le Pouf!



Crate and Barrel pouf ottoman

I have to admit that when I first saw these at Crate and Barrel, I was tempted to buy one!

But I didn't like the price tag.

It's not like I'm cheap. I just didn't think that spending $100 for something my feet would rest on would be worth it. Besides, I know that it's going to get thrown around and squashed by the kids in no time. (There are even some available elsewhere on the web for close to $300. Yikes!)

So I looked around and found some yarn and instructions to make one of my own. Beautiful stuff.

Only it's in Norway.

And I'm back to being cheap frugal. I didn't want to pay the insane shipping cost that would make the Crate and Barrel pouf look reasonable.

My other problem was that the instructions (in english, thank goodness) included steps for crocheting that I had never done before. I only know one stitch...the single crochet.

So I had to improvise. Big time!

My Pouf!

Using the thicket yarn I could find:

 and a HUGE crochet hook (about 10mm), I crocheted a rectange about 30" by 70" (you can make it bigger if you want a larger ottoman). I used 2 of these balls of yarn from wal-mart.

Using the same yarn, I sewed the 2 shorter sides together to make it into a circle. I then gathered one of the open sides to close it. I stuffed it with a down comforter (twin size) wrapped around a round pillow form. Finally, I sewed up the other side to close around the stuffing. 

Voila...le pouf!

And no where close to $100!

Now the girls are asking for one of their own.

NOTE: If you want a firmer 'pouf', I'm sure that you can stuff it more.