The pouf by Closet Core patterns: a fantastic scrap-busting free pattern

After over a year of enthusiastic sewing I had amassed a rather large bag full of fabric scraps.  These pieces of fabric were all small offcuts of fabric, too small to make into anything useful.  My scraps bag was starting to overflow and I wanted to find a use for all of these little pieces of fabric.  I didn’t have to look any further the DIY Pouf Pattern by Closet Core Patterns.

Closet Core describes the pouf pattern as the ultimate scrap-busting project. It really is.  Not only can you fill it with fabric scraps but the pattern pieces (26 of them in total) are designed to be small enough to be made using fabric scraps too.

On top of the pouf’s scrap-busting credentials, the pattern is also free!  All you need to do to get hold of this pattern is to subscribe to the Closet Core newsletter.  Once you have signed up, you gain access to the Closet Core ‘Sewing Resource library’ which is full of free patterns (including the pouf pattern) and fitting guides.  All in all a fantastic resource!

My poufs

I have made four poufs to date.  For the first one I used a mixture of fabrics: the beige and pinecone fabrics are both cottons from Minerva and the grey geometric fabric is an ikat cotton from Itokri.  This pouf now lives in our living room and is used a lot: as a footrest (by my husband and I) and a piece of athletic equipment (by my two children!). 

For the second pouf, I used two different grey geometric ikat fabrics, again from Itokri.  It now sits in our playroom and my daughter spends a lot of time arranging toys on it and jumping on and off it.

The construction process

The pouf is a pretty simple sew.  It is a little time consuming mainly at the cutting stage.  There are 26 pattern pieces in total.  You may also need to cut interfacing for each pattern piece depending on the type of fabric you use.  I used fairly lightweight cottons for my poufs so I did have to interface.  If you use sturdier, heavier weight fabrics then interfacing wouldn’t be needed.  

The sewing process is fairly straightforward: a lot of sewing straight lines and overlocking edges.  There is a zip to insert, however even this step is fairly forgiving as the zip is on the bottom so won’t be visible once the pouf is finished.  I used a size 90 needle for all of the sewing and this seemed to get through the thicker layers of the fabric pretty well.

I chose to add piping to all of my poufs as I like the professional finish it gives.  It was my first time making and inserting piping on my first pouf.  I used the fab Closet Core tutorials on how to make bias tape and piping and how to insert piping .  I cut my own bias binding for the piping, using the same fabric as the poufs, and I used 4.5mm wide piping cord from Minerva.  I found the whole piping process surprisingly straightforward and quite satisfying too.

Mini poufs

My children love the poufs so much that they requested one each for their bedrooms.  Their bedrooms aren’t very big so I decided to make slightly smaller poufs for them.  And here they are:

To make these smaller size poufs, I made the following adjustments to the pattern pieces:

1. 1 inch reduction in the length of the pouf top panel piece and the pouf bottom panel piece (i.e. overall reduction in the diameter of the top and bottom panels by 2 inches)
2. 1inch reduction in the height of the pouf side panel piece, plus a slight adjustment to the width to match the revised width of the top panel piece

I think these smaller sized poufs came out really well. My children chose the fabrics for the poufs themselves and they are filled with old clothes and other scraps I could find.

I also talk a bit more about the mini poufs in my YouTube vlog.

Filling the poufs

It’s amazing how much fabric you can fit inside one pouf!  I filled my first two poufs mainly with fabric scraps and old clothes (mostly my son’s jogging bottoms and such like, as he wears through the knees in no time flat!).

When I got to the mini poufs, I was really running out of scraps.  My mum kindly had a search around in her airing cupboard and found some old tatty sheets and a few other bits to help fill them.

I also posted on Instagram about my pouf-filling dilemma.  A few fab Instagrammers came up with some amazing suggestions for alternative fillings.  I thought it might be useful to share them with you here:

• Old towels and sheets (or even you could use the pouf as storage for occasional use towels and sheets, as it has the zip on the bottom for easy access if they are needed)
• Stuffing from old cushion pads, duvets and pillows
• Bean bag filling

Summary

The pouf pattern is a fantastic free scrap-busting pattern and a satisfying simple sew too.  It gives you a super functional and stylish piece of furniture too.  What’s not to love?