- (Peggy) It's official that spending time outdoors lowers blood pressure and reduces stress.

So, let's make that outdoor space more beautiful and comfortable with a place to sit.

Today, we learn how to make outdoor cushions.

Choosing the right materials, the right fabrics, the right threads and watertight construction will lengthen the life of your cushions and enhance your outdoor experience.

Outdoor cushions.

Today, on Fit 2 Stitch.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Fit to Stitch is made possible by Kai Scissors, Bennos Buttons, OC Sewing, Orange County Vogue Fabrics, Pendleton, Imitation of Life and Clutch Nails.

- (Peggy) Today is going to be such a fun day.

This is project day.

And I know you love it cause I know I love it when we actually do a project and complete it on the show and today we're gonna do it.

Mark's gonna help us.

Lily's gonna help us.

Everyone's gonna come together and we're gonna do this fun little project.

Mark, thanks so much for being here, it's incredible.

- [Mark] Well, thank you for having me.

- Lily, as well, thank you.

What are we doing?

What's our project?

- [Mark] Okay, so these are outdoor seats and we've got six of these that we've got to do.

And they're just old and crumbly and it wasn't very good material to begin with.

- Outdoor cushions?

- Outdoor cushions.

Yes.

- You've done this for how many years?

- Seventeen.

- Oh, a long time ago.

- Yeah, long time ago.

(chuckling) - So, I can start with my existing cushion if I want to do this?

- [Mark] Yes.

What we do is, we take a paper pattern, on top, and we use that for our pattern.

- [Peggy] And that's accurate enough?

I don't need to take the cushion apart or?

- Well, you can take the cushion apart, that's okay.

You can do that and that helps.

You take one cushion apart and you can use it for a pattern if you'd like.

- But it's flat?

- Uh huh.

- It has a zipper in the back?

- Yes, it does.

- I need the zipper.

Cause that's how I'm gonna get it all together?

- You're gonna have to put another zipper in.

- So I've done outdoor furniture and I always wanna cut out the zipper to make it easy.

- Well, you... No.

- No?

- No.

You need a new zipper.

You need to put a new zipper in your new new part.

- Got it, got it.

- Yeah, you have to have a zipper.

- So, we're making six of these.

Not today.

We're making one.

- We're gonna make one today.

- Okay.

We are going to have a little bit of help from Lily.

- [Mark] Lily is helping us right now.

- [Peggy] Okay.

She is actually, she's got her paper pattern, and she's fixing to cut it.

- [Peggy] Okay.

- [Mark] And once she gets cutting it, she's going to go to the sewing machine and we're going to start sewing.

- So, let's talk about fabrics.

- Okay.

- Because, I did cushions outside and it didn't work.

(quiet laugh) - Right.

Well, the most important part about fabrics is, you wanna make sure that you have a quality fabric.

- [Peggy] An outdoor fabric?

- An outdoor fabric.

- [Peggy] All right, let's just look, because I've noticed that I even try to use like, upholstery fabrics.

You know, what you think would be really rugged and.. - Right.

- I guess I misunderstood what the ingredients of good fabric really was.

- Well, these are acrylic coated, okay?

- Okay, that's the key.

- That's the key.

- For outdoor.

- And all these fabrics here come with a five year warranty.

- And are they UV rated?

All that stuff is included?

- Oh yeah.

Yes, yes.

- Because I've tried to use, just like I said, like I thought the heavier the fabric, it would work.

- Sun's tough.

Especially in Texas.

- And water.

It's tough.

- Water's tough.

- And so it molded terribly.

- Very quickly, actually.

- This is actually mold resistant and you also can clean this with bleach, if you mix it 50/50.

- [Peggy] Oh, interesting.

Okay, so I'm looking for fabrics, I don't necessarily need a brand, but there are brands out there that I could find?

- Yes.

- And the key is that it's.. - Acrylic coated.

- Acrylic coated.

- It comes with a warranty.

- Okay.

And once it goes through the warranty period, or before it goes through that warranty period, is there anything I can do?

- Well, there's products out there that's like a fabric guard.

- Okay.

- That, you know, after two or three years, I recommend that you take this fabric guard.

