Let's Decorate: The Rollie Pollie

There is a slight problem in my house surrounding the kids table and chairs in my living room, namely, that my kids are forever getting injured on it.  I would just move it, but they use it for normal "table things" on a daily basis.  It's just that they are always rocking backwards in the chairs, climbing on top of the table, tipping the chairs over and then tripping over them, etc.  But for some reason, that is often where they want to sit to watch tv or a movie-the couch and chair are only for jumping, it seems, and maybe too far away from the tv?  I'm not sure.  

One afternoon the stroller was in the flat and both kids just wanted to sit in it quietly and peacefully.  I knew I needed a non-stroller option.  I finally found one.  It's a happy-maker.

I have wanted to get them some sort of soft chair/couch/bean bag type of thing, but space is an issue here.  I don't want a bulky "kid's couch" taking up what little floor space we have in our living room.  The search has been on, and I finally settled on something.  This.  I bought the pattern a month or so ago and just sat on it, there were a few obstacles, but in the end I made it work.  Not in the Tim Gunn way, but, well…kind of in that way.

And it works.  Can I just tell you how happy it makes me every time that I see my kids lounging in it?!  SO happy.  For the first week whenever they were sitting in it I would sit and smile at them for a second and mentally pat myself on the back that at that moment they were, 1.) not falling backwards in a wooden chair, 2.) more comfortable than they ever were in their wooden chair.  And I MADE it.  (It took lots of quality time with my sewing machine that weekend, but I just kept plugging at it, and eventually I was done.)

It was totally worth it.  It is big and squish-able enough for two little ones to peacefully sit on it together, something they won't really even do on the couch, and that makes it worth it for me.

Now, as to the whole "decorate" thing.  You might be thinking to yourself, "Erin, why did you choose to accessorize your cream-colored walls and carpet with a plain gray ball?"  This is a valid point and one of my "make it work" things.

The pattern calls for you to make an insert, full of soft fluffy bits, and then an outer cover that you can zip off and wash when it gets dirty.  This makes perfect sense.  Also, it calls for the outer and inner fabric to be a canvas type of material for the sake of durability.  I was a little bummed to read this because I have lots of fabric on hand, but not lots of canvas fabric, and canvas tends to be a bit expensive unless you have an Ikea trip in your near future.  I didn't, so I sat on this for a bit.  

Then I remembered that I used a canvas drop cloth for my stenciled pillow covers and those had turned out great!  They were sturdy and soft, and you got a lot of fabric from one drop cloth. Chris was in the US at the time and had a small list of things to bring back from Walmart, so I asked him to add that to his list. 

I was going to stamp a little pattern on them, but once I figured out a solution to my other problem I was itching to get sewing, so I decided to just leave them as is.  I did the topstitch in black and it adds a fun little bit of detail.  It kind of looks like when you are little and color a picture, and you go back and trace the lines in black to make them stand out.  (Am I the only one who did that?)

Anyway, my other "problem" is that I couldn't figure out a good stuffing solution for this bad boy.  The Rollie Pollie is big, and the amount of stuffing that I was going to need was making for a very pricey project.  Then I had a lightening bolt moment and it was a good one.  I already had stuffing.  Want to see?

Yep, that's a spare duvet, a pillow, and a few different blankets that we keep downstairs for snuggling into on the couch.  And keeping the blankets in here has freed up the basket that I had been storing them in.  So I feel like this was win/win, the kids get a very soft seat and it is storage for my blankets! :)  Ikea would be so proud.  

Whenever I do make it to Ikea I will probably grab a few yards of a fun canvas print and this gray ball will turn into the insert because it will get pretty beat up if not.  But in the meantime this is working really well and I'm happy with it.  Plus it has a fun blue zipper….that I installed terribly.  My 4th zipper, I've yet to do one just right.  Oh well.

Back to pictures of my kids lounging in it. :)So cute, right?  She was sitting so still that I just couldn't resist. :)