Bean Bag Chair Cover Tutorial

I searched and searched online and could not really find a great bean bag tutorial.  The best I could find was this, and it helped me understand the concept of making a spherical shape, but I still didn't really like it.

So as usual, I just winged it and did whatever the hell I wanted to do, in the moment.    And it all turned out good enough for me!

As long as you don't look at the seams too close, they are super cute.  I figured they are going to get lots of wear and tear, so it didn't really matter if they are perfect.


Penelope loves them and that is the most important thing.  She loves to go in there and play with her little Calico Critter dolls.  I bought them on a whim, even though the box says 3 and up and has a million tiny pieces, and I am so glad I did.  These are probably her most played with toy right now.  She will sit for a long time and pretend all sorts of little scenarios, it is great.


They do require a lot of fabric, especially if you go the traditional bean bag/pouf route.  But I used sheets that I got a garage sale, and spent only a couple of dollars.  The one on the right is an old Ralph Lauren sheet and the one on the right is an old Pottery Barn duvet.

I bought this bean bag chair insert, from The Company Store.  In the video link above, they used cut up foam mattresses as filing.

Then I cut out my pieces.  If you go the traditional route, you need six pieces like this.  As long and wide as you need them.  I made a huge mistake and forgot to leave the bottom of the panel wider than the top.

Then cut your two circles in the diameter that you need. The wider at the bottom panel, is to be attached to the bigger circle, the smaller top, to the smaller circle.

This is the point I realized I had f-ed it up.  I did not make my panels wide enough, so it wouldn't fit.  So I had to switch to plan B.  I ended up opening up the bean bag, even though the tag, explicitly says DO NOT OPEN.  Like I said, I tend to do whatever the hell I want and so I opened it up.


Inside was small pieces of popcorn packaging.  So basically, I made a huge mess. It vacuumed up super easy though.


After I made the first one. I thought, Good God, there has got to be an easier way.  Then a little later, I was sitting on my couch with Penelope, looking at my dog's bed.   His bed, is basically a big round pillow with a panel between the top and bottom to give it some height.  So then I thought, what if I just did a big round pillow with no panel??


It took two seconds to make one this way!  It looks almost the same and took about 80% less time!

The one on the right, is with the panels, the one on the left is just a big round pillow.    All you do is cut two circles, any size you want (I used my round coffee table as a cutting template) and place them right sides facing. Then sew all around it, but leave a large opening to stuff it, then turn it inside out and stuff and sew closed.


I closed with a hand it stich and then went back over it with the machine to reinforce it.


Pretty cute right?  And a million times easier than a regular bean bag, right?  Have you ever made one?

By Best Kids Health Blog