Monday 9 November 2009

I spy bag tutorial


I made an I spy bag for my son several months ago and he loves it! It is great for church, the car, air planes, the doctors office, or any time you need your child to sit still for a little while. And, they make a perfect stocking stuffer. Since they are so fun and versatile, I've decided to make a tutorial.

Description: an I spy bag that is 8" X 8" with a 3.5" X 3.5" window.
Materials needed:
Fabric rectangle 8.5" X 16.5"
Clear vinyl (heavy weight) square 5" X 5"
Approximately 4-5 cups of dry rice
Small 'I spy' items
Thread

Directions:
1. Cut a piece of fabric 8.5" X 16.5"

2. 2.5" down from one end of the rectangle and 2.5" in from each side, cut a square that is 3.5" X 3.5"

3. Cut a square piece of heavy weight vinyl 5" X 5".
Tip: make sure to use the heaviest weight of vinyl you can find. If you use lightweight your sewing will tear it and the items could also cut it.

4. Place the square vinyl on the wrong side of the fabric centering it over the square whole you cut. Use masking tape to secure a couple of the corners to keep the vinyl from sliding.

5. Use a blanket stitch from the right side of the fabric to sew the vinyl into place. It's fun to do a contrasting color that makes the peek hole stand out.


6. With right sides together, fold your rectangle in half 'hamburger' style. You will have 3 raw edges. Sew around these 3 edges leaving a 4 or 5 inch gap. Turn the bag right side out.


7. Put a variety of I spy items in the bag. You can find lots of little things at the dollar store. Fill the bag a little over half full of dry rice, 4 or 5 cups.


8. Turn in raw edges where you left the filling gap and edge stitch shut. Hooray! Now you have a nice I spy bag for keeping your child sitting still.


I have plans to make a little laminated label with each of the items listed on it. That's in the works. I'm going to attach it with a ribbon and sew that on to a corner.

9 comments:

  1. Great project!! These would be so cool to include in the quiet bags we have at church.

    I posted a link to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
    http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-i-spy-bag-for-quiet-play/2009/11/10/

    --Anne

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the tutorial. Could you please explain folding something "hamburger style"?

    ReplyDelete
  3. By "hamburger style" I just mean folding it in half so that the two ends are on top of each other instead of having the sides on top of each other. Does that help clarify?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love this idea! I think I'll be making at least 5 of these for Christmas gifts.

    ReplyDelete
  5. very nice! Is there a machine stitch you could recommend for attaching the "window"? I'm making 8 of these, and my hand-sewing fingers are nearly dead from my Penny's Hands Hexie Caddy projects (5 of those!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Jenn for the help! I gave you a bit of a shout-out over on my blog!

    http://mac-aroni-n-cheese.blogspot.com/2010/12/another-craft-i-spy-bags.html

    ReplyDelete
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