POUF! sewing magic.

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this project is dedicated to my lovely mother, who was thoughtful enough to pick up a Better Homes & Gardens magazine for me when she saw it for 50 cents! this particular magazine contained an image of a "pretty pouf" floor cushion that i thought was fantastic, and wouldn't you know they had a place you could go to on their website that gave a tutorial for it! score.

our living room is very spacious, and while we do have the seating provided by the sectional couch, a chaise, and a chair, we started thinking about if we had enough for hosting Christmas this year. i thought these poufs were a great idea for some casual, non-committal, smidgens of a seat that could be easily moved and/or stored. PLUS i had a ton of one kind of fabric that i got a sweet deal on and was wondering what to do with it. here's how it happened:



the tutorial came with a printable pattern, which, for your 411, is the very first pattern i've ever used. i liked it!

i layered the fabric as i cut so i wouldn't have to make as many cuts. efficiency is key.

i also used some white muslin to line the pouf with, for extra stability and luxury ;)

after all cuts are made, stack them right sides together WITH lining, then sew one side to make a pair of pouf panels

PAIR!

after all pouf pairs are sewn, press seams to lay flat, like so.

JOIN PAIRS! joining one pair makes half of the pouf.

measure from the top 5" down and do not sew the top 5" together, you gotta have a hole at the top to stuff the pouf!

the tutorial didn't say anything about using a walking foot for this, but with all the layers of fabric (4 at a time), i expertly deduced that a walking foot would be more appropriate to avoid bunching, so shake it if you got it

all sewn!

this is the best part, you can stuff the pouf with ANYTHING you want. the tutorial recommends stuff like old jeans, towels, and pillows to increase stability. i used all these things and more!

for my very first sewing project, a t-shirt blanket, still sadly unfinished and just really not right, i kept the scraps from the t-shirts and sweatshirts i cut up. at this time i really didn't understand why i was so compelled to hang onto a bag of shirt scraps, but alas, today is the day they became the perfect addition!

stick all the crazy stuff in first, then use fiberfill to smooth out the outer shape and the top for perfect poufiness.

time to suck it up and HAND-STITCH the top closed, ugh. i really hate hand stitching, i have no joy in hand sewing like some other people do, gimme a motor baby

top is all closed, time to fashion the top pouf piece

you may notice that neatness in stitching the top is totally unnecessary, because it'll be covered! yay.

another piece of the pattern

iron down seams

i also expertly deduced ;) that using fabric glue along with more hand-stitching would be better. i used small dots along the entire edge and throughout the entire middle, stacked some stuff on top of it to dry, and moved onto the worst part of pouf construction...

*side note: bring the double threaded needle up through the bottom before it dries down. just realized that i don't have any pictures of the top after hand-stitching! figures, my fingers still hurt from it, i just wanted to be done! i just used a simple straight stitch around the edge, no big deal!

while, i apologize for my husband's feet, i didn't want to use my own so beggars can't be choosers ;) TA-DAHH! ottoman, extra seat, super-cute casual decor addition, and made from junk i already had! i think i'll make another.

POUF! that word has lost all meaning!

NEVER SETTLE AGAIN...

...for bedding you're not IN LOVE with! i had the worst time trying to find bedding i liked, i looked at target, macys, online, wherever i could think of for bedding for me and ryan and there just wasn't anything i found that i had to have. plus, it's so expensive so i'm definitely not buying it if i don't love it. especially since bedding isn't something you normally just replace, you keep it around awhile.

i made a queen size duvet cover (anyone who's fuzzy on what a duvet cover is, it's basically a bag that holds a comforter, you can remove it and wash it, or change it out easier and cheaper than a regular comforter), and i chose to have a button-style closure, some people use ribbon or snaps, but i like buttons. my comforter is 86"x90" so i wanted this to be about 88"x92" when it was done, and through the process whenever i was cutting i gave myself a little extra room and i think it ended up being about 88"x93" so that's pretty good!

i used 6 yds of fabric for the top and bottom, make sure you account for pattern repeat! the robin's egg goes perfectly in our room, i didn't want anything too dark or busy, and the quilted fabric on the bottom looks so luxurious with it ;) i'm all about luxury, eh?

i'm extremely proud of this project! got some fancy cream fabric for coordinating pillows and a new bedskirt to complete the scene. for the area immediately surrounding our bed, anyway!


anyways, here's what i did:

got this fabric, $100 for top and bottom total. lovely robins egg blue and cream, and quilted cream!

notes on the math before cutting anything

Colby just couldn't wait for it to be put together and on the bed!

2 widths of this fabric were not enough for the entire width of the duvet, so i cut out 6 in strips to piece together to put as a strip down the middle

gotta make sure those lines line up!

line it up with one side, the strip is longer than it needs to be so i can move it without it being too short on either end.

line up!

the back is assembled!

i cut 99" from the fabric for the top piece, and need another 99" to cut the sides from. this is a great way to easily use the pattern repeat. just line it up and cut the excess, then you can rely just on your measurements and not always have to check and make sure you are lining up the design properly

easy measurements again, just cut it off at the same point the other one is cut off

3 pieces for the top just like the bottom. the sides need to be lined up with the design as well

i lost a lot of fabric that way, but i'm over it. :) it's great quilting fabric anyway!

sides needed to be 18" wide

i pinned them this way to get it lined up perfectly

can't even tell? :)

there's that excess fabric! needs to be cut off

now i can move the pins to the outside so i can remove them while sewing. PINCH the fabric FIRST, then move the pin from the inside to the outside WITHOUT moving the fabric

pin on the outside now, and is removable for sewing!

lining it up with the bottom piece after top is assembled, and pinning the edges

the most annoying thing about these big projects is the sheer amount of fabric you are dealing with all the time. it can be tiring. ;)

top and bottom are attached! and gorgeous.

checking for the size on the actual bed, and seeing what the white side looks like.

hem the edges for the button flap, after the bottom edge of the bottom piece is hemmed

double-hem the button flap edge for a much nicer finish

measuring and marking out button holes in flap

my buttons are 1 1/4" and 1 1/8" so just made all the button holes 1 1/4". draw a line that long as a guide while sewing

practice button hole! (since i didn't even know what the buttonholer was before starting this project, side note- buttonholer is funny.)

you use the buttonholer setting for the top, bottom and sides of the hole...

THEN, you use your seam ripper to take out the fabric from between the stitches...

VOILA! buttonhole.

just a shot of the buttonholer working.

sew the buttons on and BAM! duvet cover.

first of a few throw pillows i'm making to coordinate with this beauty. taffeta!

what it looks like on the bed

fabulous!