At this point in my pregnancy, I would really like a soft cushy place to put my feet up. I’m thinking about either buying a Moroccan Pouf from John Derian or making one of Amy Butler’s Gum Drop Pillows. I’m sure I can find a permanent home for one or the other long after the baby is born, and actually she’ll probably love having a little pouf to lounge around on.
images from Domino and Amy Butler
I know I’m about three years too late to get in on the trend, but I’m not really concerned with that. I suppose I’m just trying to decide if I want to spend the cash on the pouf (it’s awfully cute) or just try to make my own.
51 comments
wendy
I cant waite to make these pillows. Thank you for the directions. wendy
julie
I found nice poufs on ebay decent price seller NONATTIE amazing colors love em
salina
i did go to ebay -NONATTIE- they did have nice poufs and lovely colors.Thanks Julie
maria
wow is wonderful is very beatiful I am love!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)))))
Blondie
I love the Moroccan pouf! But I also love the gum drop pillows! However having
raised two kids, I can tell you leather is the best! (the pink one is so cute!)
Sarah
We have 3 Moroccan poufs at home and I’m going to start carrying them in my store in the next few weeks (its very hard having 6 lovely poufs sitting in my house and not be able to use them!). I have to say, they have been so incredibly useful and versatile. Ours are stuffed with extra blankets, old baby clothes that we didn’t want to get rid of quite yet, winter coats in the summer, you name it. They aren’t picture perfect pouf-y, but as storage, they rock. Plus, with 2 kids (aged 4 and 2) they are used as little seats and/or play objects/obstacles/etc. And they’re great as foot rests as well. I’m a huge fan, I say go for it. If you want to email me, I’m happy to let you know what colors I have and can ship! (Sorry if that’s tacky, just thought I’d offer :-)
Alicia
This is my first comment on your blog – so, I just wanted to say thanks for all your inspiring and fun posts, and congrats on your lovely home and the upcoming baby! I am just a couple weeks behind you (due early May) and have been in major nesting mode! I made the Amy Butler poof in about 4 hours… not too bad. I’d say make it yourself so you can incorporate fun fabrics and make it your own. One tip that I read online is to sew a zipper into one of the seams – for a nursery, this seemed like a great idea – so, I did that. If you use fiberfill, it won’t be cheap – I used even more than the package called for, and it cost about $50 just for the filling. Maybe fill with old tee-shirts, etc, as others have suggested?
Good luck!
laurel
i’ve wanted one of these since i saw them in the west elm catalog! i love them!
Jessika
Poufs are so versatile, but I have two suggestions.
1) be careful if they’re already stuffed, because if they’re stuffed with natural fibers from morocco, it’s this fiber that gets EVERYWHERE. So don’t open the bottom! And somehow keep little fingers from unzipping the bottom. Maybe a stitch on the zipper end?
2) if you are hoping to put the pouf on carpet or a rug, get one that is material on the bottom. It will create more friction on the floor, meaning that when you lean your feet against it, it won’t slide so easily. I had my leather ones on wood floors, and it drove me crazy to have them slide out when my feet put pressure on it, rather than being placed right on top. :)
But I love them. They’re embroidered on top. We dragged them over to a friend’s place who has this table with legs that can be half taken off (making the table 2′ tall), and we all sat on poufs eating fantastic food. :)
katherine
i made a bunch of the amy butler gumdrop pillow a few months ago and LOVE them! the pattern was really easy. i used vintage sheets from the thrift store for a few of them and they look really cute. the only bummer is that you need A LOT of stuffing. :)
barb
have you seen these on etsy?? they are rad! also from more ways to waste time…
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6504673
JLC
Buy one, you are too busy to take on a new project – and comfort is key when you’re baking a baby!
dnice
My HomeGoods store always gets great poufs and garden stools. I think they sell for about $59-$75. I saw a great silver one in there this past weekend.
cassie
my friend and I made a gumdrop pillow when she was pregnant for the same reason that you want one. they take hardly any time to make, really. especially for someone who sews regularly. but holy cow do they take a lot of polyfill! add up the cost of that and maybe you won’t be saving any money by making your own.
Gina
Those pillows look amazing!
Leah
I don’t know why the Tazi site was down, but it’s back up now. Here are their poufs: http://www.tazidesigns.com/catalog/pouf
Jennifer
I brought a leather pouf home from Morocco and the old clothes I stuffed in it settled over time. I actually found a foam & futon place that stuffed it for me for about $35 and now it feels like a real piece of furniture vs. an old clothes-holding blob. And it does work great for nursing (I have a 7-month old)…my advice is also to buy (just sleep as much as you can right now!!!) :)
luuvely
i say make your own…that way you would have exactly what you wanted…but you said you didnt have the time…soooooooo
yep you should buy it! lol
Allison
Someone found some silver ones at Home Goods recently! Worth a trip if you have one near you! Good luck!
Sarah M.
Dude, buy it. You will appreciate the time saved, and trust me you need your rest NOW.
Jen R Sanctuary arts
I have to say, your pregnant, buy one. you can always recover it later…. ;) Jen
Terri
Hey Nicole,
I am in the market for the same thing. I have been watching at etsy seller, Branches and Birdies (all one word for her username) and she is selling the gum drop pillows for $46. I think she would custom make you one too. I love the John Derian one too and you are two pink poufs away from making that domino picture your reality!
belinda
I have both – I made a giraffe print gum drop pillow for my son who loves it in his room, and I got two white leather moroccan ones for christmas via this store: http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/leatherworldshop_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_mdoZ. they’re sold unstuffed so cheaper and i swear they are the best storage devices ever. i’ve managed to put a queen-sized doona, sleeping bag, two full garbage bags full of old clothing and a mattress protector into both of them and after settling for a few months, there is still more room! The leather ones are more practical – they’re sturdier and you think of them more as furniture while the amy butler one is soft because of the craft stuffing. and my shoddy sewing is coming apart slightly but it’s ideal for kids. it’s certianly harder to get in and out of as an adult – even more when said kid or baby is on your lap! i did a mini review of the leather one on my old blog here: http://renovateanddecorate.blogspot.com/2009/01/milk-cookies.html and babbled about my efforts with the gum drop pillow here: http://renovateanddecorate.blogspot.com/2008/04/gumdrop-pillow-finished-and-amazingly.html
have fun deciding!
