~FRONT~
~BACK~These really are so fun and so easy to make! When I taught first grade, this was always the most popular activity that I used in one of my centers. These are also a fun quiet activity for church as well.
I would recommend using fleece material as a first choice (because it's a little easier to manipulate the bag and objects), but I have made them using flannel and old jeans as well and it has worked fine. For this bag I used some left over flannel that I had on hand.
Prep:
- Two 7 inch squares of material (or as big or small as you want)
- a 4 inch square of clear vinyle for your "window"(at least 4 mm or thicker, I found this at my local grocery store but have also seen at Wal-mart on a big roll)
- 1 inkjet fabric sheet (found at most craft stores)
- rice or poly pellets (I used rice)
- about 30 small doo-dads (ex: buttons, scrapbook stuff, household odds and ends, paper clips, penny, etc.)
Assembly: (you might want to start on the ink jet sheet first which is # 6)
1. First you need to make a square cut out for your "window". Fold first square in half (iron flat) and with a ruler find the center, mark with a dot. Then measure 1.5 inches out from the center on each side and trace.
2. cut out.
3. Unfold, you should now have a 3 inch square hole in the middle.
4. Lay your 4 inch vinyle piece on the back of the cutout and tape down the edges.
5. Flip square over and first sew a strait line all the way around the edge, then go back over it again with the zig zag stitch to reinforce, you don't want any rice getting out!
6. Next grap your fabric ink jet sheet (you may want to do this step first so it can be soaking while you are sewing). These are so cool. Just go to your regular word processing program and type up which doo-dads you are going to add and if you want you can personalize it with a name or whatever (you can type it in a 3x3 text box to make it easier). I did a fun little font for this one and then changed the ink colors on my computer to match my material. They say that dark brown is better than black because it is not as blurry, but I have done black as well. Make sure to trim off any excess string that might be hanging from the sheet before you place in your printer. Then place ink jet sheet in your printer like it's just a regular peice of paper and hit the print button ( I did mine fabric side down for my computer). As you can see I have a lot of the sheet left over, so you can easily fit more than one set of instructions on here, I was able to fit six on one sheet when we made them for a RS activity.
7. After you have printed your sheet cut out, peel off the back, and soak in cold water for 10 minutes to set. Peeling off the back was hard for me to do, so I soaked it first and then rubbed off the back. Make sure it is dry before you continue (I iron it to make it dry faster).
8. On the remaining 7 " square, place your your instructions in the middle, pin and sew all the way around. You only need to go around it once.
9. Then, your going to take both squares and place right sides together (not shown). Sew all three sides together (1/4 inch seam), leaving one side open for filling. Turn so the right sides are now showing. (I did it this way so my edges would not frey, but if doing fleece you can just sew around the three edges with wrong sides together and then you wouldn't even have to turn inside out, it's up to you). Press seams flat with iron avoiding plastic window.
10. Add all of your doo-dads and as much rice to fill the bag, but not to full, you still want to be able to manipulate the bag and objects. A good way to measure is to fill the bag to the top edge of the window, but it's all a personal preference.After you have filled your bag with the doo-dads/rice mixture, pin shut and sew last open edge using 1/4 inch seam, make sure to back stitch.
Your Finished!!!!
Please leave any questions you might have in the comment box!
