How To Make A Stylish DIY Floor Pouf

Make A Velvet DIY Floor Pouf From A Cable Stool

I knew when I rescued a small cable spool out of the skip (dumpster) I would be able to transfer it into something special one day. It may have taken me 18months to get round to it but I used it to make a stylish DIY floor pouf for my home.

Recently, I had new velvet curtains made for my lounge. And it was the fabric remnants that gave me the idea to use them to make a floor pouf. The velvet fabric was so gorgeous and luxurious I just had to use it. It is an ombre velvet in Papaya/Raspberry/Loganberry by Harlequin called Amazilia.

I’m also a fan of the current trend of metallic touches in home interiors. To enhance to the luxuriousness of the velvet I added a metallic gold band to my DIY floor pouf.

The floor pouf was relatively easy to make, very affordable and looks great in my home. The kids love it too as it’s on casters so they can whizz around on the wooden floors with it. Luckily the cover is removable so easy to wash if they cause any damage.

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What You Need To Make A DIY Floor Pouf

• Small wooden cable spool – I found mine in a skip (dumpster). But I’m sure if you ask your local friendly builder they will happily pass one on to you as like pallets they tend to just end up in the skip.
• Dense upholstery foam at least 2 inches in thickness
• Quilt wadding/batting
• Duck tape
• Velvet fabric – I used Harlequin Amazilla
• Iron on mettalic gold vinyl
• Iron on hem
• 4 Swivel plate casters

How to make a DIY floor pouf from a cable spool

1. 1. The first thing to do is to screw the casters to the bottom of the cable spool. Even though I had four casters I only used three in the end as this seemed more than enough.

1. 1. So that your ottoman/pouf is nice a soft, the next thing to do is cover it upholstery foam. Cut a dense piece of foam to fit the top and glue it down. Next secure foam around the edge of the cable spool. I used a mixture of glue and duck tape to hold it in place. Finish off the padding by covering the whole thing in some quilt batting.

1. 1. Now all you need to do is make the velvet slipcover. Measure the radius of the top of the ottoman. Then using a pen and a piece of string the length of the radius plus 1cm for a hem allowance, draw a circle onto the back of the velvet fabric. Then cut the fabric around this line.(As I was using velvet remnants I didn’t have one piece big enough for the top so had to sew 2 pieces together first.)

1. 1. Next measure the height of the floor pouf and the circumference. Cut a piece of velvet to these dimensions allowing for a seam allowance for both the top and for a hem at bottom of the fabric.

1. 1. Pin the side piece to the round top right sides together and stitch together. Then pin the open sides and stitch them closed. You should now have a velvet slipcover for the ottoman. Before going any further turn the cover right sides out and test that it fits. Don’t worry if its a bit long as the next thing to do is to hem it.

1. 1. I cheated and used a fusible webbing and an iron to hem the velvet slipcover to the right length. You can sew the hem if you prefer but I feel the ironed hem is neater.

1. 1. Finally to finish off the DIY floor pouf and to give it a bit of stylish glamour add some gold vinyl. Firstly, cut the ironable gold vinyl with a rotary cutter into a stip about 2 inches wide and as long the circumference.The sheet of vinyl will probably not be long enough to go fully around the ottoman you will probably need 2 strips to make the full length.

1. Iron the gold vinyl strip to the bottom of the velvet slipcover, according to the instructions that came with the vinyl.

Even with the gold vinyl strip the velvet slip cover for the DIY floor pouf is washable at a cool temperature. The foam I used on the top of the ottoman was so dense it’s firm enough to also act as a side table. Like most poufs this is a really versitle extra piece of furniture, it can be used as extra seating, a foot stool and table.

This isn’t the first ottoman/pouf I made, last year I made a rustic nifty denim DIY ottoman, which was an IKEA hack.   I have a tutorial on how to reupholster a footstool with a tea towel.  I also have a tutorial for a DIY footstool using denim.

Also there are more ideas for ottomans/poufs on DIYideacenter.com.