Down on the floor is the place to be for lounging, studying, and painting your toenails. You can’t really expect a teen to climb all the way up into a chair, can you? (Insert eye roll here.) This easy, reversible floor cushion would be a great addition to any room. Simply change out the fabrics to match your decor. Make a whole set for extra seating in your family room. It’s a perfect, low-to-the-ground option for a toddler’s room. And, if you’re feeling friendly towards Fido … wouldn’t one make a darling pet bed?!

Down on the floor is the place to be for lounging, studying, and painting your toenails. You can’t really expect a teen to climb all the way up into a chair, can you? (Insert eye roll here.) This easy, reversible floor cushion would be a great addition to any room. Simply change out the fabrics to match your decor. Make a whole set for extra seating in your family room. It’s a perfect, low-to-the-ground option for a toddler’s room. And, if you’re feeling friendly towards Fido … wouldn’t one make a darling pet bed?!

This project is called the ‘Flipover Floor Cushion’ because it’s reversible. We made each side different because variety is the spice of life, but you could also make both sides match – just double the amount of fabric shown below for one side.

All the Pretty Prints Please projects were made using fabrics from the collections of seven fabulous fabric designers: Amy Butler, Valori Wells, Anna Maria Horner, Erin McMorris, Tina Givens, Sandi Henderson and Paula Prass. Their beautiful prints were accented with turquoise and zebra fleece and a pink designer solid from Free Spirit. To see how we developed our mix-and-match, teen-friendly palette, read our article: Pretty Prints: Teen Room Makeover. To learn more about pulling prints together, read our tutorial: Tips for Mixing Prints.

The finished floor pillow will be 30″ x 30″

Sewing Tools You Need

• Any Sewing Machine (we recommend the Janome Magnolia 7330)

Fabric and Other Supplies

• ½ yard of 60″ wide patterned fleece for side A, we used: black and white zebra fleece
• ½ yard of 60″ wide plain fleece for side B, we used: turquoise fleece
  ¾ yard ** of 45″ wide fabric for side A panels, we used: Sandy Henderson’s Farmers Market in Petal Party-Pink
• ¾ yard ** of 45″ wide fabric for side B panels, we used: Tina Givens’ Choloe’s Imagination in Evening Light-Pink
  ** NOTE: If your fabric has a definite directional print you want running a certain way on your panels, you should get a full yard of fabric to insure you can cut the pieces vertically or horizontally.
• One large bag of Styrofoam beads (bean bag filler) or three bags of regular Polyfil stuffing
• Eight extra-large (1½”) button cover kits
• All purpose thread
• Button or carpet thread
• See-through ruler
• Fabric pencil
• Hand sewing needle
• Specialty hand sewing upholstery and/or curved needle (optional)
• Iron and ironing board
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
• Straight pins

Getting Started

1. From the plain fleece fabric (turquoise fleece in our sample), cut one rectangle of fabric, 11″ x 31″.
2. From the patterned fleece fabric (black and white zebra fleece in our sample), cut one rectangle of fabric, 11″ x 31″.
3. From the fabric for the side A panels (Sandy Henderson’s Farmers Market in Petal Party-Pink in our sample), cut two rectangles of fabric, 11″ x 31″.
4. From the fabric for the side B panels (Tina Givens’ Choloe’s Imagination in Evening Light-Pink in our sample), cut two rectangles of fabric, 11″ x 31″.
   NOTE: If you are using a directional print like ours, make sure the pattern is running the right way and that both panels match. In our sample, we wanted the lanterns running vertically.
5. From your fleece scraps, make eight covered buttons, using a Button Cover Kit and following manufacturer’s directions. Four of the buttons should be made from the plain fleece and the other four from the patterned fleece. If you’re new to this technique, you can refer to our tutorial: Button Kit Covered Buttons. Or, learn how to make you own with our tutorial: DIY Covered Buttons – No Kit Required.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

1. Find the two fabric panels for side A and the patterned fleece panel.
2. Pin one fabric panel and the fleece panel, right sides together, along one 31″ side, matching raw edges.
3. Stitch together, using a ½” seam allowance. Press seams flat. If you’re using fleece, keep your iron away from it as much as possible as you can damage the nap with heat.
   NOTE: Whenever you have dissimilar fabrics being sewn together it is best to stitch with the more difficult one (in this case the fleece because it stretches) down in order to let the feed dogs (those little grippy teeth in the plate below your presser foot) move it through the machine for you. Keep an even tension on the layers as they go through the machine.
4. Take the other fabric A panel and pin it, right sides together, to the two-piece unit you just created, along the raw 31″ side. Match raw edges.
5. Stitch together, using a ½” seam allowance. Press seams flat.
   
6. You now have a finished side A piece that is 31″ x 31″.
7. Repeat in this same manner with the fabric panels for side B and the plain fleece to create a finished side B piece that is also 31” x 31”.
   
8. Place the two finished sides on top of each other, right sides together, and pin all around, leaving about an 8” opening along the middle of one side to turn and stuff.
   NOTE: It’s best to leave the 8″ opening on one of the full fabric sides, because you can better press in the raw edges (it’s not good to try to press fleece), which you will then slip stitch closed when done filling.
   
9. Using a ½” seam allowance, stitch around all four sides. Be sure to back-stitch at the both edges of the opening to reinforce.
10. Clip corners and turn the pillow cover right side out.
11. Push out the trimmed corners from the inside to make nice, square corners on the outside. Use your finger or a blunt-edged tool, like a large knitting needle.
12. Press the seams flat. Remember, the edges of the opening should be pressed as well so they fold in to match the stitched edges. Remember to be very careful about pressing the fleece panels. High heat will ruin the nap.
13. Lay the pillow cover flat on your work surface.
14. Using your ruler and fabric pencil, measure and mark 10” in from each seam line at each corner. The four intersections of your measurements are the four points where the buttons go.
    
15. Repeat to mark the four button points on the other side.

Filling the cushion

We opted to use Styrofoam bean bag beads for our filler. Because of this choice, we sewed the buttons to each other through both layers BEFORE we poured in the Styrofoam beads. It easier for the beads to fill in the nooks and crannies around the sewn buttons then it would be for you to drag a needle through the shifting beads.

1. Using a hand sewing needle threaded with the button or carpet thread, sew a few stitches through both sides of the pillow cover at each button point. Pull these stitches tight and knot off.
   
2. Stitch a covered button at each point on each side of the pillow. Run your needle through the shanks of both buttons at once, so they are stitched to the pillow and each other.
   NOTE: If you decide to use Polyfil, it would be best to stuff the pillow first, then sew on the buttons. In this case, using a long needle (either a 4-6″ dollmaker’s needle or a 4-6″ upholstery needle works well) threaded with button or carpet thread, sew a few stitches through the entire pillow at each of the marked points. Pull these stitches tight and knot off. This will pull the the pillow in and allow the buttons to sink in to the pillow, once they are attached. Then, using a smaller hand sewing needle (a curved needle also works well) stitch a covered button to the center of each side of the pillow. Do one button and then the other; don’t try to stitch both buttons at once with this method.
3. Pour the Styrofoam beads through the side opening. Be generous but don’t overfill; you want the pillow to be comfortably squishy so it’s good for lounging. Too little and your buns will hit the floor. Too much and you’ll be perched on top like Little Miss Muffet.
4. Make sure the filler is even throughout the middle of pillow and into the corners. Once you’re satisfied with your ‘fill-ness’, pin the opening closed.
5. Use your hand sewing needle to slip stitch the opening shut.