How not to do box cushions. ( renamed / nasty pictures)

[Grebo]

I know every one has to learn. BUT.
I can honestly say I have NEVER been this bad.

There are 4 large cushions & 2 small ones, they are all as bad as this.
They where made by a 'seamstress' friend of the boats owner & I foolishly agreed to put foam in them.
Shame is she has used sunbrella cushion, what a waste.
I can't even rip out the seams & restitch as the plates don't match & I can't do a new set as the material has a 15 day delivery time & the boat leaves next week.

Suzi

[JuneC]

Oh, now... that's just sad.   :o  Not to brag, but when I was 10 or so making doll clothes, I made cushions that looked better than that.  I don't think it has so much to do with the skill, as with the care.  Anyone with an ounce of pride in their work could not settle for those covers. 

June

[jojo]

Yeah, I wouldn't have let anyone see these if I had made them. Not even myself. I would've gouged my own eyes out after creating these.

[Grebo]

I really can't figure out how she did it, or why come to that.

Suzi

[buffalowaters]

Suzi,
Your just being hard on that person. I missed those classes at 10, kinda wished I started earlier do this
Stuff.
Dave

[Grebo]

Yes.
But them I guess she's good for business  ;D

Suzi

[bobbin]

Oh my heavens!

All I can say is the poor dear must have been absolutely be himself to let something like that leave the shop. 

It doesn't look like anything that involved a walking foot machine, let alone a basic, working knowledge of how to cut and assemble with surety!

Are you sure there's no way to "save" some of the fabric, Grebo?

[Grebo]

Bobbin, I could have unpicked & restitched the sides at least but the boat was on a tight deadline.
Afterwards we have found out it was the owners wife !  OOh to be a fly on that boat when she visits again.  ;D

[Cheryl]

Anyone can sew.. anyone can staple fabric..   BUT!

to be  good.. truly GOOD - one must have been blessed  with talent.  God gives all of us  different  gifts and  measures of talents.  I can paint fairly well -- but would NEVER make it as a painter..  I can tell the difference between various parts of an  engine - and have changed out starters and carbs (amazing what you can do if there's no one to help you...)  but I would  NEVER consider myself a mechanic...

the poor dear who made those  is aware that "something" isn't quite right -- but is  either unable to figure it out -- or simply sorry she started it and wanted them  gone.   And I bet she doesn't try it again.

Bless her little ole heart!  ;D

[gene]

I had surgery recently. I asked the doctor if I would be able to sew box cushions after the surgery. He said, "Of course you will." I said, "Great, because I was never able to sew them before."

Ba da boom!

gene

[rustyyb]

I really cringe when I see jobs like this.  I have no doubt the wife did her best. She just didn't know how far in over her head she was and now she she feels like an idiot.  And she may well be an experienced and talented home/hobby seamstress. This just ain't the same as making a dress from a store bought pattern, is it?
30 years ago (with 10 years experience making custom slipcovers for a living behind me) I spent 8 hours sewing my first set of v-berth cushions out of vinyl. After eight hours they were completely apart ( for the 7th or 8th time) and I STILL had no clue what I was doing wrong - or what I was going to do. That welting waved and wiggled like a politician at a fund-raising picnic. And I'd sewn a lot of boxed cushions. Just not that big and never in vinyl. (Did you know that stuff stretches?) LOL! 
Tell you what - Ole Rusty suddenly wasn't so cocky. : )  Anyway, eventually - sadly, not on that job - I learned. Just like all of us. But after 42 years of cutting and sewing and training a lot of sewers I'm comfortable in saying that there's just no substitute for experience. It's like I once told a smart-assed computer engineer that sneered and said to me, "You need to ESTIMATE price and yardage? Jesus! This isn't rocket science!", and I put down my pencil and pad and politely replied with all the feigned sincerity I could muster, "You know, you're right, sir. This isn't rocket science. And I think you need to go find yourself a rocket scientist to make your slipcovers." And I smiled and opened the door. Judging by the way his wife was looking at him, I'll bet it was cold in the bedroom THAT night. Ain't self-employment grand? <g>

Rusty

[Mike]