Introducing Planet Nice Crafts’ Finished Bean Bag Chair

Hello Everyone. I apologize for being absent the last three months. It has been a very busy 2019. Since I last posted during Spring Break, I completed the semester but it was busy until the very end which was not until May 18. I don’t think I will be taking 4 classes or 12 credit hours ever again – it was much too rigorous. Overlapping with Finals week, the community garden opened. This Spring was really tough for gardening: record rainfall, grey skies, and cold. I set out plants and seeds. The plants have been struggling, but now that we have more seasonal weather, they and a second planting of seeds have fared better. On the heels of ending the school year, the employment year began. There are still several classes I plan to take, but now I hope to devote more time to employment – a good idea to keep Planet Nice Crafts spinning on its axis. That is the update.

I left the bean bag chair way back in late January after a first attempt at the zipper. I find zippers tough. I have read that they do get easier the more you do them, but they don’t happen too often at Planet Nice Crafts so I think they will always be a challenge. I felt the zipper could be improved so I worked at it again until I got to this point when I was content on how flat it laid. I like that the zipper is inconspicuous:

I took this closeup which I think is a pretty neat sewing photo even from an artistic sense:

The next steps were to put a small handle strap near the zipper and attach the bottom and top. Here is a photo with the bottom, looks like the same old bag, doesn’t it? Quite unglamorous.

When I attached the top, that was the final step for the project. But what next? I didn’t want to stuff it with “beans” as that would complicate storage (they are readily available at Bed Bath and Beyond) yet I wanted it stuffed so I could take a proper photo. I decided to stuff it the best I could with every available pillow in my condo. It worked out quite well and the gnome is included to provide scale:

The chair is approximately 36” high and I am quite pleased on how it came out. Let me know if you are interested in it, I also have plenty more fabric for another chair or ottoman pouf.

Finally, the Rare Breed Horse Show during which Planet Nice Crafts sponsored the Trail classes came early May and went. It sounded like it was a nice event. For those who are interested in what a Trail class is in the horse show world, here is a link to very nice example. I try to stay away from Facebook for the most part, but I could not find this video anywhere else!

What’s next for Planet Nice Crafts? I am not sure. The Lake County Fair is less than a month away, but I am running so behind that I don’t feel up to rushing to put something together. I read in a recent issue of Threads magazine that ruching was popular on the runways. Ruching is a gathering of fabric. I have a jersey knit that is very lightweight and was purchased while being jet lagged on a business trip to London. I think ruching would be a good use for it. I also have several pieces of clothing, four in number, that I would like to reinvent too. Stay tuned!