Summer Bean Bag Toss by Britches and Boots

Hey y’all! I am so excited to be here today and introduce myself to you! My name is Aleisha and I am a wife, and a mama of 3 amazing little rugrats! Emily Grace is 5 1/2, Noah is almost 4 and Ava faith (whom we so lovingly call Mushy!) is almost 2. I live a crazy busy life and I love every second of it! I have a little blog called Britches & Boots ‘A Place I call Home’ and am also a mama-prenuer with a business I started what seems like eons ago! Bliss Baby Designs need not be fooled by the name as I have something for just about everyone (In fact I had my first order to turn a boys shirt into a grown man’s shirt! Was tickled when they showed me a picture!). Fair warning…I am a talker! I tend to blah blah so I apologize in advance!

This is my very first EVER!! guest post and am so excited its for my very sweet friend Kelsey!! I am honored that she asked! Going with the “Summer” theme I decided to do something that the kids could play with rain or shine. You see we live in Oregon and its kinda wet this Summer (abnormal despite what you hear about Oregon!) and my kid have been cooped up! So for our what looks to be Indian Summer I found some awesome LARGE chip bowls at Target for $1 each and made bean bags to toss into them!

The first thing you will need is some fabric. I found the fabric I am using and fell in love with…realized when i started sewing with it that it is not “ideal sewing fabric” as it “strings” while I sew! I am gonna warn ya now…I am a NOVICE sewer! So even the most inexperienced sewer can handle this one! In fact I made some for my daughters school (it burnt down this year due to 2 kids starting a fire…sad!) and agreed to do something I had NO idea if I could! IT WORKED!

Now the reason that I didn’t cut them 5×5″ is because I figured I saved myself 1 less edge to sew!

Basic sewing skills used here! BUT ALWAYS REMEMBER: back stitch in the beginning and at the end of each side!!

Cutting your corners will make it so you do not have a funky rounded edge to your beanbags! You see here that I use a stir stick to push my corners out. That’s because I don’t trust myself with scissors to not poke through my fabric! It’s just long enough to get to every corner of the beanbag.

Stick a funnel (or if you do not have one roll a piece of paper into a cone shape!) into our 1″ space of the beanbag and fill with lentil beans. I have tried other kinds but lentils work the best and are very reasonably priced! I can get 3 1/2 beanbags with 1 small Safeway bag of lentils!

Now comes the hardest part…are you ready?! I am now going to show you how to do an “invisible stitch” Mine aren’t always so invisible as I am a work in progress I tell ya!

OK, so at the stick the needle in your fabric part…this pic shows my needle backwards?! How I did that completely NOT sure! But…flip your needle over the opposite direction as CLOSE to where you finished sewing with the machine (so that the knot goes inside your beanbag!). You will then take your needle back and forth grabbing small bits of fabric (like you are threading a shoelace into a shoe) pulling it as you go along.

Back and forth! When you come to the very end of it…do it a few more times and pull tight!

You will then make a circle with your thread and needle (like you are about to make a knot…cause you are!) and stick your needle (without pulling the knot tight!) into the seam of your beanbag and pushing the needle out further down the beanbag and THEN pulling the knot tight. So basically the knot tied inside the bag! I hope that makes sense!

Voila! There you have it! 1 finished beanbag! The kids can balance them on their heads, toss them back and forth, toss them into the bowls. Oh the possibilities! Have a blessed day and I hope to see you around sometime soon!