Hi all, Amy here! If you are a regular on this blog you know we did a series of scrap busting tutorials this year. We used up fabric that you might have had kicking around to make little snack bags, beeswax wraps and produce bags, and this time, we saved the best for last. Call it our Christmas gift to you: a free sewing pattern for a gorgeous, Moroccan inspired floor pouf.
It's a fun and easy quilting project that also makes additional seating or a nice rest for your tired feet. For this DIY pouf we will be using up lots of those beautiful fabric scraps you love and want to look at, BUT.... we will also be using up a whole whack of scraps/thread/batting/sheets/
How to Access Files
To download this free PDF pattern or resource, you will need members-only access to our Sewing Resource Library. To get access, subscribe to our newsletter using the "Sign me up" button below. We will then send you a welcome message with the password and you can download your free goodie!
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Materials + Supplies
- Free pouf pattern (available in our sewing resource library - the password is sent to you when you sign up to our newsletter - see the box above for access)
- 2 x piece A, 12 x piece B, 12 x piece CÂ (use a sturdy, medium to heavyweight fabric; you can use lighter weight fabric if you interface them first)
- 1 x 22" zipper (we used an invisible zipper but a regular one is fine too)
- Heavy duty needle (size 16-18)
- Polyester thread
- Invisible zipper foot or zipper foot
-
Light weight mesh fabric for inner bag (old curtain sheers work well for this)
-
Drawstring cord (can be same as piping cord)
- Fabric for piping (optional)
- Piping cord (optional)
To begin, choose an array of scrap fabrics you find pleasing together. For our sample, I chose a mix of light to dark in a palette of greys and blues. Heavier weight denim, linen and other wovens should be fine on their own, but lighter weight fabrics or anything loosely woven should be interfaced with a non-stretch medium weight interfacing.
If you need to interface your pieces, cut them out first. Arrange them on the interfacing, cut away the excess and then block fuse them all at once (use a press cloth to protect your iron). Once you have them fused you can cut them apart again.
To make your pouf washable (and stand the test of time) finish all 24 pieces (triangles and rectangles) with a serger or zig zag stitch on both sides. I chain-pieced this step, feeding them through in batches and cutting them apart after. Don't finish the short ends of the side pieces - we'll do that in one go at a later stage.
Once you have your pieces ready, you can lay out the triangles in a circle and arrange the colours as you like. That's a nice pizza!
Next, arrange the triangles in pairs and sew the seams at 3/8"(1omm). Press the seams open. If you are chain-piecing these, make sure to keep track of which pieces are next to which by returning to your circle after each step.
Now sew three pairs together (half the circle) twice, pressing seams open between each step.
At this point you may have to trim and adjust your half circles. Keep in mind if you are using thick fabric you need to press both sides WELL in order to maintain the circle.
Sew the two half circles together. Press middle seam open.
I suggest making piping for your edges; for a tutorial on how to make piping you can look here. We used leftover Kelly Anorak cord and fabric from Heather's gold Sasha trousers (scrap-busting people!!) that has a thickness of 3/16th. Remember, for this project we are using 10mm seam allowances so make sure to adjust your piping seam allowance as needed.
Pin your piping to the circle top, and trim at the end, leaving a 2" tail of overlap.
Open up the seam on your piping and trim the cord back so that it butts up against itself. Fold the extra piping fabric inside and pin down. Sew the piping in place all the way around the circle.
Serge or zig-zag the entire circumference of the circle including all fabric.
We are now going to install the zipper on our pouf bottom. Start by serging or zig-zagging the straight edges (I did it after I installed the zipper but it's probably easier to do it now).
On the right side of the fabric draw a chalk line 3/8" (10mm)Â from the edge of both half circles. Line the teeth of your invisible zipper up with this line and sew (right sides together) on both sides of the zipper. I used an invisible zipper foot, which is lovely. If you have one, now is your chance to use it! You can also use a regular zipper if that's what you have on hand.
Press well, but use a press cloth to protect your zipper from melting.
Pin piping to top of circle and sew at 3/8" (10mm) repeating steps above. Trim the zipper teeth if necessary.
For the sides of the pouf you will want to arrange your rectangles in a pleasing pattern. To do this I split the 12 pieces into a repeating pattern of dark, grey, white. Depending on how many different fabrics your using you can figure out a similar rationale.
Chain piece these rectangles together on the long sides at 3/8" (10mm). Press seams open.
Finish the top and bottom edge with a serger or zig zag. Sew the edges of both ends of your pieces right sides together in order to create a large loop. Press this last seam open.
Pin the top and sides right sides together. Sew at 3/8" (10mm), using the piping or zipper foot, getting as close to the piping cord as you can. Sew on the top side so you can see the thread attaching the piping. Open the zipper on the bottom and repeat the above step to attach the bottom to the sides. Turn right side out.
Bonus points if you wear your pouf like that episode of Friends where Joey gets his head stuck in the turkey.
For the last step we are going to stuff this baby! I made a super easy drawstring bag out of old curtain sheers using this tutorial as a basic guide. Obviously this is about ten times the size and is a rough estimation but as long as it is bigger than the pouf it will do the job of holding the scraps. You don't need to make this bag, but we found it much easier to create a lining if you want to wash your pouf - saves you from having to deal with re-stuffing all the tiny scraps.
Now is the time to use up every little odd and end you have in your scrap bag; thread, bits of interfacing, trimmings from the serger, old towels, stained clothing not appropriate for the thrift store - EVERYTHING! It doesn't get any more Reduce, Reuse and Recycle then this.
I stuffed the bag about halfway, placed it in the pouf and then kept stuffing until full. To cram as much as you can in there, push really hard on the bag to try and compress your scraps. Pull the drawstring, tie it in a knot and tuck inside. Now you can zip up your pouf and get ready to lounge!
Heather brought the poof home and apparently it's been seeing a lot of action.
We love this project because it's a beautiful object that not only uses up those odd shaped fabric scraps you may not be able to find a use for otherwise, but it's also a lovely reminder of past sewing projects. This pouf uses up scraps from our Jenny Overalls samples, this dress, this Kalle shirt, these shorts and a few different pairs of jeans, and is stuffed with a lot of stuff that might have instead ended up in the landfill (we do try and make frequent visits to H&M to recycle our fabric scraps but this saved us a trip!)
Hope you like this free pouf pattern! We saved it for the end of the year as a sort of Christmas gift to everyone. Once again, you can get the pattern for free in our sewing resource library. The password is sent in our welcome email. Go forth and pouf!
Save for later:
Supplies You'll Need
- A quilting ruler is an excellent tool for planning out your grid
- A walking foot with a stitch guide helps to keep your quilt layers feeding evenly together, ina addition to providing a guide for repeating widely spaced lines
- No walking foot guide? Use painter's tape to mark straight lines without damaging fabric
- Spray adhesive, quilt basting pins, or safety pins
- Sticky gloves like rubber or latex or these fancy quilting gloves to help you easily move your fabric around
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