Monday, November 1, 2010

Games to Fight Boredom on Winter Days

 
In my childhood we used to play a game where you had to balance a bean bag on your head and walk along a line that we had drawn on the ground. If you dropped the bag you were out. The lucky one whose bean bag stayed on the head until the end of the game was the winner. When we were a little older, we used to sit in a circle, taking turns to toss a bean bag randomly to each other and ask funny questions. I also remember those happy afternoons when the whole family played bean bag tag!

Such games are real fun and cost hardly anything even today. Therefore we would like to encourage families to spend time together and play. You can start off by making cheerful bean bags. Our bean bag takes the shape of a frog. Bean bag frogs are suitable as toys and playthings for all children over three years of age.

You can fill the frog with dried beans, peas or rice. If you wish to make a washable toy, use plastic granules for filling. If the toy is intended for a baby, fill it with polyester batting for safety and
washability.




HOW TO SEW A BEAN BAG FROG

Download and print out the instructions and patterns for the BEAN BAG FROG from the link below.


Download Bean Bag Frog in PDF format (1,2Mb)


MATERIALS
- colorful scraps of cotton fabric or velour knit for body and legs
- polka-dot fabric for eyes
- interfacing, Vlieseline H 180
- sewing thread

For filling:
- dried beans, peas or rice OR plastic granules OR polyester batting

Note! You can fill the frog with dried beans, peas or rice. If you wish to make a washable toy, use plastic granules for filling. If the toy is intended for a baby, fill it with polyester batting for safety and washability.


Preparation:
Cut pattern pieces out from pattern sheet. Pattern pieces do not include seam allowances.



Cut two body pieces from fabrics or knits (= back and belly). Fuse pieces of interfacing to wrong side of body pieces. 

Cut two rectangular pieces of fabric for each leg, making them slightly bigger than legs. Fuse pieces of interfacing to wrong side of rectangular leg pieces.

  

Cut eyes from polka-dot fabric and attach them to frog back piece either by hand-stitching or by zigzagging close to edge.


Pin rectangular back-leg pieces together in pairs, right sides facing. Pin pattern piece for back leg on top of one pair of leg pieces and stitch with straight stitch along outline of pattern piece, leaving edge to be attached to body open. Use short stitch length and stitch twice around each leg to make the seams durable.


Make the other back leg a mirror image of the first one. Stitch front legs in the same way. Cut legs out with approx. 6 mm seam allowances. Clip seam allowances to stitching at corners. 


Fill legs with desired filling. Machine-baste openings on legs closed. 


Mark placement of legs on frog back piece using pattern piece as guide. Pin and machine-baste legs in place.


Pin and stitch back and belly pieces together, right sides facing and with legs in between. Leave small opening for turning. Stitch around frog body twice to make the seam durable.


Turn frog right side out and fill it with desired filling. 


Close opening carefully by hand-stitching. All set for playing!

Have fun!

4 comments:

Comtesse Popess said...

Very nice idea! I will start with the preparation of "our" family frog immediately. - Thank you!

A nice day to all of you!

Caterina

ClaireOKC said...

These are so cute

Pia Merete said...

I have made a frog too in my childhood, but the pattern was different. ;-)

rhoda said...

I 've also made frog bean bags before from a slightly different pattern...but these look cuter!!!