Hand Made FOOT STOOL

Here are some pretty easy directions for you to make a hand made foot stool. This is a project I am planning on doing at my school with my third graders. It will be a mixed media experience that will include working with wood and tools ,as well as, fabric and sewing. 
My third graders study Northern Africa in Social Studies and I am considering doing this as a cross curricular project and have them print their own patterns on the fabric they use for their stool.

11.5" X 11.5" wood, (pine or knotty pine)
$ pieces of 6" (pine or poplar) 1.3/4X1.3/4 for the legs
foam 2" cut to 12" X 12"
Fabric 22" X 22"
8 long screws (I use 2.5" wood screws)
Cabots stain (or polystain, 1 step interior wood stain)
brush
rags
scissor
needle
thread
sandpaper
ruler
stapler
staples
drill
screwdriver
upholstery tacks (28)
  optional.......spray adhesive, wood glue

Sand all edges of wooden pieces

Stain legs and table top. If you have access to an outdoor area it may be best to work outside. You can use any shade of Cabot stain or Cabot Polystain. 
Apply stain with a brush and wipe away excess with a rag. 

Measure 1" and mark on un-stained side of top

Flip the wood and mark off an inch border on the stained side of the wood

place the legs in the four marked off corners of the stained side of the wood and secure with wood glue.
Using wood glue helps hold the legs in place to prepare for the next step.

When the wood glue is dry, drill a starter hold through the top (un-stained side of wood) down into the legs.

Screw long screws through top and into legs. I use two screws in each leg to prevent it from spinning and getting loose.

turn and sew a 3/4 inch hem around all sides of fabric. I will have my kids hand stitch this as part of their project, however, if you have a sewing machine it can be machine stitched.

At this point I like to lightly cover one side of the foam, and, the top of the wooden surface of the stool with spray adhesive. This will help keep the foam piece from shifting.
Turn the stool over onto the middle of the fabric and begin to staple the edges to the under side of the stool.
staple two sides across from each other.

The corners can be tricky. With the un-stapled side facing you pull up one edge and staple it in front of the leg.

next pull the outer edge of the fabric up and over the stapled section.

now fold up that final edge and staple the corner. Repeat this on the other corners and finish securing with staples around the edge.

Beginning on one side of your stool hammer in an upholstery tack.

Now hammer another tack on each side , approx 1.5"-2" away.

Continue to add tacks. (I think 7 on each side spaced out looks nice. ) Work your way around the base of the stool.

You are finished with your foot stool, sit back, relax, and put your feet up!