How to Make a Fabric Pouf

by Vicki

I was assigned the project of making my daughter-in-law a pouf for her living room. I’d previously made one for my living room which she liked & she requested one for her home.

Materials/Tools

• 2  yards of home decor weight fabric. I used “Make Waves” by Waverly
• 16” zipper, thread
• Two 20 ounce bags of polyfil
• The contents of a small bean bag chair
• Sewing machine/iron, etc

The pouf is an 18” cube. I cut 5 pieces of fabric 19” square (allowing for a 1/2” seam allowance on for each seam) & one 21” square for the bottom piece allowing a 1” seam allowance in which I inserted a zipper.

Step 1: Cut out the fabric pieces matching the pattern if there is one. The fabric I used had a definite pattern which required using more fabric than if I had used a solid in order to match the pattern. There was a lot of waste. Be sure to label each piece to keep all the parts going in the same direction. I used a small arrow in the lower left hand corner of each piece & labeled the top with the word ‘top’ in the same corner. I labeled the bottom with 19” so I knew which was the longer side.

Step 2: Fold the bottom piece in half (the 22” side), press, pin. Draw a chalk line 1” from the folded edge to mark the stitching line. Using a basting (or long stitch) sew the seam. Cut on the fold. Press open. Insert zipper using either the lapped or centered method. I used the lapped method. ​

Step 3: Match up side seam pieces, pin, mark 1/2” from the top & bottom of the seam, & stitch the sides together, starting & stopping 1/2” from the edge. Press.

Step 4: Sew the top & bottom pieces to the sides. Even through I worked to match the pattern, I was successful matching only one side of the top with one of the sides. Oh, well. ​

Attaching the bottom & the top is a little tricky. Hold the pouf so you are able to see the side seam stitching. This is where stopping & starting 1/2” from the edge pays off in helping to make perfect corners. Match the top edges of the side piece & top piece making sure to keep the other side of the seam allowance out of the line of stitching. Stitch, using a 1/2” starting & stopping at the side seam stitching. Do not stitch all the way to the edge. Do the same for the remaining top & bottom edges. it takes a bit of time, but it does produce great corners. ​

When finished, turn the pouf inside out (this is made much easier if you have remembered to leave the zipper open before sewing on the top & bottom—oops). Press the top & bottom seams towards the middle & the side seams all going in the same direction. Don’t press the seams open.

Step 5: Go outside with the bean bag chair, hope that it has a liner inside that bag keeping all the styrofoam pellets contained, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t! Well, my bean bag did NOT have a liner so I carefully transferred the pellets into old pillowcases. (Be sure to clean up throughly as these pellets are not good for the environment or wildlife.) I stitched up the pillowcases to keep the pellets contained.

Step 6: Stuff. I added two of the three bags of pellets to the pouf & then added handfuls of polyfil to the corners & up the sides. I added the last bag & filled in with more polyfil to fill in any holes. Zip it up & you’re done. Once I’m sure it doesn’t need any more filling I will stitch the zipper closed so that little toddler hands don’t unzip & un-stuff the whole thing!