Had been thinking about a beanbag seat for Marina for some time, and mentioned it to a friend. Who, the next day, texted to say she’d seen one in a local charity shop window. FIVE pounds! Dashed over there the next morning and lugged it back home on the back of the buggy. It’s clean, a great shape – a bit like a bell – and more to the point, Marina sits in it. As do her friends :)
So I just made a straight copy of the cover. It’s basically a rectangle, with a curve at the corners, and two deep darts from the middle to the top, attached to a circular bottom with a zip across the middle. And a wide fabric handle – another rectangle. I wrote out the measurements – you could easily make your own. No need to mark it up on paper – just do it straight onto the fabric.
Mini-tutorial: cut 2 body pieces (88cm x 110), 1 bottom (69cm diameter), 1 handle (50cm x 20cm). Find 60-65cm zip.
- sew two deep darts as indicated, overlock or zigzag edges. Trim excess and press darts.
- fold handle along long edge, right sides together and stitch along long edge, 1 cm from raw edge. Turn and press, keeping seam at edge (or centre if you prefer it to be hidden)
- fold handle in half, matching raw edges, and pin to right side of centre top ‘body’, between darts.
- pin front and back ‘body’ together and sew along side, around curve, over the top and back down to the other side.
- cut bottom in half through the middle and insert zip along cut edge
- attach bottom to body, clipping as needed.
Now THAT’S satisfying sewing. It wasn’t exactly a whip-up – I think it took about three hours, what with pattern matching and a broken needle or two, and a funny turn where I realised how very hungry I was.
But, this fabulous IKEA fabric by Cilla Ramnek (2008) is pretty impactful and seeing the whole thing coming together was deeply, deeply satisfying. I love that the fabric credits the designer – it’s worth keeping this in the finished item, I think. Anyway, back to completion jubilation – I used something out of the stash! Hoo-bloody-rah-for-me.
Publishing now – will try to pose daughter in seat over weekend. Don’t hold your breath…
And that very evening, Marina graces the bean bag seat with her seat. Hurray!
