Tutorial: Tiny Time Out Tuffet

Last week, post bath and bedtime routine, I gleefully left my family cozy at home to make a run to Ross. I had learned just that day that they are open until 9:30pm- who knew!?

It was a fruitful trip and I returned with all sorts of goodies. While I was there, I saw a tiny stool that looked something like this:

Now I love the idea of this, but not the style. We do use time outs in our house, and since we have a three-year old... the time out spot gets a visiting weekly.  But our time out spot is in the Library/Living Room in our house. So, if I wanted to have a cute spot for time outs, it would need to blend into the decor and not scream TIME OUT!

That's when I spotted this:

Cute, low to the ground, stable. The *perfect* time out spot... just not the perfect color.

So, of course it had to come home with me. I knew that the perfect fabric would find me. Maybe a nice  stripe or quatrefoil pattern?So the little tuffet came home and found a spot on my craft table. Just waiting. 

Fast forward a week. Heading out to Costco this morning, I got there too early and *had* to make a stop  at a close-by fabric store while we waited. Thankfully, I had a partner-in-crime with me (Thanks, Moi!) who was willing to drive the cart around searching for pirate fabric with the wee boy while I wandered the aisles looking for some inspiration. 

I was excited to see that the outdoor fabrics were 50% off! Since I was going to be recovering the little tuffet- an outdoor fabric would be a great choice since it is heavy and durable. And check out what I found:

A beautiful chocolate and sage quatrefoil! 

I could barely contain myself! I was itching to get my fingers on my staple gun! After a few more errands and an amazing lunch at Uwajimaya, it was home for nap and craft time!!

I started by removing the darling little bun feet. 

Then I began prying at the staples. 

Since I was using a thick fabric to recover the stool, I decided to leave the red faux leather on. If you cover your own tuffet (or dining chairs, or some other fab find) you can take the next layer off and start fresh. But, no one will know if you leave it on!

Then it was time to cut the new fabric to size. If I had taken off the red, I could have used it as the pattern. Instead, I just eyeballed it and pretended that I was wrapping a present. 

Then over to the other side, not getting too close to the corners. 

Then, over to the adjacent sides. 

Then it was time to work on the corners. I like a nice flat finish, so I tucked the fabric under and created a nice flat corner. When I did the dining room chair covers, I used a more gathered look. It depends on your preference and the fabric you are working with.

After all four corners were complete, I decided to put the backing fabric back on, so that wee boy wouldn't pick at it the raw edges. 

Lastly, I used an awl to poke holes in the new fabric where the feet went. 

Once the feet were on, it was ready for a time out! 

The best part? It didn't get any use its first night in its new home!