It's about twenty dollars a bottle.

And uh, a bottle would do quite a bit.

Probably two hundred, three hundred square feet.

- So, as you talk, is it reasonable that I could have cushions last...?

- You could actually take your old cushions and clean them and put fabric guard on them and that will extend the life of it.

- Clean them washing machine?

Clean them dry cleaners?

- You know, I don't recommend washing machine on anything.

Or a power washer.

Power washer's the worst thing you could do for outdoor furniture.

- Oh.

That's a good thing cause I power wash my outdoor furniture all the time and paint comes off.

- That actually ruins the acrylic coating on it.

- Oh.

(chuckles nervously) - Oh, That's a good tip.

- So, you don't want to do that.

- Okay.

- But normally, I'd say just get, like, some dish washing liquid or something and a brush and scrub it real good.

And let it dry real good.

And then come back and spray your fabric guard on it.

- Okay.

Good.

- And that'll help it last a while.

- Just let it dry really well?

- Let it dry really well.

- Okay, so, all these options.

I mean, you can find everything you want.

- [Mark] Oh, there's so many options.

So many options out there.

And, uh, there's so many different brands.

- [Peggy] And these are all that acrylic coated?

- [Mark] These are all acrylic coated, yes.

- [Peggy] All right, that's the key.

- [Mark] Yes.

- [Peggy] So, also, I noticed when I went to buy.

When you go to buy cushions, even if you buy them, there's just not a lot of variety to choose from.

You really can't get a unique, great, beautiful look.

They're kinda blue or yellow or.. (laughs) - Well, when you go to buy them.

But in today's world, you have the internet, so you can find just about anything you want out there right now, so.

- Okay.

All right.

All right.

So fabric is key?

- Yes, fabric is key.

It is very important that you get a quality fabric or it is not going to last.

- And when you're doing it for customers, you're actually allowing the customer to come in, look at your samples, and then they order what they want?

- We pick out what they want, we make sure we have it in stock, and then we order it right there when they're there.

That way when it comes in.. - So you stock a certain amount, also?

- Yes.

Yes.

- You do a lot.

I know you do a lot.

- We do a whole lot.

- Cause you do golf carts, you do - [Both] boats, - [Peggy] you do all the outdoor, everything.

Is there any difference in fabrics, between my cushions and my boating?

- Yes, actually the marine grade canvas is a ten year warranty and it's really, actually double coated and it's just not as soft.

It's not as comfortable.

- So that would be my difference, between my boating fabrics and my outdoor fabrics?

- Correct.

- Because this doesn't even..

This is nice.

It does not feel like all those - It's not real stiff.

- It's not.

- Right.

- But my marine grade vinyl would be.. - Yes, stiff.

- Stiff.

Okay,okay - [Mark] Marine grade canvas, you gotta be stiff.

- I wouldn't really want that on my patio furniture.

- No, not at all.

- But it would last.

- It would last, yes it would.

- Okay, so let's talk about the insides.

- Okay.

- And, I think threads make such a big difference.

- Absolutely, that's the most important part.

- All right.

- Sewing anything really is a thread.

This is a thread that actually comes with a lifetime warranty.

- Lifetime warranty?

- Lifetime warranty.

- [Mark] They have UV threads out there, but normally the UV thread will last maybe three years?

This is a thread that is actually designed for outdoors.

You can use them on awnings.

You can use them on furniture.

Boats.

Everything.

- Really?

And that will work with a regular sewing machine, as well as an industrial?

- It will.

- It will work with both.

- Yes, they have different size threads, too.

So, you can order different size - [Peggy] thicknesses - thread thicknesses.

- And lifetime, boy, that's a tricky word.

- The material's gonna rip before this does.

- Oh, I gotcha.

- The material's gonna go bad.

- So the material will give out and the thread will still be there?

- That's correct.

- I gotcha.

But regular poly thread is not usable because again, I had a problem with that also.

- Yes.

- No, I wouldn't recommend that.

- Yeah.

But what always amazes me is when you stitch, doesn't it put holes in the very fabric that's UV protected?

- Well, yes, but you have to put your needle size to your thread.

