Drawstring Floor Pouf – Soft Toy Storage

Confession: I have soft toys all over my house. This drawstring floor pouf will save my life. I am certain of this, because it will give these toys a home, and also provide some really cute seating for the kidlets in their reading areas.

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Let’s get real here. Stuffed toys (or regular toys for that matter) don’t stay in their assigned homes with Edith running around town. I used to keep the soft things in big plastic bins with cute rope handles so Andrew and Lilly could just toss them in when they were done. It worked, but Edie likes to grab-and-ditch.

She pulls the toys out, then ditches them wherever she wants to, and Lilly uses them as pillows. She must touch every.single.thing. The clutter she creates by just roaming around the playroom, drives me absolutely insane, because it spills out through the house. I thought I could just make the soft things disappear by “taking the soft things to the laundry” in hopes they’d never ask for them again, but guess what? They ask for them all the time. The big kids are great with cleaning up after themselves, so I am confident these drawstring floor poufs will save my sanity by allowing the older kids easy access to their beloved soft toys, while hiding them from plain view from the littlest. I love her to pieces, but for the love… stop touching all the things!

Supplies to make your own drawstring floor pouf

RIT Fabric Dye
6×9 drop cloth
jute roping
sewing machine
sewing supplies (safety pins, needle + thread if you’re sewing by hand, scissors, pins)
*or if you don’t want to sew it… you can use fabric glue, or press & bond instead*
an overflow of soft toys

How to make your drawstring storage floor pouf

I wanted something easy for the kids to open and close, and something fast for me to whip up since I do these things last minute (always), so a drawstring closure seemed to be a great option – it’ll also serve as a handle to drag the floor pouf around to all rooms of the house that are void of stuffed toys.

1. Cut and Dye your Drop Cloth

I folded mine over, and simply cut it in half, so I ended up with 2 rectangles about 4 1/2′ x 6′ each. You’ll have enough for 2 poufs out of one drop cloth. If you are new to using RIT fabric dye, I’ve written a tutorial about using your washing machine to dye fabrics and how to mix dye, so you can follow these directions.

I used this recipe for a pink I use in my Etsy shop, called Dusty Rose: 
6 tablespoons liquid Petal Pink
2 tablespoons liquid Taupe

Keep in mind that whatever color dye(s) you choose, the color will be muddled a bit by the color of your drop cloth. My drop cloth was an oatmeal color, so I didn’t need to add much taupe to the mix – if your drop cloth is a different color, you might need to add more. It just depends on what look you’re going for. Always start with less, because you can always re-dye it.

2. Round the Corners

Since this is (in theory) a rounded floor pouf, cut the corners off and round them out. I’m usually precise in my sewing measurements, but this time I just winged it. Parenthood is a lot of winging it, and this thing is no different.

3. Snip & Sew The Exit

Pick a spot, and cut a 4″ slit toward the center of the fabric. Finger press the raw edges back about a 1/4″ or so, and pin them down. Sew them on your machine with a regular stitch, making sure to reinforce the bottom of the “V” – this is where a lot of wear will happen.

4. Pin and Sew the Casing

Fold down the raw edge of the drop cloth about 1/2″ and press with your finger. Fold down another 1.5″ and pin in place. You should end up with a 1.5″ casing. Repeat on the other side.

Sew your casings along the edge of the fold, reinforcing at both ends. I chose to do a second row of stitches, this is up to you.

5. Thread the Casing

Take your roping, and thread it through the casing. You can safety pin one end to the fabric near the casing opening, and tape the other end tightly, put a safety pin in the end, and start threading the clothesline through the casing. Andrew got involved, and decided to take it up a notch by taping the roping onto a marshmallow roasting stick. Whatever works, right?

6. set your opening

I wanted this to open just enough they can get their things in and out, but not enough that it’s wide open on the floor. If you want smaller or larger, you can adjust accordingly. Once you figure out how wide you want the opening, tie yourself a knot. Andrew decided he would splice the ropes together; I have NO idea how to do this, but I always trust his eagle scout ways. If you don’t have an expert in knot tying amongst you, you can certainly just tie a knot.

7. Fill it and flip it

Get those soft toys, and stuff. Stuff this thing to the brim. Cram the soft creatures and blankets in there, then pull your strings closed.

Now flip it over, and hang out!

 

As always, pin this & share it all over the place!

Have you made amazing things from drop cloths? My friends and I have linked up to our favorite drop cloth projects, and I’d love for you to come see them! Which are YOU going to make?