Happy New Bean Bag Year!

I have a half-a-year's worth of stuff to share with you (you know I haven't been posting as often as I'd like), and I want to start with the Most Fun Project of All-
BEANBAG CHAIRS for our great-nieces, aged 8 and 10.

It was all they wanted for Christmas, really and truly, they said.  We spent several evenings together looking at options on Amazon and elsewhere, but when I remembered that my friend and workroom owner Michele Fugazy had recently made custom beanbag chairs, I called her for recommendations.
Michele told me that Lands End carried bean bag inserts, and she very kindly lent me the pattern she had made.  By now I was totally psyched to make these!

We also picked the girls' brains to get ideas of what they'd like.  We first thought we'd have them go with us to pick out fabric, but we really wanted to surprise them.  They wanted soft and furry.  So - - - - John and I went to Joann Fabrics and chose a variety of faux furs.  By the time I finished cutting all the pieces, the workroom looked like a slaughterhouse.  (the photo does not begin to show the mess)

Beanbags are made like globes, or basketballs, except this one also had a round, flat top.   After assembling, all the edges were overlocked to help keep the fabric from shedding.  Faux fur looks like it would be hard to work with, but in my experience, it makes up really easily. 

It's hard to imagine assembled basketball pillow pieces becoming a sphere, but, it does happen!  Here's one I made in orange velvet a few years ago:

We chose two different colors for one panel per chair so they could tell whose was whose.  Maisie got green....

And Cleo got blue.

There was enough left over for pillows, and Maisie used hers as a footstool.

The color panel is zippered so the cover can be removed for cleaning.  They loved the tassels too.

It was a kind of epic Christmas!