A Barefoot Tutorial...Game Bag

*This tutorial was featured on Craft Gossip and One Pretty Thing*

As an Epiphany present I made this game bag for Levi.  On one side is a matching game and on the other is tic-tac-toe.  The bag holds all of the pieces, so it's handy for on the go play.

Supplies:

2--12 x 12 in pieces of felt for the bag body

1--20 x 2 in piece of felt for the handle

2--9 in pieces of felt for the gameboards

Felt scraps for the shapes (I also used some fleece scraps)

Embroidery floss (if you don't like to hand sew this could be entirely machine stitched)

Needle

Step one: Cut out all of your pieces.  For the bag and game board see the sizes in the "Supplies" section.  For the matching game I used 9 shapes: a square (which Levi calls a helicopter...go figure), a triangle, a doughnut (also called punkin' pie around here...he's still not over his October pumpkin obsession), a star (Levi's favorite shape in the universe), a flower, a kidney bean, a circle, two parallel rectangles (I call this one shape even though technically it's two), and a single rectangle.  For the matching game shapes you'll need to cut three of each.  For tic-tac-toe I simplified things by using blue squares and yellow circles.  You'll need 10 squares and 10 circles.  My largest shape for either game was 2 1/4 in squared.

The below picture shows the matching game pieces after they've been cut.

 

Step 2: With contrasting thread, sew an even grid onto the two game board squares.  The grid lines should be spaced 3 inches apart creating 9 squares.  This can be either machine or hand done.

Step 3:  Pin one of each of the matching game pieces to the center of each grid square on the matching game board.  Applique in place.  I used a blanket stitch for this.

Step 4:  Using a blanket stitch sew together the remaining shapes for both the matching game and the tic-tac-toe games.  Before finishing off each of the shapes, stuff lightly with fiber fill.  You should end up with 9 stuffed shapes for the matching game and 10 for Tic-Tac-Toe,

 

 

Step 5:  Center each game board onto the 12 x 12 pieces for the bag body.  Pin in place. Blanket stitch the game boards to the bag pieces.

 

Step 6: Place the bag pieces wrong sides together (game board sides facing outwards).  Pin.  Blanket stitch along the two side edges and the bottom of the bag, leaving the top open.

Step 7: Fold the handle piece in half lengthwise so it becomes 1 in. wide instead of 2.  Pin in place.  Blanket stitch along the raw edges (one long side and two short sides).

Step 8:  When sewing the handle to the bag you want to make sure that the bag will lie flat in order to function as a game board.  Sandwich one end of the handle between the two layers of the bag body close to the blanket stitched edge of the bag.  Stitch all three layers together.  I did two rows of stitching to reinforce the handle.  Repeat on the other side making sure that the handle is free of unwanted twists before you stitch the other side down.

 

Step 9: Fill the bag with the game pieces.  Since Levi is only 2, I left the tic-tac-toe pieces out.  I figure the bag can grow with him, and when he's ready for tic-tac-toe then I'll hand over the corresponding pieces.

This bag has turned out to be a hit.  Levi often requests to "make it" which I suppose is his way of saying "match it".

He also just loves to carry the shapes around.  Apparently, a furrowed brow is necessary for this job...

If you make one of your own, I'd love to hear about it.