DIY Pouf

Back in my day, everyone wanted a bean bag.  A squishy, comfy spot to plop down on in your room and read or talk on the phone.  Well…the bean bag has come a long way since then.  Now it’s called a pouf and it’s definitely more sophisticated.  In fact…I wouldn’t even mind having one of these around the house, unlike the bean bag which was relegated to my room.  The premise of the pouf is still the same though…a comfy spot for a little one to sit and dream and play.

I really found this remarkably simple to make – and I am no seamstress.  In fact – I realized during this project that my natural tendencies are the exact opposite of what makes a good seamstress.  I’m impatient, un-exact and get frustrated easily.  All this to say – if you’ve got any sewing chops at all – you’ll make this project your own.

You will need:

• 1 ½ yard Home Dec Fabric (or two coordinating fabrics)
• 2 pkgs. 1/2 ” pre made piping
• Contrasting Thread
• 4 old pillows that can be torn up for their filing.

Next, cut the following pieces from your fabrics.

 2 circles cut to a radius of 22” (top and bottom – I used a different material for one of my circles, just to give mine a break from the intense pattern)

1 piece cut at 14″x69″ (side) **you will have to piece this together if your fabric is 45″**

2 pieces cut at 3″ x 12″ (handle)

You’re probably wondering how to cut a 22” circle right now…or at least that’s what I was thinking at this point.  I’m going to say – best practice would be to use an old-school compass.  Of course – I don’t have a compass, but luckily enough I had picked up a yardstick at Lowe’s a couple weeks ago.  First I taped 4 12”x12” pieces of paper together.  Then I taped a piece of pastel chalk to the 11” mark on the yardstick and then drew a circle around the paper, keeping the tip of my yardstick centered in the middle where all 4 pieces of paper met.  Then cut out your circle and you’ve got your stencil for your fabric.  Lay your fabric down wrong side up and trace/cut out two circles.

Now, pin your pre-made piping to the right side of both your circles.  Be sure to line the raw edge of the piping to the raw edge of your circle.  Pin all the way around and then kind of make an X over the ends of the piping to make them lay as naturally as possible.

Now sew right over the sewing line on the piping to attach the piping to the circle.  The reason to use contrasting thread here is so you can see it on the wrong side of the fabric when you flip the circle over – this comes in handy later.  From my experience, since my fabric was grey and white and my piping was red – I would have used red thread.  But…I think I actually used bright blue and you can’t see it all in my finished product.  So it doesn’t really matter that much.

Next, do the same thing to the long edges of one of your handle pieces – pin, then stitch the piping to the right side of the fabric.  Then pin the other piece of handle fabric (right side to right side) directly lined up with the first piece.  Flip it over and sew directly over the contrasting thread on the wrong side of the first piece of fabric.  Turn the handle inside out and give it a quick iron.  Finally, fold the ends of the handle in and pin when you think it looks straight and everything is tucked in.  Change the color of your thread to one that will look good on your fabric and sew directly on to each edge of the handle to finish off this part.

We’re getting close!  Find your long piece of fabric and pin it to one of the circles – right side to right side – and raw edge to raw edge.  Pin it all the way around the circle – don’t pull to hard and follow the circle.

Leave about an inch free at each end.  When you’re finished pinning, except for the inch at each end – bring those two ends together and pin all the way up the side.  Then sew a ½” seam all the way up the side.  After that, finish pinning that piece around the circle…so the whole thing lays flat around the edge of the circle.

Then sew around the whole circle, using the same technique as before when you sewed over the top of the contrasting stitch on the wrong side of the fabric circle.

Now turn the whole thing right side out and pick a place to stick your handle.  Pin it in place and tack each end of the handle down by stitching a square with an X in the middle on the outside of each end of the handle.  Be sure to use your pretty thread here – since this is decorative stitching.

Flip the whole thing back to being inside out and pin the final circle raw edge to raw edge on the bottom of the pouf, just like you did on the top.  Sew on the contrasting thread line like you did before…just leave an opening big enough to stuff.

Flip back to have everything right side out and proceed with stuffing!  I just cut up four pillows and pulled apart the fiber fill that was inside them to make little pieces that I could easily fit through my opening.  Make sure to stuff pretty full…considering a lot of little butts will be sitting on it and smushing it down…you want to make sure it will stand up to all that.  When you’re finished – hand sew the opening shut with your matching thread – and you’re all done!!

I threw a gratuitous Henry shot in there for all you H-dog fans.  You’re welcome!