If you are new to upholstery and are interested in making something relatively straight forward to get you started, why not try to make a bean bag? They can be made in varying sizes, so you could even make a small one first to make sure you understand the process, before going ahead and making a full size one! Beanbags can come in a vast range of colours and even have varying shapes, but the standard beanbag is a sphere that molds to user.

They are a lot simpler to make than they first appear, find out how below:

First things first, you will need to make sure that you have all the equipment you will need;

• A Sewing Machine,
• Thread,
• Needle,
• Marking Pencil,
• Fabric Scissors,
• Bean Bag Filling.

Helpful Tip: Ironing the fabric can make measuring and sewing easier.

Once you have all the equipment you need, you can begin to make your very own beanbag.

Step 1

For the beanbag you will need two equal sized pieces of fabric. Measure the fabric to the size you want, marking it with the pencil as you go, then cut the piece out.

Tip: leave an extra inch around where you have measured to allow for when you sew the pieces together.

Step 2

Lay one piece of fabric over the other, ensuring that the pattern is facing the inside, towards the other fabric piece. Tack the pieces together, making sure the edges are flush.

Step 3

Stitch your fabric together.

Place the edges of the fabric under the threaded needle of a sewing machine, make an inseam almost all the way round. You need to leave a space so that you can easily fill the beanbag up later on.

Then go back around the inseam leaving half an inch between the first inseam. Don’t sew up the space you left.

Once done, remove from the machine. Cut off excess fabric and thread.

Step 4

Reach through the space you left when sewing and grab the seam on the opposite side.

Pull the fabric through the space, flipping the beanbag the other way around, and make sure that the all the seams are correct.

Step 5

Fill the beanbag with your beanbag filling. We recommend using polystyrene beans.

Step 6

Sew up the hole you filled up the bag up through by hand using a small, sharp needle.

Step 7

Enjoy!

To make things even easier for our customers we have put together a Beanbag Kit that comes with a free tuition DVD. Making your own beanbag couldn’t be easier.

We hope these steps have provided you with the information you need to make your very own beanbag chair! If you would like further advice or information, please contact the team at JA Milton on 01691 624023.