- Okay.

- And then also, we also have a product that we brush on, that's a seam sealer.

So, there's some seam sealer out there that you can put on to keep it from leaking.

But if you use the right size thread and the right size needle, you don't have to worry about that.

- Oh, interesting.

So, unless your needle's too big, you don't have to worry about the holes and the penetrations and where they are.

- Right.

- Cause I've always wondered, it seems like an oxymoron to put holes in a fabric that's supposed to be waterproof.

- Right.

If you use too big of a needle, it's gonna leak.

- I see, interesting.

So, talk to me about all this.

What's all this fun stuff?

- Okay.

This is Dacron.

So, when we do a cushion, we'll have new foam.

Or we can use the old foam, but we have foam.

- We're gonna show a trick about the foam, huh?

- Uh huh, I hope so.

- And that is the neatest trick in the book.

- There you go.

- I love this trick.

- [Mark] Yeah.

So, we're gonna take this Dacron, and we're gonna glue it to the top of the foam and the bottom of the foam.

- Okay.

- And what that allows us to do, is to make the material tighter.

- Sure.

- On top.

Where it's nice and smooth and not baggy and wrinkly and all that, so.

- And so, it has to be glued?

I've tried to push it in before, would that?

- No, what's going to happen.. No, it doesn't work.

If you don't put a little adhesive on it and glue it, it's going to bunch up on you and its going to look like that when it's in the.. - That's exactly what happened, actually.

- Yeah, when you start sitting on it and everything.. - I knew thought of gluing it.

I just figured I could push my hand in there and push it down, but it just didn't stay.

- No.

We also have another secret that we use.

- You gotta tell us all the secrets, now, don't hold back on it!

- Okay, I'm gonna let one out here, okay?

- Okay, thanks.

- All right, so, we actually after we do the cushion, we wrap it in plastic.

Real thin plastic.

So it slides in the material, nice and smooth.

- Oh, that is a great secret!

And you leave the plastic in?

That's a great secret!

Because it's really hard to get the cushion, the foam, in the cushion.

- Oh, yeah, it's real tough.

- Even if you have a zipper!

- And it bunches up and all that, so yeah.

- Oh, the plastic, that's a good one.

So, put this top and bottom, and that's just for softness.

This is not just to make it.. - Well, it helps stretch the material, too.

- And so, when you replace it.. we're gonna show you, you don't have to replace the foam, but you always are gonna replace this?

- Yes.

Always.

Always.

Yep.

- What's that?

- Okay.

This is a little secret.

Let's say you're on a budget and you.. - We're always on a budget!

(laughing) - And you don't want to do- You want to save some money on material.

So what we do is, what we'll do is instead of the bottom of the cushion, putting the material on there, we'll take this screen and put the screen on the bottom of it.

- Oh!

- Which allows it to breathe.

- Oh my goodness gracious!

- And uh, this is a lot cheaper, you know?

You're talking about a $30 a yard material.

This is like $4 a yard.

- And it's just as durable?

- Yes, oh yeah.

It's very durable.

- And so, do you, when do you decide?

Is it the customer who says, "Hey, I've got to save some money.

Bring the price down."?

- [Mark] Uh.. - Is it..?

- We, we do it on some of the boat seats.

For the simple fact of, it is expensive.

But also, it lets it breathe down - Sure, sure, sure.

- It's just a money saver on the long run.

- You're making cushions for you own backyard now.

Would you put this on the bottom?

- My wife probably wouldn't let me.

She likes to flip them over on the back, so probably not.

(both giggle) - Okay.

- She is the boss.

So, - But get it that if you, um, trying to save a little bit of money, you can replace that bottom.

And I've seen cushions like that!

- Oh yeah, yeah.

The sell them in the stores and everything.

- There's plenty out there.

- Yep.

Yep.

- Okay.

All right.

So, this I was interested in, cause I have a pool.

- Okay.

- And every year, I go out and I buy a nice little rug for the patio.. - Hmm.

- And it lasts about a month.

- There are thousands of different brands of these right here.

And it's a vinyl flooring and it's got a little soft back on it.

- [Peggy] Okay.

