Playing with Foam

When I took on the job of making cushions for my son’s new chairs, I didn’t realize how hard it is to find foam these days. It used to be that every fabric store sold it and would cut it to your specification. But no longer.

I took him to G Street Fabrics to choose fabric. He found a black and white modern print that goes so perfectly with the floor-length black table covering. (He got the 2 chairs and table for $20 on Craig’s List.)

Then I remembered the one place that specialized in foam, the American Foam Center which had sometime during the past few years moved to Merrifield. I was surprised when I Googled to find the address to also find a scathing review of the place among several more positive reviews. The employees had alway seemed a little eccentric, but they had often come through with whatever I needed for a project.

Just to be sure, I took my son with me when I went to check out their foam. There are still piles of foam everywhere.



They found a sheet of 1-1/2” foam that seemed perfect for the cushions.



So I left my patterns, asking them to cut out the pieces I needed and then apply glue to the edge to create a “knife-edge” finish. That’s the pointy part where the cording around the edge lies.



While we were there, I caught a glimpse of the old man, who had once been so helpful to me, but who apparently was now a menace to customers if left unattended. He looked perfectly harmless as he sat there talking to the woman who manages the books.



It was fun to have a sewing project to do last night. The first bottom cushion was a little slow, but the next 3 rolled right out.

Today I went over to “install” them on the chairs, adding black grossgrain ribbon ties. My son sat in one and pronounced it greatly improved in comfort.



His apartment still seems to be a work in progress, so photos of the rest of it will have to wait until the boxes are unpacked.