Name: Kelly
Message: I have old Sailboat Cushions that are a sad brown weave (light brown with dark threads)that I want to turn dark blue. The fabric is rough to the touch but in good shape.I don't know how to tell if it is polyester and have to assume a heavy cotton portion (sorry no lables ha ha) I can take off the covers, which are nicely done. My question is in how would I go about making them a darker blue. Your forum is for the artistic and very nicely done, but how about my simple goal of turning large covers from tan to blue. Any suggestions. I thank you in advance.

Not knowing what fiber the cushions' covers are made from is a major problem. It is probably unlikely that your sailboat cushions are made of a dyeable material, such as nylon, wool, cotton, or linen. They may be made of polypropylene (such as Olefin or Herculon), which is impossible to dye under any circumstances once it has left the factory, or of acrylic (such as Sunbrella), which can be dyed with basic dyes, but they are not suitable for home use, or they may be dyed with polyester, which can be dyed only by boiling them for an hour with disperse dye. (See "How to Dye Acrylic with Basic Dye" and "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".)

Since you can take the covers off, perhaps you could snip off a bit of the fiber from an inside seam allowance to very carefully try a burn test. You can find instructions on how to do this at Fabrics.net.

If the fabric is not an easily dyeable fiber, you could just make covers for the cushions, either using a fabric that is truly dyeable (hemp or cotton canvas would be suitable), or using a fabric which is already the color you want. If you don't care to sew, you should be able to locate a seamstress or tailor who can do the work for you, or an upholstery shop.

If the cushions do turn out to be made of a cellulose fiber such as cotton, linen, hemp, or ramie, you can dye them in cool water with fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dyes. The light brown could be dyed to a brownish blue, and the dark brown threads to a darker brown. Dye is transparent and will not cover up the existing color pattern, but it will change it, if you can choose a suitable type of dye for the fiber.