How to Make a Folding Seat Cushion With a Backer Board

X-HT-300745

Welcome to another DIY in our Seaward 32RK Project Series. In today’s video, we’ll show you how to re-cover a folding seat cushion. If your boat has a hinged seat in the cabin for extra seating, this tutorial is for you. We’ll walk you through the entire DIY process, from removing the seat from the brackets to reupholstering the fabric and reinstalling the cushion back on your boat. Let’s get started.

Video Chapters:

Removing Old Fabric Cover — 0:25 min.
Measuring & Patterning Top Plate & Boxing — 1:54 min.
Seaming & Clipping Boxing to Plate — 4:08 min.
Sewing Boxing to Plate — 7:36 min.
Stapling to Backer board — 11:14 min.
Installing — 16:46 min.

Materials List:

Décor & Upholstery Fabric from Sailrite — We used Outdura® Rumor Midnight 54" Upholstery Fabric (6672) #124489
Seamstick 1/4" Basting Tape for Canvas & Upholstery (36 yds.) #122065
Tex 70 (V-69) UV Bonded Polyester Thread — We used #106030
21 Gauge 3/8" (10mm) Staples 5,000/Box (Stainless Steel) #58010SS

Tools List:

Staple Lifter #120037
Chalk Pencil Cartridge Set #121669
Sailrite® Edge Cordless Hotknife 18V Package #122177
Precision Cutting Blade & Foot for Edge Hotknife #125495
Sailrite® Clear Acrylic Ruler 6" x 24" #102400
Tape Measure 120" #102986
Sailrite® Canvas Patterning Ruler #107040
Sailrite® Ultrafeed® LSZ Walking Foot Sewing Machine (110V) #311602
Sailrite® Ultrafeed® Industrial Sewing Table #120934
Large Fabric/Leather Grip Clips #126365
Suisei Magnetic Sewing Guide #102983
Sailrite® Short Nose Upholstery Staple Gun #121410
Pencil

The folding seat cushion in our project boat is stapled to a backer board. The backer board is then attached to the stainless steel folding seat brackets so the seat can be folded down when not in use. The first step is to unscrew the seat from the brackets. Once that’s done, we can head into our workroom and start our reupholstery project.

Remove the old fabric from the backer board and then inspect the foam. If your foam is still in good shape, you can reuse it. If it’s bottomed out, you’ll want to replace the foam with high-quality seating foam. We recommend CushionRite Foam from Sailrite. CushionRite is available in a variety of thicknesses, sheet sizes and firmness ratings. We recommend ordering antimicrobial seating foam for marine seating, even inside your cabin.

X Ht 300745 2 — Here's what the cushion looks like folded down to save space in the cabin.

This tutorial is part of our Seaward 32RK Project Series. Click here to view all the projects we’ve completed for this total boat overhaul project. This Seaward is getting the full DIY treatment — inside and out, top to bottom!

Explore our Marine Projects category for more boat-related DIY content. You’ll find hundreds of free videos and blog content. Learn how to install boat flooring, sew protective covers, make and install full boat enclosures, and more. DIY inspiration is waiting for you.

If you’ve completed any projects from our Seaward 32RK Project Series, be sure to tag us on social so we can see your boat transformations. We love seeing our customers’ creativity and talent come to life!