread it on both surfaces and then hold them together for a minute or so- an voila! They sold it there at a really good price- so we picked up a can to give it a try. It had to better than stitching it.
She also told Laura about a foam lock spray they carried, so we gave that a try as well to adhere the memory foam topper to the cushion below. The difference was like night and day compared to the first project! We cut our memory foam topper to match the under cushion, then sprayed both surfaces with the foam lock, let it tack and pressed it together. It held perfectly.
Once we had all our our foam built we cut our microfiber blankets to cover the top and sides. We laid the cushion upside down making sure the edges of the blanket piece would lay over the edge of the vinyl. We basted both the edge of the blanket and where it would lie over the vinyl and pressed them together- after a few minutes they were firmly bound! What sorcery was this!? No endless stitching? 😲 So that’s how it went down, we flew through getting the cushions wrapped and cemented. We tucked the corners and stitched them in place- which was just blanket to blanket so it was nothing compared to stitching the vinyl. Then we took them out to Serenity and tested them out- and they were C.U.S.H!!!! 🤤 Neither of us have had a bruise since! Also- both of our girls have reported to us that sleeping on it is now a wonderful experience!
Now, you might have noticed that shiny metallic table in those last few pics… well we did that too during this time. The original vinyl edge that was installed around the table had shrunken dramatically over time, and a portion of the routed table edge was left exposed. We had wanted to re-make the table anyway- and after evaluating building a new one I just decided to refinish the old one. I ordered a roll of galvanized stainless steel flat roofing, used the table as a template and cut the metal a bit smaller than the table top. We then went through a trial and error process of designing the new edging. In the end, I wrapped the edges in a cushy adhesive foam, then cut a slit in the foam where the original routed groove was around the table. I then installed a pinned rubber carpet transition, gently hammering it into the groove and bedding it into Lexel as I went. https://www.sashco.com/products/lexel/ Then I super glued the butted ends of the carpet transition in the back. It was definitely a process of trial and error- but it works great as a table and a leaf for the bed- plus it turned Serenity’s little ship’s galley into something that was too shiny!
Geoff Murphy 1/20/2020