Tutorial - Wonky Bean Bag

I made this wonky beanbag to increase the challenge of tossing beanbags. The beanbag is simply a large, stuffed yo-yo. I made it somewhat rounded, like a ball, so that it would not land flat. This increases the challenge, because you can’t completely predict where the beanbag might roll. I added rice for weight and flattened it some, so that the beanbag wouldn’t roll right off the mat.

I first cut a large 7-inch circle out of fabric.

I used a running stitch or gathering stitch around the edge of the circle. I didn’t bother turning the edge under, because I knew that I would glue a button on top of the gathers to cover the raw edges.

Next I pulled up the edges of the fabric circle to form a cup and collected a handful of polyester fiberfill and about 1/3 cup of rice.

I shaped the fiberfill into the cup shape inside the fabric circle, leaving space in the middle of the stuffing for the rice.

The rice goes into the middle of the cup.

I put a small amount of fiberfill on top of the rice.

Then I pulled the string tightly and secured the gathers with a knot.

I finished the wonky beanbag with a button. Then I flattened it a bit and played with it, to break it in. ;o) It works really well. It generally behaves like a beanbag, but has just enough roll to be unpredictable, thus increasing the challenge.