Thursday, December 8, 2011

bean bag surprise

okay—here it is. a not-so-secret secret amongst most moms (at least all the ones i know):

we HATE stuffed animals.
kids LOVE stuffed animals.

they are purposeless, dust-catching, they take up loads of space and there’s no good way to store them, and if your kids are like mine—they rarely (if ever) play with them—but scream and throw a fit if you try and get rid of them.

sometimes i swear these things breed in the night. they’re everywhere—multiplying like rabbits—even despite my best efforts to corral them, sneak them into the trash, and even enact a stuffed animal embargo in this house.

then i found this (sorry. insert photo of bean bagish thing filled with stuffed animals, which the site is no longer advertising. carry on)

brilliant.
a bean bag chair, minus the beans, plus the animals.
so, not technically a bean bag chair.
more a stuffed animal chair.

GENIUS!
thus was born: 

 IMG_8265_7476 copy

it’s fully lined, with a layer of stuffing in between so that even when the kiddos take out some stuffed animals to play with (riiight) it still has some cushioning.

and the bottom has a nice big zipper for easy access to all our fuzzy friends.

IMG_8266_7477_edited-1

wanna make your own? here’s how i did it!
to make things easier to photograph, i made a miniature sized one. the principles are the same, just size it up for real life :)

i’m going to give you the basic outline of how i made this, but your exact measurements can vary, so your yardage etc. will also depend on how big you want your bean bag—and how many you want to make—maybe your kids are stuffed-animal-aholics who need like five or six of these babies. i don’t judge.

EDITED TO ADD: the lovely and talented Sherri of Thread Riding Hood has created a pattern for 2 different sized S.A.C.s, which you can get HERE on her site! let's all hear it for Sherri! head over for your free pattern, show Sherri some love, and then come on back here for instructions.

IMG_8211_7496

and

 IMG_8212_7497
image 

tricky, right?
on my final product there was about a three inch difference between the outside and inside pieces. just enough space to get a bit of stuffing in there.

now here’s the extra tricky bit. with five sides, our base has to be a pentagon.

IMG_8203_7488

what i failed to realize when coming up with this design is that apparently the pentagon is, like, pretty much the hardest shape to draw. ever.

(and you thought triangles were hard. amateur.)

i googled, i youtubed…i admitted defeat(before i even started) . anyone who’s a regular reader of my blog knows that I DON’T MATH. EVER. PERIOD.
so, if you’d like to be better than me: be my guest. get your compass, your ruler, and your extra large bottle of aspirin and head here for instructions on making a Perfect Pentagon. lemme know how that works for ya. i can tell you that the sum of your angles must be 540 degrees. how you get there is your business.

but i come from the land of Good Enough (which is across the river of Fudged from the country of Almost, But Not Quite Perfect), and this is how we Good Enoughians roll.

let’s face it: it’s a stuffed animal filled bag. does it really have to be mathematically perfect? methinks not.

image
straighten it out as best you can. channel your inner mathematician.
IMG_8202_7487 
image
image
image

this is your pattern piece for the bottom.

image

now let’s put in the zipper!

image
IMG_8209_7494
 IMG_8214_7499

now we turn our attention back to the body of the s.a.c.

IMG_8215_7500
IMG_8220_7505
IMG_8217_7502
image

we’re on the home stretch now!! it’s time to assemble everything.

BUT: somehow i skipped a lot of pictures of this part. sorry! trust me though—it’s not difficult.

first, line up your outside beanie (or beanie outside, whichever) with the bottom zipper piece—right sides together, matching seams to pentagon points.

sew that up.

IMG_8222_7507

now sew your lining to the bottom piece, right sides together. try to follow the same stitching line you made
sewing your outsides on to the bottom.

because i forgot to take a picture, i made you this handy drawing:
 image
you’re making a hamburger:
top bun=outside
meat=zippered bottom piece
bottom bun=lining


now you have to reach through the hole in the lining, and pull the outside through. at that point the whole thing will now be inside out, so just unzip it and flip it right side out.

sew up the hole in your lining.

final steps:

IMG_8226_7510
IMG_8235_7512

IMG_8260_7471
IMG_8263_7474

i made two of these things.

one was big enough to fit all the stuffed animals. i counted 40. no joke.

the other got filled with all the dress up clothes:

IMG_8267_7478

these things are AMAZING.
seriously. i knew i would love them once i got around to making them.

IMG_8247_7458

but they’re almost worthy of the term “life-changing”.
i don’t completely detest stuffed animals anymore.
i may even let my kids get more.

nah.

but of course, the one the kids like the most?

image

the tiny one i made as a photo sample.
they all fought over it.

and i realized as i watched them, with just a touch of irony…
i just made them a great little toy to make them play with
all
    the
          stuffed
                   animals.

image


Pin It!

10 comments:

  1. This is it! The Solution. (That's in caps on purpose.) But I really doubt I have the skills for this. You should sell them. Can you? Please? Now the question... could I afford it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brilliant! This blog gets better with every post and project, which is why I have awarded you with the Liebster Award. See my blog for the details you cleaver one!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I meant clever. I really have no idea of your skills with a cleaver, but I am sure they are great in a totally non murderous type way. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. kimberly--i may have to start a small business in these...it's pretty much a hit with everyone i know!

    haley--thanks! why yes, i do wield a mean cleaver. (so i hear you're a butcher. a what? a butcher! <==so i married an axe murderer, anyone????)

    ReplyDelete
  5. HeHe. I love that you quoted So I Married An Axe Murderer! I never get tired of that movie.

    ReplyDelete
  6. hold the phone...this has GOT TO BE one of the most genius things I have ever seen!!! Seriously though. You don't even know how many stuffed animals I have. this is AMAZING!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my word, GENIUS. The only thing that would make this better would be if you'd come over to my house and make it for me :)

    ~Lisa-Jo

    ReplyDelete
  8. You are a flippin' genius.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I would like to make this but I am new to sewing. How much fabric did you use to make the big one?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh boy...i'm so bad at this. i'm guessing you'll be safe with about 2 yards of fabric for the outside, and 2 yards for the inside. that's probably wayyyyy overestimated though..i just pulled off of a roll I have with probably 10 yards on it. so i'm not sure on how much actually was used!
      sorry!!

      Delete

drop me a line. please? don't make me beg...it's not pretty.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails