Floor Pouf Tutorial

In case you missed it over at So You Think You're Crafty, here's my tutorial for the floor poufs from Round 2!

Supplies used:

1 floor bean bag

stuffing from the bag

1/2 yard of fabric per pouf

1/2 yard of  fusible interfacing per pouf

crochet thread

yarn (about 4 ounces of medium weight per pouf)

Part One - Cutting up the bag

Cut a hole along a section of the zipper seam of the bag (I did this because the zipper was stuck).  Empty the stuffing into garbage bags. It's definitely a two person job, and it's best to do it outside.

Caution: This step ended up being really messy.  I imagined styrofoam pellets.  Instead, we found tiny styrofoam granules and foam powder.  Yikes.

When you've emptied the bag, cut it apart at the seams.  This will probably leave you with two large circles and one long strip of material.  I used the width of the strip to determine the size of my circles.

Trace circles onto the wrong side of your material.  Mine were about 25 inches across.

I ended up with 10 circles.  Enough to make 5 poufs.

Part Two - Sewing the Pouf

I wanted to gather the edges of my circles to make my poufs, well... poufier.  Using my sewing machine didn't work because the thread broke when I tried to create the gathers.  I was afraid it would, so I wasn't surprised.  Hand basting the edges was a little tedious, but it worked.  I used a heavy duty thread.

One thing you need to remember when hand sewing your edges, is that you need to leave an opening.  I wanted to gather the opening as well to make sewing the hole closed at the end easier.  So I just had to gather the two sides separately at the opening.

 When you have your hand basting done, pull on the thread  and gather as much as you want.  I just pulled until my sides came straight up.  Tie it off when you have it how you like it.

With your sewing machine, sew around the circle twice (be sure to leave an opening).  This will help keep your poufs from splitting open.  They're bound to get some rough treatment.

Flip your pouf inside out.

Stuff the pouf.  Since our filling was so messy, my husband created a makeshift funnel with a pipe and a milk carton to help with this part.  We worked as a team to stuff as much foam as we could get in each pouf.  We didn't want them to flatten out.

Sew the opening closed by hand..

Since I had some styrofoamy powder in mine, we tried to seal up the seams to keep it from coming out.

"Why yes!  I do dress myself!"

There's your pouf!  You could be done if you like it like that.  Or you can cover it.

Part three - the cover

Take your 1/2 yard of fabric and decide how big you want your circles to be.  Mine were about 17" (or the size of a Sit 'n Spin, ha!)

For each pouf, you need to cut 2 circles from fabric and two from interfacing.

Once you have cut your circles, sew one fabric circle and one interfacing circle together.  You want the bumpy side of the interfacing to be on the outside when you sew.  Sew all the way around your circle.  Don't leave an opening.  Snip the seam allowance every few inches all the way around, making sure to not cut your seam.

Pull apart your layers of fabric and interfacing.  Cut an X through the middle of the interfacing, but be sure not to cut your fabric.  Turn your circle right side out through that opening.  Press the fabric and interfacing together.  This will also close up that X you cut in the interfacing.

If you don't want to use interfacing, just hem around your circle.  I just HATE having to try and get perfect circles when I hem, so I use this method.

In order to make your circles ready for crocheting, hand sew a blanket stitch all the way around with your crochet thread.  I couldn't bring myself to measure out each stitch, so I just eyeballed it.

Use the blanket stitch on all the circles.

For the crocheting, I used a size I hook and medium weight yarns.  One of my yarns was thinner than the rest, so I switched to an H.  You'll just have to play around with it and figure out what look you want.

Start by crocheting onto one of your circles.  Crochet into the blanket stitch like it is a previous row.  I double crocheted once or twice in each stitch, depending on how big the stitch was.  The first pouf took me a while to get right, but it was all smooth going after that.

Because there are no set sizes, I don't have a specific pattern.  Just keep crocheting rows until you think you're getting close to attaching the other side.  You'll want it to be snug.  Everything will loosen up after use.

To attach the second circle, I went into the blanket stitch (of the second circle) on the last step of my double crochet. When you go to pull your last loops through to complete your double crochet, grab onto the blanket stitch and pull it through with the other loops. Do this all the way around. 

Weave in the ends and you're done!

We've been enjoying our poufs.  They've been great for imaginary play, foot rests, and extra seating.  They stack up nicely in the corner and we love them.