- [Mark] And we actually buy it by the row 12 foot wide, and we roll it out and, uh, we cut whatever shape.

We can cut it, you know the shape of Texas or whatever you want, in it.

- [Peggy] You could just make a rug, your own rug - [Mark] Correct, yes.

- [Peggy] And then you put the binding.

- Yes this is the binding right here, that we can actually fold over and run it around.

- And what kind of material do we have to worry about that?

- What now?

- What kind of material is this?

- This is just carpet binding.

- Interesting, interesting.

- You can but that just about anywhere.

- And it just folds over and it goes around the corner.

- Yup, it's very easy to use.

- So it's not hard it's just a matter that the finding the fabric that is durable enough, I-I don't understand why they wouldn't sell good stuff in the first place.

Why do they sell me this stuff that says outdoors but then it never lasts!

- Well I don't know.

- It's very frustrating.

- Well most of the stuff we do get is Marine grade and that's something you might wanna keep in mind it's cause if it's Marine grade it's gonna be high quality product.

- Sure, sure that makes a lot of sense.

Cause especially, Marine even means salt water - [Mark] Yes, absolutely.

- So then salt water is much more eating the fabric than the fresh water.

- Yes very much so.

- Alright, so then it can handle my pool.

I know when you change out the cushion, you say to always change your zipper.

- [Mark] Hmm.

- Not, don't use the same old zipper.

- I wouldn't recommended it cause its already worn out and it's gonna stick and it's just, you know, and zippers aren't that expensive.

- Okay.

Are they hard to find, can I find them?

- Uh, there are certain areas you can find them in, yeah.

- What am I looking for.

- Okay well.

- Because these are pretty cool zippers.

- All right, this one here is a waterproof zipper okay, this is the same thing that they use on all the scuba diving equipment and all that - Oh - So we have some projects that we absolutely don't want any water to get through so we use these waterproof zippers and these come on rolls like 100 ft long - Okay and then you put the little the little zipper part on - We put the zipper car on and all that.

Zipper car.

- So and this is just a separating zipper, so if you wanted to have something that would separate, you can just unzip it and it separates and takes off.

- Two pieces can come apart - Two pieces rather - On a outdoor cushion, do you think I need a waterproof zipper necessarily - Not necessarily, I mean a chain zipper, which is this one right here is fine, this is what we use on a outdoor furniture.

It wouldn't, I mean, I don't know if I want to spend the money on the waterproof zipper because they are a lot more expensive and the chain zipper works just fine - They are - This is a chain zipper that's not separating - Got it - So we actually sew the ends of it shut so you couldn't separate it and lose the car.

- And we're going to show where you go to put it in where Lily puts it in once she gets through that project.

What's that ?

- This is actually binding form material, this is a canvas product, this is a marine grade ccanvas product and then we'll just use this binding once we finish building whatever were building we use this binding, its also an acrylic binding - To just finish it off - Yeah so if you want to put a binding around some of your material, you're furniture at home, then you can actually use this - So again I'm looking for a fabric that is acrylic - Acrylic coated - Okay, we got out threads, I never knew that about threads.

I just figured as long as you had good fabric, the same old thread would work.

- (Chuckles) no - And the fabrics going to last but the thread will go, - Right - So there has to be a balance kind of between those two - Yes - So how expensive, that threads really expensive.

- We pay $200 a roll for this.

Most of the thread and you can get different size rolls.

We buy the biggest roll we can get because we do a lot - $200 for a roll of thread is a little pricey - It is pricey, you can get a UV thread for 38 bucks.

But for years you're going to be resewing your cushion - Yeah - So - It's the so it keeps coming back to me, don't short cut, don't short cut on this.

- Do not short cut - Because its just going to turn around and bite you if you try to.

- You're going to spend more money in the long run, because you're going to have to redo it three years, four years and then you're back at square one.

- Alright, tell me what this is - Okay, this is vinyl - What's all these little samples you brought, this is really fun.

- This is vinyl.

- You can tell you like what you do - Huh - You can tell you like what you do - Oh, I love it.

I love it, I have a great crew, I love my people and everybody it's fantastic.