Rita
A Moroccon friend brought a pouf back for me. The secret to the stuffing is old clothes. It gives it the stability you need. Perfect for the kids to jump on and off of it.
jane
Check out ebay – I bought two poufs for about $80. The ones I bought are pretty ethnic but they have the pastel colors for about $110 I think. I love them, trend or not.
jane
Sonia
Did you consider getting a real moroccan pouf? I mean from Morocco. Maryam is an american expat in Marrakech with exquisite taste
http://moroccanmaryam.typepad.com/my_marrakesh/
My Marrakesh and Making it Lovely are 2 of my top 5 blogs!!
Angela
I thought you weren’t supposed to put babies in bean bag style chairs/poufs because they can easily suffocate? I swear I heard that somewhere. I am planning an Amy Butler gumdrop myself. Good luck!
Taylor
Your daughter will love it more if she knew Mommy made it herself!
Katie
There is one in the Amy Butler collection that is made out of your prized fabric. Perhaps it’s ment to be. :D
Concha
I bought Amy Butler’s pattern last year and I’ve already made 2 big and 2 small ottomans.
They are easy to make and oh the impact! Very satisfying project.
jo
Check out Crate and Barrel poufs……i was just at the Michigan ave. store and they had these really cute cubes that are very pouf-ish!!! All made and ready to relax with….. :)
Lori M.
Make one half the height and it will be perfect for raising your feet if you plan to breastfeed.
jenn
I personally couldn’t even fathom paying that much for a pouf, but that’s just me. You could make the Amy Butler pouf any way you want it! Oooooh, even better, have a friend or family member who sews make one for you for a shower gift!!!
Melanie
I guess I’m waaay behind the trend because I’ve never even seen these before :P Does that sound really out of the loop? But, I was just saying to my boyfriend today that we need to get an ottoman because he’s always putting his feet up on the coffee table (and it drives me nuts haha). These are perfect!
Sunday
I strongly recommend that you purchase a professionally stuffed pouf, leather or otherwise. I made a few of the Amy Butler poufs and after less than a year of moderate use they are lumpy and weird already. It didn’t occur to me until after I was making them, but stuffing objects that size with standard craft fiberfill is asking for disaster. The stuff was not meant for furniture.
elizabeth
While the Amy Bulter Poufs are adorable, the leather ones make more practical sense. Besides you not needing a sewing project right now, it will be a shame when the fabric pouf is inevitably violated by some sort of baby fluid.
Brooke
I love the Amy Butler poufs!
Michelle
My girlfriend made a the Amy Butler pouf and it is so cute! She said it was super easy to make too.
Making it Lovely
Yeah, that’s the thing… I don’t really have time these days.
Leah, that pink pouf from Tazi in your roundup looks like a good candidate! The Tazi site is down right now though – I’ll check back there in a day or two.
Jules
Poufs are great for cruising babies. I say buy one–do you really have time to make one?
Lane C
You are not alone I am 35.5 weeks preggers and I also have a small obssesion with the pouf…I think it will grow with your little gal! Go for it!
megan
i made the gumdrop pillow in the large size and love it. it was a pretty easy sewing project. my nieces especially love to fight over using it when they visit. i filled mine with beanbag fill so it is noisy, but really comfy. good luck!
molly
My mom made gumdrop pillows for my kids for Christmas. They love to sit on them while they watch TV. I also saw a post somewhere that showed a new pillow by Amy Butler that was really cool too.
Vanessa Vandersande
When I was growing up, my mom had a leather pouffe from Morocco. It was the favorite thing for us kids to drape ourselves over when we were watching TV or reading. She stuffed it with wads of newspaper. Sounds weird, but it was comfy. She took a sheet, crumpled it, and popped it in. When it started to get too flat she would pull out the old paper and start over.
ohbrooke
I have a gum drop pillow: http://ohbrooke.net/2009/01/14/amy-butler-gum-drop-pillows/
I love it for kicking your feet up! My brother made it and said the pattern was so easy. It also comes with both sizes. He made the largest, and I LOVE it!
Erin
We bought a pouf on a recent trip to Tunisa and LOVE it. It was empty when we bought it and I need to find something firmer than the big comforter that is stuffed in it right now. It collapses when anyone sits on it…but I digress. I do love it, and I’m so oblivious that I didn’t realize it was a trend until we got it home. If we go again, I think I’ll look for a different color (like pink!). I think you should have one. I like the Amy Butler option. You could make 3 or 4 and put them around a kid table for your little one and her tea party friends!
Jay Richardson
Hi there, I’ve just brought a couple of leather pouffs from Morocco home and am trying fill them. I live in Australia and all I have found so far is some rather expensive foam pieces. When we visited the market the guy showed us some matted fibre type stuff. Does anyone have any idea what this is call. Thanks to anyone you can help. Thanks Jay :)
Leah
Hi Nicole,
Not sure how much the John Derian poufs are, but I’m guessing you can find them for less. I did a roundup awhile back on poufs in poppy colors, ranging in price from $85 to $175: http://morewaystowastetime.blogspot.com/2007/07/cool-stuff-poufs-that-are-rad.html
Those gum drop pillows look pretty fun, too.
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