DIY Moroccan Pouf

I love Moroccan style and patterns, and had the good fortune to go to Morocco (Marrakech) last year with a Royal Design Studio “Paint & Play” group to do a painting project and get inspired by Moroccan design. One Moroccan pattern I really like, due to its bold geometric graphics, is Fez embroidery style.

To show you a few samples of Fez embroidery, here’s an antique pillow from Fez, Morocco on 1st dibs. The pattern is based on mehendi (henna) designs you often see on hands and feet:

Here’s a remnant of 19th century Fez embroidery from RugRabbit:

I thought these Fez designs would look good on a DIY Moroccan pouf, to go in our basement media center along with a chair I recovered with Mali mudcloth. You can sit in the chair, put your feet up on the pouf, a drink on a side table, and watch a movie! Here’s my DIY Moroccan pouf:

This was super easy to make! I share the full step-by-step tutorial at Paint and Pattern blogzine.

Basically, you cut two circles and a long rectangle:

I share measurements for my pouf, plus a formula to cut different sizes, at the Paint and Pattern tutorial.

Then, stencil one circle for the top of the pouf and stencil the long rectangle for the sides. You don’t have to stencil the circle that will become the bottom of the pouf. Here’s my Fez-patterned pouf pieces:

If Fez pattern isn’t your style, no worries! You can paint absolutely any pattern on a DIY pouf! I use a lot of Royal Design Studio stencils because I’m a contributor for their Paint and Pattern blogzine, and because I love them, I was a customer long before creating projects for their blog.

Here’s a few ideas for poufs. The Anastasia allover diamond damask pattern and the floral Kimono allover stencil. They are shown on walls but they work on other things too, like poufs!

The side of a pouf is perfect for a large border stencil. Check measurements to be sure the border has more height. A few ideas are the large Brocade Border stencil at 7.75″ high and the Italianate Border at 8″ high:

Perhaps your taste is more contemporary? The All the Right Curves stencil by Bari J would look great on a pouf! Or the Weave stencil by Christine Joy Design:

Once your choose a stencil pattern, it goes without saying, you can paint your pouf in any color you like. You can also choose color for the fabric. I used a beige upholstery vinyl because I wanted a contrasty graphic cream and black pouf. But you can use fabric in any color. Definitely choose a heavier upholstery fabric so there is enough heft to help your pouf keep its shape. I share more details about fabric choice, sewing your pouf, and stuffing your pouf in the tutorial post. Here, I wanted to give you inspiration to inspire you to make a DIY pouf!

If you check out the tutorial, you will see Chaai the Crafty Cat makes an appearance:

He was involved in every step of this project. He held a stencil in place when he flopped over to sleep on my project while I was painting. He made sure I always knew where the pieces were by sitting on them. Here he is doing a quality control check on my painting. If you don’t have a crafty cat assistant you can still do this project on your own, not to discount Chaai’s contribution.

A few more pics of my finished DIY Moroccan pouf, and I hope you are inspired to make a pouf too!