Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial
How To Make Easy Bean Bags For A DIY Party Game
For my little boy's 3rd birthday, I decided I didn't want to do the usual party bag full of sweets, so instead planned party games with parts that the children could take home. The most popular was the humble bean bag. I painted a box as a monster so they could aim the bean bags in the mouth then run in and peer back out through the mouth from the other side. Then at the end of the party they all got to choose their favourite bean bag to go home with (extras were made to avoid arguments!) It was a big hit and took just an afternoon to whip up more than a dozen of them.
What you will need:
Lots of cotton fabric scraps - mine were all approximately 20cm x 12cm. Nobody will notice if they aren't all identical!
Something to fill them with - I prefer to use weighted poly beads and stuffing. That way they are softer if they happen to end up aimed at a face, wont go mouldy if they get a little damp inside and are machine washable, but you could use rice, lentils, or popping corn instead.
How To Make It:
Cut out all your cotton pieces first. I used pieces about 20cm x 12cm. Once they are cut, fold them so they are about 15 x 12cm with right sides together.
Sew along the 3 open edges leaving about 3cm open as a gap for turning it through. I chain stitched mine to make it much faster. To do this, simply push the next one up to the edge of the one you are stitching so you can stitch straight across to the next bean bag without having to snip any threads. Make sure to still back stitch at the start and end of each piece of fabric as you will snip them apart once your done.
Clip them all apart then trim the corners off. This makes the corners look sharper and more crisp when you turn them.
Turn them right side out through the hole you left. You will probably want to use a chopstick, paintbrush or similar to poke your corners right out.
I find the least messy way of getting the weighted poly pellets into the bean bag is to scoop some into a funnel, then keep a finger over the end until I can get it into the hole. I then just poked a bit of stuffing in at the end.
I would highly recommend clipping or pinning your bean bags closed as you pile them up... you do not want to be knocking them over!
Tuck the raw edge under from the hole that was left open for filling. You could just hand sew the opening closed, but as I knew the bean bags were about to get roughed up by a mob of toddlers, I decided to top stitch around the 3 edges with the sewing machine to make sure none would spring a leak. I made sure to run my fingers along the seams just before sewing each little bit to try to push the beads out of the way. If the needle hits them it will at best blunt it a little and get stuck, but if your unlucky it could break your needle so it's worth going slowly on this part.
Then to make the party game fun, find the biggest box you can and cut a hole out to aim through. Draw or paint something around it. My monster was inspired by the wonderful Claire Freedman's "Aliens in Underpants" series of books which my son loves.... I may have forgotten to give him arms though... oops! Luckily none of the 3 year olds pulled me up on it so I think I got away with it!
Then let the party games begin! Your bean bags are ready to throw!
Have you had a go at making bean bags? What did you use as a target to throw at? What's your favourite DIY party game?
You Might Also Like:
These are great. I’ve just finished a stack for our grandchildren to play with at our 50th wedding anniversary garden party.
What a great party game! Love all the cute scrap fabrics too ♡
Thanks Nina. It really was great fun!
Love your tutorials. Going to make bean bags with adults with LD for indoor games. They will love filling them and stitching , with a little help.
Oh that sounds like a wonderful idea. I hope they have good fun making them. If you have extra beans and motivated volunteers you could also try making some nice sensory weighted-cushions with them too if you have anyone who might benefit from them!