Cockpit Cushions! Yaay!
Finally, I'm getting the new cockpit cushions I've been wanting since we bought Watusi 2. I've had to take a lesson in patience, not one of my known qualities. And now they've been ordered, another lesson in patience. Nothing in Asia gets done in a hurry, especially when the marina handstand is full of boats having work done. And Christmas time too. Just about my least favourite time of the year. Christmas Grinch, I am. And New Year.
While we waited for tradies to do their bit, I dug out my sewing machine to 'pretty up' the saloon area with some beautiful batik fabric I bought in Indonesia. I installed myself and my machine in the unit we've rented for a month whilst the boat is on the hardstand. I spread myself out over most of the floor and took over the small dining table too. What with fabric, cushions, lee cloths, measuring tapes and various other paraphernalia, I don't know how I've managed on the boat to make anything, with no space to spread out in.
So, fabric cut, pinned, machine threaded and away I go. Sewed forward a few stitches, hit the reverse lever to backstitch and.... I'm still sewing forward. Great. Now what?
I need it to sew backwards, or backstitch, to reinforce the stitching at the ends of the seams.
Hubby to the rescue. He unscrewed the covers, bared the inside mechanics, fiddled and jiggled, put it back together then shrugged.
"I don't know. I can't see anything wrong" he said. I figured I could deal with the need to sew backwards fairly easily enough. I'll spin the fabric around as a not-so-easy fix and reinforce the edges that way instead. Bit of a nuisance but do-able and got back to it. But wait. What's this? Low and behold, the machine sews backwards now. But only backwards. Interesting result. Bah! 🤔
Found a machine repair shop, back in action.
stunning batik fabric from Sulawesi, Indonesia
taking over the whole apartment
I scored a second hand cushion that was a good fit for a backrest on the helm seat in the cockpit. It just needed a cover to match my new cockpit cushions. I thought I'd be clever and do a pillow case style cover. Measured, cut, pinned and sewed. Good result. I thought. Do you think I could get that cushion to bend and squish enough to get it in the cover ? I worked up quite the sweat trying, to no avail. Epic fail. Luckily I had left one end open, just in case. Had to modify and sew some Velcro on to close the cover instead. Not so clever after all.
freebie cushion with a new cover in the making
My next little sewing job was to make a few small cushions for the cockpit to break up the solid navy blue seat cushions. I decided to get a little inventive with some scraps of fabric and had a bit of fun making some abstract patchwork. When I told my daughter I was having fun sewing she laughed her head off. She said, and I quote, "words I never thought I'd hear out of your mouth, mum". 💁♀️
The sewing was going so well, I decided to tackle a bigger job. Weather covers for the cockpit. These canvas covers are to attach to the side rails of the boat around the cockpit area. Our boat has a 'wet' cockpit, which means it's not only open to the rain, but also the waves splashing in during heavy seas. The weather covers would hopefully protect us from some of of those waves. Let's hope my newly learnt sewing skills are up to the challenge.
Until next time, Watusi Woman - Queen of the Canvas, out.