Closet Core Pouf

I am continuing sharing makes that were made a while ago and not yet blogged. Today I am talking about the Closet Core Pouf. First of all I want to say that because this pattern is pieced together it would make an amazing scrapbuster – in fact, I believe it was originally designed to be used for scraps which is obviously a very sustainable way to sew! I chose to make the pouf out of 1m of canvas because it is for my son’s bedroom and I really wanted to make something just for him instead of using it as a way to pawn all my scraps off on him.

That being said, I have not bought anything new to fill it with and it still isn’t full! It currently contains: the small duvet from his toddler bed (now outgrown!), an old pillow, two old cushions, and a HUGE bag of scraps. Yes my version looks a bit more ‘lumpy’ than some of the perfect ones on instagram but I am thrilled it is full of things that were no longer useful – now they have a use again!

Want to know the best thing about the Closet Core Pouf pattern? It’s completely FREE! I chose this gorgeous Art Gallery Fabrics Canvas to make a pouf for my little boy’s room and I can confirm it is sturdy enough for upholstery purposes. This pouf will provide much needed seating as well as add a cosy squishy tool for so many open-ended play ideas! So far it has been a slide, a rock, a bed, a hiding place and so much more! I was really impressed with how soft this canvas is, I expected it to feel sturdy enough for upholstery (which it does) but I wasn’t expecting it to feel lovely and soft as well – perfect for children’s accessories – can you imagine a teddy bear made from this?!

I love how the print looks botanical at first and then upon closer inspection it is actually a cool dinosaur print! My 5yo loves it! I wanted to show off the print so I didn’t piece together the side panels as instructed, I just cut one long strip of fabric for the sides so you can see the dinosaurs marching round the sides. I was tempted to forego the piecing of the top as well but I really prefer the look of the lovely top and decided it was worth the effort even though it breaks up the print a bit. I am no quilter but I found this simple enough to do and whilst it isn’t perfect, I am really happy with how the top turned out! There are so many lovely colours in this print that I was a bit stuck with which colour to go for on the piping – eventually I chose this hot pink as I thought it would give the biggest contrast – I LOVE IT. I am so happy with this choice and think that hot pink compliments the print perfectly! I couldn’t find any piping this exact colour and so I decided to make some myself using hot pink bias binding and piping cord – much easier than I expected! I used this piping tutorial linked in the Pouf pattern instructions.

Despite the effort put into piecing together the top, and adding in piping as well as a zip, it was a surprisingly quick make! It came together really quickly and was really fun! Does that mean it went perfectly? Well, no. I completely forgot that it was a directional print when I was sewing it all together and it wasn’t until I had completely finished sewing and stuffing it that I realised the fabric running all the way round the sides of the pouf had been inserted upside down. Upside down dinosaurs?! I couldn’t leave it like that! It was the centrepiece of the whole thing to have dinosaurs walking round the sides – I had cut the fabric specially to have dinosaurs right in the centre! So I dutifully unpicked the whole thing and stitched it all back together again before re-filling it! Speaking of filling it – MAN this thing can hold a lot. There is a full toddler duvet in there, a pillow, two cushions and a bag of scraps and it still doesn’t have that ‘full’ look but I don’t want to fill it up so much that my 5yo can’t move it – it’s getting heavy!
I suspect I will leave it as it is although I might keep adding bags of fabric scraps to it as I make them until it finally looks full! Until then, it’s going to be sat on, jumped on, played with and loved!