project // rainy day bean bag game

Rainy days got you a feeling a little crazed? This little project will keep you busy stitching for a day, then it will keep your little ones occupied as they toss raindrops at a happy little umbrella!

All it takes is a bit of felt, fabric, and some stitching, and you'll have plenty of rainy day fun! I seriously had so much fun making this. What can I say? It's a rainy April, and the simple things make me happy.



Here's what you need:

12x18 piece of felt (for the umbrella base)
Four bright colors of felt (for the umbrella panels)
Tan felt (for the handle)
Light blue fabrics
Embroidery floss in matching colors, plus black
Poly Pellets, rice, or small beans
Scissors
Needle
Craft/fabric glue
Pins
Sewing Machine

Rainy Day Bean Bag Game Template PDF



Print and cut the template pieces. Cut the umbrella base on the large piece of felt, placing it on the fold as noted on the pattern. Cut the panel pieces from the four colors of felt. Go ahead and cut out the umbrella handle pieces too.



Arrange the umbrella panels so they fit. Pin the first one in place, then stitch around the edges with running stitch and matching embroidery floss. I used three strands of variegated floss for this. Repeat for each panel.

Just a note...you can pin all of the panels in place to start, but I find that having less pins to deal with as I'm hand sewing really helps. The thread just catches too much. If you're not up for hand stitching these down, you can very easily sew these on a sewing machine.



Embroider the face onto one of the handle pieces. I used three strands and made the face with colonial knots and a scallop stitch. After you embroider the face, stitch the two handle pieces together with three strands of matching floss and running stitch.



Glue the top of the handle to the back of the main umbrella piece, centering it and making sure that the face will be on the front. (You'd feel so silly if it ended up backwards!)

Fabri-Tac is great for this, because it holds really well and dries quickly.



Your finished umbrella should look something like this! Now it's time to tackle the raindrop bean bags...



There are different ways you can do the bean bags. I chose to make three bean bags that have two fabrics: a more basic for the front, and a metallic for the back. This is more of a one-player game.

You could also make two sets of bean bags and make each one its own fabric. This would be good for playing with two people. The choice is yours!

Either way, you'll need to cut two raindrop shapes for each bean bag. Stitch a face on the front piece of each bean bag. I used six strands, and kinda think I should have done only three.



Sew around each bean bag, leaving an opening for turning and back stitching at the start and stop. Trim the point and clip the curves as shown.



Turn the bean bags right side out, smooth the curves, and poke the top point into shape. I used a semi-sharp chopstick for that.

Fill the bean bags with your filling, then stitch the openings closed with ladder stitch.



You're all ready to play!



Grab the raindrops...



...and toss them at the umbrella!




Before you start, assign point values to the different colors. Or play a round where you're only aiming for one color. You could also decide that you get bonus points if all the raindrops land face up!

There's no right or wrong for how to play this, so mix it up each time you play!