Bolster - Down/Feather envelope with a Foam Core

Step 1:  Make Down/Feather filled jacket (this is the hard part).

Step 2: Insert foam core.

Step 3:  Arrange foam so that it is snug inside of jacket.

Step 4: Zip it up!

One Down/Feather envelope with a foam core - Done!

Do you want one of your own . . . . . ? 

 Contact us for more information.

From The New Yorker

Wool Seat Cushions

Sometimes we are asked to manufacture a seat cushion that utilizes more “natural” materials which means no foam and no fire retardants.  Finding the right materials is a challenge given the strict fire code regulations we are required to follow in California.

Cotton is not an option because without a fire retardant treatment it is flammable.  Down and feather, although naturally fire dampening, is much too soft for most people when used as the sole component of a seat cushion.  100% natural latex does not meet California fire codes.

Spring unit and a roll of wool batting.

Wool however is both naturally fire dampening and can also provide good support in a seat cushion.  We construct our wool cushions two ways. We use either a spring core that is wrapped with wool batting or we can make a solid wool cushion.  Either construction is very full and round.  You can see in the pictures the relative distance between the boxing measurment on the cover and the much higher crown in the middle.

We will wrap the spring unit with several layers of wool. 

Spring/Wool or Solid Wool cushions have a very high crown. 

In the spring core / wool wrapped cushion, we build a spring unit and then wrap it with wool batting until we have buried the edginess of the spings.  Springs are available in in different guages which can be soft, medium or firm.

Solid Wool Cushion

Also, wool on it’s own can be layered to make a firm, fluffy cushion.

New Foam Cushions

Switching out the old foam cushions for new ones always makes a difference.  The job pictured above was for a customer’s 20 year old sofa.  The cushions were flat, the covers loose and they were too soft to sit on comfortably.  Since he has teenage twins who love playing video games on this the primary sofa in the house, he needed to firm the seats up.  We measured the covers and as you can see from the picture, they were designed to contain a much thicker cushion than what they had become.  We fit the cushions with a firm High Resiliency foam that was wrapped with bonded polyester.  As you can see in these photos, the difference is dramatic.  

By the way, these cushions were High Resiliecy (HR ) foam, density 2.5lb, ILD 45, cut 24” x 24” x 5 1/2” thick with a bonded polyester wrap.

Send us an email if you need help with your project.

The Boxing Panel

The measurement of the boxing panel of a seat or back cushion is crucial in determining the thickness of foam that we will use.  Our approach is to use a thickness of foam that is the same dimension as the height of the boxing, i.e. 3" boxing on the cover gets a 3" thick foam core.  The foam is the firmest part of the cushion and we want the edge of the foam to line up with the seams of the cover and hold them straight.  The material that is wrapped around the foam, whether it be polyester, down/feather or wool, just adds to the total thickness of the cushion, which we call the "crown".

Poly / Down Seat Cushion

By Poly / Down we mean a seat cushion with a foam core that is inside a down/feather filled envelope (or jacket).  Old timers refer to polyurethane foam as "poly" and "down" refers to a down and feather blend.  Some common blends for cushions are 10% down/90% feather, 25% down/75% feather (pictured below) and 50% down/50% feather.

We used the original cover (at the top left) as a pattern for cutting the foam.
The finished boxing on the cover is 4" so we used a 4" thick High Resiliency
foam core.  The thickness of the foam is the same as the finished boxing
so that the edges of the foam to line up with the seams of
the cover to hold them straight and tight.

Our down & feather filled jacket is cut a little larger than the finished size
of the cover.  It also includes a crown allowance which allows finished
cushion to be very full and round.  We also sew partitions into the ticking.
This keeps the down/feather in separate channels which helps
the customer to maintain the cushion.  It also allows for the high
crown that is indicative of this type of construction.

A zipper at the back of the cushion makes it easy to access the foam core
for maintenance.

The foam core is inserted into the envelope.

Zipped up.

This cushion has a crown of about 8".  The foam is 4" thick.

The finished cushion ready to be covered.

Toss Pillows - Three Different Seams

A toss pillow can be cut and sewn a couple of different ways.

A Knife Edge (left) is just two pieces of fabric that are sewn together.  

A Boxed pillow (center) has a band of fabric sewn between the front and back panels which allows for more fullness.  

A pillow with Cut-Outs (right) is similar in fullness to the boxed pillow, but still has a single seam around the perimeter like a Knife Edge pillow.  The third dimension is achieved by the perpendicular cut-outs at each corner.

Left - Boxed Pillow
Right - Cut-Out Pillow