Beanbags with Removable Covers

I was super-psyched when I received an email from a Girl Scout Troop leader, inquiring about the beanbags with removable covers that I had made for my nephew for his birthday. She was interested in making them as a project for her Troop to donate to shelters, and asked if I would be willing to send some instructions. So I took some photos and wrote up some instructions, and decided to post the tutorial!

You can download a PDF of this tutorial from my website.

Step 1 Materials & supplies

You can get the supplies for these beanbags at your local craft store, except probably the “organic” fillers (beans/rice/lentils) but you can buy those in bulk an a grocery store. You can also buy the plastic pellets in bulk online if you plan to make a lot of these. Quilter’s cotton fabric quarters and fat quarters work great for these, or if you can find some cotton prints in the remnant bin at the fabric store. This is also a great way to use up those small scraps!

* unbleached muslin, or any other inexpensive or scrap fabric
* pattern or solid color fabric for the removable cover
* contrasting/matching/accenting fabric for backside of cover (optional)
* wide satin/general crafting ribbon (optional)
* iron-on or sew-on hook-&-loop [Velcro] (optional)
* filler material: lentils, navy beans, rice, or plastic pellets
* 1/4 cup dry measuring cup
* funnel large enough for filler to flow through
* sewing machine, plus needle for hand sewing
* ruler, marking utensil and scissors [or] measuring/cutting mat and rotary cutter

Comments

[Dream Dragon]

Very nice. May I ask the point of the ribon tags? I can see them being usefull for property identifitation, and I note that you do say that they are "optional" I'm just curious to know why you included them in your original design.

[grungezombie]

When I made these for my nephew, I made it into a little game and the ribbons were different colors (team red and team blue) so you could tell who would get points but with the beanbags still being a matching set.

Also, the kids like to grab the ribbon tabs for leverage and whip them as hard as they can (which may or may not be regrettable, lol).

[BeaHoney]

Thank-you for the instructions on how to do this! I'm a novice sewer and I usually run into problems figuring out how to construct items so that the closure goes in easily. I am making covers for floor pillows for my kids to sit on (instead of my sofa cushions) and this technique will come in handy!

I made these a few years ago to use as heat packs, but did not make removable covers. For the filler I used parboiled rice (I had a large bag, and my family wouldn't eat it.) Other Family members I gave them to like to use them as cold packs for boo boos.

Note: I learned the hard way that it is not good to machine sew the hook and loop closures that are peel and stick! It gums up the thread and needle and the thread breaks.