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[Dan O.]

Hi,

I'm in the process of stripping down a roadside rescue sofa, it has an undamaged hardwood frame so definitely a good find. The cushions were gone as I found it so I'd like to do a single long seat cushion and three backrest cushions. I'm thinking welted box cushions filled with latex foam wrapped with either Dacron or wool batting. My question is, what is the typical method for determining the dimensions for the cushions? I'm including a simple pic, the critical dimension is the one showing the available space between the arms (79"); this represents the distance between the arms (bare frame) minus the 1/2" of foam that is to be attached to the inside of each arm - now what?

[John]

I dont do box cushions very often so hopefully someone on here will have a better answer than I will.

I would cut your foam to the dimensions you have listed. Make your covers to fit those dimensions. Wrap the cushions with one layer of Dacron before installing the cover. This will help fill the cover nicely and also five it a nice finished look.

[Dan O.]

Thanks for the reply John,

Here's where I get to expand on my question. It seems simple enough but keep in mind that on the backside I'm attempting to fit 3 cushions, my concern is that unless I compensate the dacron wrap on 3 cushions is going to result in an accumulated amount of "bulge" that would be too much for the space available. Lemme explain: available space is 79", this makes me think that for the bottom cushion I need to compensate for 1/2" (?) of "bulge" on each end, so the top and bottom panel for that cushion should be cut at a width of 78". Now, on the backside cushions (3) I should likewise compensate for 1/2" of bulge on each of those for a total of 3", so panels for those cushions should be cut at approximately 25 1/2" per this bit of math: ((79"- 3")/3 = 25.3"). Does this make sense? Look at it this way, if I design the bottom cushion for the exact available width of 79" the end result is going to have an actual end to end measurement somewhere north of 79", this maybe an acceptable interference fit for one cushion. But, if I simply divide 79" by 3 and design my back cushions with a width of 26.3" apiece, wrap them in dacron and line them up end to end as they'll be installed the actual measurement is going to be a lot more than would be acceptable for an available space of 79". I mean, I can probably cram them into the available space but I don't think the end result would look right.

I know each upholsterer probably does things a bit differently but I'm pretty sure my concerns over a need to compensate are valid, hopefully somebody with experience will chime in.

[John]

If you make your covers the right size then the foam and Dacron will compress and fill the cover nicely. If you dont do that you will have loose fitting covers.

[Adam12]

The dacron will be compressed inside the skin. Dont add it to your dimensions, it just adds fullness.