- And so when you first got to the company, you were working at another job - I was - and you just saved your money and decided you wanted to change life - No I went to my wife and talked to her about it - She was very supportive and um this company came for sale it was a friend of mine and came for sale and we didn't have the money so we had credit, so we went and got a credit card and bought the company with a credit card.

- You brought a company with a credit card - That's how we started - (laughed) om my gosh - We went and got a loan on that credit card, brought the company and fortunately we paid that credit card off in less than a year - Wow that's impressive, you brought a company with a credit card - yeah - That's a lot of faith in both of you - Yeah - That you had in each other - We had five employees, now we have 30 - Wow company's growing a little bit - Growing a lot - Have you brought a couple more ?

- Like a weed - (chuckles) okay but you love what you do, I mean you can tell even with the customers that you really I mean the details are incredible here - I love taking something that looks terrible and making it look beautiful - Yeah that's nice, that's really nice.

- But this is actually a vinyl that you would use for like an indoor seat and most people would just take this vinyl and make it and then put it on there so but - I would - The most important part is see we've taken this vinyl and we've actually glued a little quarter inch foam back to it, so it doesn't stretch like it should.

- Because vinyl is very stretchy - After years you're sitting on the couch, this things going to stretch and twist and turn, its going to be all wrinkly and it's going to look terrible.

- Sure - But if you use a sew back foam you won't have to worry about that, its not going to do that.

- sew back foam, - I call it sew back foam - you said that fast - Sew back foam and its a quarter inch thick - And it when the needle goes through it, it doesn't pull out anything with it, it goes, that's why they call it a sew back foam - Sew back foam, yeah it actually has fabric on the back of it, so its like a little thing of fabric and then its got the foam on it - And you just glue it, and when you're doing this actually for boats you have machines that do all the stitching now automatically.

- Yes we do - How cool - Yes we have - That's pretty cool.

Alright.

So we've got this thing apart, we've got the cushions apart, we're sewing a new cushion, well Lily's sewing a new cushion - Yes lily is - With the new zipper and what it doesn't even need to be waterproof but we've got great thread, so this is not the foam that the cushion's, so this goes around the foam - Yes - But you're going to show me a trick on the foam - I'm going to show you a trick on the foam - (Chuckles) and you're going to teach me and I'm going to teach them.

I'm going to teach everyone else.

- Because I have done so much of this foam and I just throw it away.

- Now its good foam, you just gotta you gotta steam it to bring it back to life - Okay so I'm just gonna hold it - Press it in there - Steam - Push it all way against it - Push it - Hold it there, just hold it - Okay - Just hold it - And the steams just going to, oh my gosh just look at that - Yup its coming up - (screams) oh my gosh, that's the coolest thing ever - Its growing.

So this foam has actually just, look at that - Look at that, that's like the shrinky dinks - Laughs - My kids used to have those I would've never, this is amazing - Yup just takes steam, it doesn't have to be any big fancy steam machine or anything it's just a steamer - Wow, look at this - You just push, push it in there hard.

There you go.

You push it in there harder, you also can lay it ton top - Look at this that is amazing - So is there any disadvantage in doing this over buying new - Not at all.

Not at all - So once its compressed, as long as it's brought back up - Yeah some foams too far gone but most of the time it's not.

- Look at that foam is such an expensive part of your project - Right and we all - This is fun, look at that - Laughs - Oh its warm - Oh yeah look it, I can't believe how that's changed the shape of this - Yup - You just go back until you feel like it's done - Uh huh - Oh this is the best secret ever do you have, can I get a full time job doing this - Sure you can laughs - This is really fun, this is really fun - Okay enough of this okay so lets, lets go see what Lily has done with that cushion - Okay lets take a look - Because I bet she's made really good progress.

- Okay - Alright so, she's sewing away oh look at that, she's almost done - She's almost done - Wow, except if we weren't watching her, she'd be much faster - Yes she would be three times as fast - Anyone who gets watched when they're sewing can't sew as fast as when they're not being watched.

- She would be, yeah.

- But we've got one done - Yes we have one done and we are ready - But she's gotten very close - Show me, show me - We've prepared ourselves, so this is where we started from - Okay - And we got rid of the old and this is where we're going to finish - Wow - And then we have our ties back here - Those are so pretty - So - That is so pretty, and this, the blue won't run into the white - No - Because I, you know, that is a - It's all acrylic coated, it comes with a five year warranty - I love it, its so pretty - So can we peak inside - sure - From here now what you do is you've got your zipper, and the zipper goes to the back - And there's our secret plastic wrap - And inside the plastic wrap - We have dacron right here - Okay which is the layer we talked about and that goes on top of the foam and underneath the foam, you glue it together - Yes - So you slip it into the cushion - Oh my gosh - Zipper it right back up - This is genius did you learn all these secrets or did you get taught all these secrets - Well I learned them and um - That is amazing - I have a great crew that has taught me a lot so we're kind of like a family we teach each other everything - Aww that's wonderful.

That's wonderful.

- This cushion is really bad you wouldn't ave tried to clean it - No - She didn't want it, she wanted new - She wanted all new, and she wanted to change up the colors and all that - Well this is a big improvement - Yes, yes - Wow - This is actually a pretty big job this is a house that's looking over the lake and they probably got a 150 cushions out there that we're doing - Oh my that's a large - Yeah lounge chairs and all that - And everything's coordinated and matching - Yes - Oh beautiful, beautiful - So typically how long would it take her to make these cushions ?

- About start to finish about 30 minutes.

- So we could do four times that in just say maybe a first time goer just a couple hours ?

- Maybe, if they know how to sew probably less than that - Yeah, because it doesn't seem all that difficult its really just having the right materials I want to talk about these ties for a minute its really just about having the right materials and the right thread, that fabric but I love the secret about the inside and wrapping it and making it slick - I don't know which one you like more that, or the steamer - I don't know, the steamer's pretty cool.

Laughs - I could go back and steam on that thing all afternoon I'm not sure why I guess its because I've thrown away so much foam over the years to think that I could've just steamed it and I have a steamer - There you go - So these are going to go on the bottom - Uh huh and we actually just tie them - Because out in the outside, you're going to have weather - Okay - Wind blowing - So we just come back here and put a little tie in them.

- Okay - And - And then just tie them, you don't need to - Yup, you don't need to do anything fancy.

- Is there a trick to how long they are, or anything like that ?

- No not really, I mean just whatever length you want we also can do snaps back here - Oh I've seen that - And we can do Velcro - I've, okay - But the Velcro I've noticed collects dirt that's what I've noticed about Velcro - It will, but were just talking bout Velcro right around the back here - Sure - So - So I've got a question for you on this cushion this one has piping, this one does not - She didn't want piping - I don't like the piping either, because the piping rubs on your legs - Correct - So they just made that, you're able to make the changes that you want to make oh absolutely, absolutely - Any great tips for us ?

- Take your time, use the right thread - Make sure you make a good pattern always use quality material - And make sure you're needles with your thread the same length - And I know a secret about you you have more business than you can handle - I, we do - So clearly you're doing a lot right - Yes we do - And you're doing it good, because those repeat customers just keep coming back.

- They do - Thank you Mark so much, Lily gracias lovely and you only have four more to make right of the - Only four more more to make so - laughs - Thank you so much - Thank you for having us - I really appreciate it you being here today - Thank you so much - Alright, take care.

You know I, it's just interesting as we learn more and more about cushions, about you know what to do what not to do.

I have seriously think I've made every mistake in the book.

I just somehow in my mind, I thought I could just use any fabric and any fabric that was durable would work until they you know got mold all through them.

And then I try to spray them and I just tried all the stuff so the key secrets that we've learned today, clearly make a difference.

I've heard it said, where on earth did this fabric come from well now we are sending it to outer space what do astronauts wear ?

And how are those space suits made ?

Fabrics used in outer space next time on fit 2 stitch.

Fit 2 Stitch is made possible by Kai Scissors, Bennos Buttons OC Sewing, Orange County Vogue Fabrics Pendleton Imitation of Life and Clutch Nails To order a 4 DVD set of Fit 2 Stitch, Series Ten Please visit our website at fit2stitch.com