Death to Dust Mites

***Ok, to be honest, this post is over a week old and I just never got around to actually posting it.  I took a final pic of the covered cushions, but when I got home, the lighting was terrible.  So I decided not to post without going back to get another pic.  I just got back from the boat, and the bed was made, and I didn't want to disturb it.  It was all peaceful looking and junk.  (or maybe I didn't want to remake it?)  Anyhow, here's the post - minus the final final pic (there's one of the smaller one finished) of the aft cabin.***

Pretty much no sleep last night (Friday).  I've mentioned a couple of times that I'm working on adding memory foam to the berths and recovering them.  They seem to have the original foam and definitely have the original striped Beneteau fabric.

 

Ideally, I will replace all of the original "charter" fabrics (salon pleather, mainsail cover, bimini, outdoor cushions and all the green, navy and maroon striped stuff throughout), but for now I'm just trying to annihilate the stupid dust mites that are clearly (per my lungs) stowing away on Luna Sea. 

Last Sunday, after nursing a sick LibbyLou back to health, I managed to get the memory foam cut to fit the forward berth, as well as the fabric cut to cover the aft starboard berth.  The aft berth has two cushions in it - and I've already covered the smaller one with this weird outdoor fabric that I found at WalMart for a steal.  

I'm using pinking shears for all of my cuts to reduce the risk of fraying threads.

 I'm reusing the breathable backing and zippers.  I don't think I'd ever sewn a zipper before that small cushion.

The larger cushion that I did manage to get fabric cut for last weekend.  

Re-covering was interesting, but I think I've got it figured out.  I like a good puzzle - and by dismantling the existing cushions, I feel like it's kind of a game.  (anybody wanna come over and play?)

Back to my lack of sleep.  We slept on the newly memory-foamed forward berth Friday night -with freshly washed sheets, but it hasn't been sealed yet with the Weird Walmart Stuff.  And  I just could. not. sleep.  I don't know if I couldn't get comfortable, if it was just sleeping in a different cabin or that the dust mites were having their way with me without my knowing it...

Image from Wikipedia

I am pretty allergic to dust mites.  I've learned over the past few years that almost anytime I feel sickly, it's because of these tiny little suckers.  They live everywhere - well, in pretty much any fabric that can breathe -sheets, cloth pillows, rugs, mattresses, etc.  The only way you can get rid of them is to wash the fabric in hot water - or not use/have fabrics that are dust mite friendly.  That brings me back to the weird WalMart Fabric.  It's tan - so it doesn't look weird, but it has some sort of plastic-y waterproof barrier on the inside of the fabric.  It's a little coarse, so I hope it softens up a bit with use - but I'll put sheets on it anyway, so hopefully it's a moot point.  I don't think the dust mites can really get through it - maybe it will slow them down, at the least.

I woke up a little wheezy (apparently they are the cause of my occasional asthma attacks), with a scratchy throat.  And tired.  If I didn't know better, I'd say I'm coming down with something.  But I do know better.  So instead, I've whipped out my already cut fabric and gotten to work on finishing the aft berth.  This girl is sleeping dust mite free tonight!

Update:  

I did manage to get the fabric for the top of the bigger cushion sewn Saturday morning before we sailed off, but we opted for fun over work (yay!) so the backing/zipper project was saved for Monday.

Update on above Update:

I spent a few hours on Luna Sea yesterday finishing up the aft cabin - and it should now provide relatively dust-mite-free sleep!