If you love bean bags and so does your little one, then look no further. This story tells you how to make bean bags for your kids to play with…
A bean bag is nothing but a small bag filled with beans or plastic pellets.
A bean bag can serve many purposes. For example, your kids can use them to play tossing and catching games inside the house. Also, there are games like Cornhole that are designed to be played with small bean bags.
The main advantage of bean bags is that they are soft with no sharp edges and hence, are safe for small kids. Although you can find bean bags in the market, it is best if you learn to make them yourself.
This way, you’ll not only be able to customize the shape and size of your bean bags, but also it’s a lot more economical. Moreover, making bean bags is a simple process you should definitely try your hands at. It’s fun! Keep reading to learn how to make small bean bags in a jiffy.
How to Make a Bean Bag
You can use beans or plastic pellets to not only create small cushions but also bean bag chairs and sofas. Before we move to the steps to make a bean bag, let’s have a look at what all things you require for making bean bags, including the tools that you need to use.
Materials Required
- Rulers
- Cardboard
- Marking pen
- Needle and thread
- Sewing machine
- Pins
- Scissors
- Fabric (thick fabrics like corduroy or flannel)
- Fabric chalks
- Polypropylene pellets or dry beans
Step 1: Choosing a Pattern
Using the marking pen and rulers, draw the desired dimensions of your bean bag on the piece of cardboard. You can make your bean bags in any dimension you want, depending on what you want them for. Let’s consider a dimension of 7×7 inch square. You can even choose different shapes for your bean bags.
Step 2: Drawing the Pattern on Fabric
Once you have a cardboard stencil for your bean bag, you can easily trace the shape and dimensions on the fabric. However, make sure that you do it on the wrong side of the fabric, i.e., the side you don’t want to show. Place the cardboard on the fabric and draw the shapes using the fabric chalk. Trace the shape twice each for the number of bean bags.
Step 3: Cutting the Fabric
After you have traced the shape on the fabric, use scissors to carefully cut along the lines drawn. For each bean bag, you would need two pieces.
Step 4: Sewing the Pieces of Fabric
Now that you have cut the required pieces of the fabric, take two pieces at a time and sew them together using the sewing machine.
While you do so, make sure that the right sides of both the pieces are facing each other and the two pieces are exactly overlapping, with all the four sides matching each other. However, don’t stitch all four sides or all around the shape. Leave out at least 2 inches on any one side.
Step 5: Filling the Bean Bags
Since you are making a bean bag, the next step is to fill the fabric bag that you have made, with beans or, for that matter, polypropylene pellets!
Before you do that, however, turn your bag the right side out and use a pencil to gently push out the corners. Make sure to not fill in too much pellets, as doing so would make it difficult for you to sew it shut.
Step 6: Finishing the Bean Bag
The final step is to simply sew the bag shut by stitching the gap, using a needle and thread. Just fold the fabric into the bean bag and neatly stitch it together and check if the opening is completely closed. Your first bean bag is ready. Now, repeat these steps for the remaining number of bags.
Now that you know how to make bean bags, you can use your creativity to make them in many interesting shapes and sizes. You can even use fabrics in different colors to make them look all the more attractive. So, go ahead and surprise your little one with a colorful new toy!
