Monday 6 February 2012

Giant Bean Bag Tutorial



I have been wanting a big bean bag for ages!
I searched around for an easy pattern for a while and found this post on recycling t-shirts into beanbags helpful on Instructables.
I really wanted to make mine out of a nice cuddly fleece. The fabric I found was 150cm wide so I wanted to utilise the size in the best way. I ended up needing 4 and a half metres.
I used the beach ball idea of a beanbag pattern with 6 pieces fitting into each other.

This meant that each piece had to have a angle of 60 degrees at the top (360/6).
I made a pattern piece 60cm wide and 180cm high and cut 6 from my piece of 150cm X 450cm fabric. I found the best way to utilise the fabric was to stagger them  as shown:-

 

I cut them out by folding in half lengthways



They were then sewn together with sections fitting into each other at top and bottom. I double sewed each seam - I don't want an explosion of poly beads all over the house any time soon!


I recycled a zip from an old bag and positioned it across the points where the sections meet on the bottom. 

I initially made the bean bag out of a couple of old duvets and very roughly measured and cut without a pattern - the  result was huge - a bit too huge and my 21 cubic feet of polystyrene beads were lost inside it's  vastness! 

It made a great lining though which it definitely needed - again in case of any escaping beans. 
I made sure I kept to my paper pattern for the real fabric!
I love the end result and as a girl who generally prefers the floor to a chair, I'm sure I will have many a cosy  evening snuggled into it. It's the perfect size for cuddles too!!




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3 comments:

  1. This is a really good tutorial, very well explained. Thanks a lot I am going to use this method.

    Charlie

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  2. I am in the process of making the bean bags you posted above. I am using the exact measurements - and they are big!! Just what the kids were looking for. You said that your 21 cubic feet of beads were dwarfed in the bag. How much did you end up using? I donn't want to order too manybeads since they are so expensive. Thanks!!

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  3. Hi! Yes it is big! I wanted enough snuggle room for me and both boys! I used 2 of the 10.5 cubic feet bags from Dunhelm Mill here (http://www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/bean-bag-refill-47344). I think I only used 1 and 2/3 bag to start with - the rest went in a month later after it had settled. Good luck!

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