How to Sew a DIY Pouf Ottoman {Indoor or Outdoor}

I have a confession.

I used to be afraid of my sewing machine.

Envelope pillows I could do, but I was suffered a nervous attack at the thought of tackling anything bigger.

Lined Drapes? Grommet Topped Blackout Drapes?! A Papasan Cover?!?!

These projects would have sent me running for the hills…

But then I decided to get over it.

And just jump right in and try it. What was the worst that could happen?

Worst case scenario, I totally screw it up and waste some fabric.

And if it went well?

Then maybe I could even learn how to sew a DIY Pouf Ottoman for indoors or outdoors! Like this guy….

And if I can do it, then you can teach yourself how as well. I’m certain of it.

Turquoise.

Ikat.

I couldn’t believe it when I found this fabric on sale at my local Fabricland store.

And I was even more thrilled that it is an outdoor fabric. Exactly what I was looking for.

I knew I wanted to try making a big pouf to go along with the Papasan Chair Cover that I made – kind of like these beauties that you see at West Elm or like stores…

Their version is on sale right now for $80 US… I think mine cost me about $24 Canadian to make including the pillow forms I used to stuff it with. And $24 Canadian is like $4.75 US these days with current exchange rates.

To make this you can actually get away with just ONE YARD of your fabric, if you are really careful about the cuts you make.

I started by laying out my fabric and then I used my cutting mat and rotary cutter to cut it into 6 18×18 inch squares.

This worked out absolutely perfectly because my fabric width was 54 inches (so 18+18+18=54) and one yard is 36 inches long (18+18).

You start by laying it and pinning it and then sewing the pieces together until you have a large T shape.

To stitch it I decided to use a stronger stitch then I normally do, just to make sure that it would hold up to a little extra abuse and food traffic as an ottoman.

The pictures probably show more then my description would about how it came together…

Pin the next side and sew….

Now you have three sections sewn together in a long strip…

Next add the top

Then you will add your final two squares.

These diagrams should help make the process a little bit more clear. {think of it as building a box, like you used to do in elementary school out of cardstock}

Basically, you will have sewn your pieces into a long T shape like this…

Then you are going to sew the edges of the main square together (right sides together of course), like this…

At this point you have the base of a box with the top attached on only one edge. So the next part to sew is the final edges of the bottom of the T onto the side edges of the box (right sides together still, so you should have the bad side of the fabric facing out and visible as you sew).

It should basically look like this once you have done all of that…

Now turn it right side out. You should have a floppy box with one end open:

To stuff it I used four pillow forms that I bought at a great price at my local Walmart. You could use old pillow form inserts if you have some. I have even heard of some people stuffing their pouf with old quilts and things to reduce costs.

To stuff it I cut off the pillow cover and just used the polyester fill…

And stuffed it until it looked like a giant Pacman…

Now the last step is to stitch the remaining edge by hand. I folded the two edges under slightly to create a neat seam and then stitched…

Done!

Can you believe it?

I couldn’t believe that I actually made this myself. In fact, I even had to share it on Instagram because I was so shocked and excited that I managed it!

So now I just want to encourage you to embrace your sewing machine if you haven’t already, and try something new. Something a little scary. Who knows, you may end up with something you are crazy proud of and absolutely love. I’m pretty in love with how this guy turned out…