Greetings Olivia from another Minnesotan!
Is this your first Egg? I've had my
Lovebug for about 10 years now and L-O-V-E it!
She's my portable Art studio where I go to get lost when I
paint en plein aire.
Now, to your question. I think the 7-800$ is about right for the estimate. Finding students would be ideal. They can always use some extra money and an instructor would make sure they got the best product out. I thought about taking my
Lovebug in
to the local vocational school welding program and have them install a new drexel. Who knows what skills these projects may prepare kids for later in life? I do always pay them as I think they can use the money and it encourages them to do more with the community. In one place I encouraged them to set up a Facebook page. They did and they got much more work and more students.
Here's what I did for one of my projects where I didn't have my cushions recovered:
In my sailboat, I used the cushion as a pattern, drew an outline on a piece of 3/8 plywood, cut out the plywood with a jigsaw, and stapled fabric over the cushion onto the plywood. After I did this, I covered the bottom of the plywood with fabric as well so it would look nice and professionally done.
This was for my sailboat in Virginia where I didn't know any upholster, wanted to get the boat ship-shape (sorry!) as I was entertaining. I did it all on the dock on some plastic so I didn't have to haul the cushions far.
In retrospect, I could have sealed the plywood with marine varnish, but, in the last 4 years, there has been zero warping. The upholstery has withstood being in the humid DC area on the boat that is in the water year round without any issues.
The foam was in good shape and frankly, adding the plywood only made the beds more firm which I liked.
I'd purchased the nautical fabric from a retail store which wasn't inexpensive but was exactly the look I wanted. I had a staple gun, used the appropriate size staples, and voila! I had recovered cushions for two long backrests, two long benches for the booths,
the berth bed which has several pieces, and some fabric left over for pillows. I made a sail bag with is like a pillow case with a nice tasseled draw string which hold the sleeping pillows at night.
I don't know if this is your solution, but I know others have done the same thing on this forum.
My sailboat cushions did not have any welt on the cushions and the cushions were in good shape. If you want to keep your existing covers on, you could wrap over the covers with a quilters product- the material they use to get the loft in quilts. It adds softness to the cushion. If you do think you need new foam, you can also take your cushions into places and they will cut your foam to fit your existing cushion covers, often free of charge. Do get a high density foam. It will last you a long time. If you want to cut your own foam, use an electric knife, it's a breeze with this.
Ha! Can you tell I owned an interior design business?
Just can't take it out of me!
Actually, I am getting my
Lovebug out of storage today and was thinking about making a tutorial on an
Awning. I have a nice
awning and know it would be simple to make and would be a good winter project for many people and I need one for my Eriba Puck.
If only I wasn't renovating this house and wasn't procrastinating on finishing the laying of my kitchen tile, finishing my Roman Shades, touch up my
painting all over the house, rewiring antique
light fixtures...
Good luck, Olivia! Make sure you let us know how you turn out?
Escape Hatch II
Our Escape Hatch
1992 Scamp Side bath
Linear Mode
