My Eight Dollar Ottoman

Hi Everyone, 

Mr. M. and I love to sit down and watch a little TV in the evening with our pets, 

a cup of coffee, and some Dad's cookies (our favorites, next to home-made). 

The only thing missing was an ottoman; one of the handiest pieces of furniture 

a person can own, wouldn't you agree? I put one together before I started blogging, 

and thought since I'm making another one, I would share how I did it.

This is the one from my pre-blogging days. I made it to serve as a side table 

in our living room. Whenever I want to move it around, I wish I would have 

made handles for it, so I am making some for the new one.

To make my ottoman I used a drop cloth, three couch cushions, a sharp retracting utility knife (the kind with the long blades), permanent marker, tape measure, ruler, scissors, sewing machine, hand sewing needle, and thread. 

All seam allowances are 1/2" except for the long sides of the handles.

Two of my cushions were the same size, so I just traced around the edges onto the 

larger one with a permanent marker and cut it to fit. My knife blade was not long enough to cut through the whole thickness, so I flipped the cushion over to cut the other side. 

I stacked them together and measured the length, width, and height. 

I added an inch to the measurements and cut out a top, a bottom, two ends, two 

sides, and handles for the ends. The handle measurements are 9" L x 3 1/2" W.

Sew the sides to the ends.

Press the seams to one side.

 Then topstitch them.

You will have a big tube, like this:

Stitch a line along each side of the top and bottom pieces. 
Cut a notch out of each corner, being careful not to cut the stitches.

Fold the handles in half lengthwise and press.

Open them up and press the long edges under 1/4"

Stitch together on the long side.

Center the handles on the ends of the top piece and pin.

Stitch them in place.

Pin and sew the top to the sides, matching long sides and short sides. Backstitch where the handles are to make sure they are secure. Sew the bottom piece on, leaving 

one-and-a-half sides open. Press all the open edges under 1/2 ".

Turn right side out and insert the cushions.

Stitch the seam closed. 

I love that it's so easy to move around when I'm vacuuming, 

just grab the handles and lift! It's so nice and light.

Time for some coffee and cookies!

See you later, and Happy Sewing!

Val