Themed I-Spy Bags

In case you missed my guest post at Blue Cricket Design here are my I-Spy bags!

It might be the teacher in me, but I adore the idea of I-Spy bags!  What a clever idea to keep those kiddos quiet and happy in church, at the doctor's office, or in the car.  Plus they are educational!  That makes Mom happy, too.  My Little Man can always use some fresh ideas to help keep him quiet and occupied.  

Supplies

You will need:

* Vinyl.  Just a few inches will be plenty.

* Fabric scraps.

* Poly pellets.  

* Small toys or items to be "spyed."

* Wonder Under (not pictured).

* Sewing machine and supplies.

First, cut out your fabric.  I chose to make themed I-Spy bags, so I cut out a barn to spy farm animals.  I folded my fabric in order to cut out a front and back for my barn.

To create the window, I folded the front part of the barn in half and cut a square shape.  You can make this as large or small as you choose.

Now cut out a piece of vinyl that is at least an inch or two larger than the window on all sides.  This will make sewing the vinyl much easier!

In order to hold the vinyl firmly in place while sewing, I ironed Wonder Under scraps all along the areas where the vinyl overlapped the fabric (shown by arrows).  Without the Wonder Under, the vinyl will simply stick to the foot of your sewing machine!  The Wonder Under will become your best friend.

Next, sew the outer edges where the vinyl meets the fabric.  I sewed a straight line and reinforced it with a zigzag stitch all the way around.  To prevent fraying, I also sewed the inner square right around the window.  Again, sew a straight line followed by a zigzag line.  You will need to do all of your sewing on the wrong side of the fabric.

Now for the fun part!  I decided to embellish the front and back of my barn.  I used some ricrac, ribbon, felt, and fabric scraps.

Let's make a barn!  Pin wrong sides together, and sew all the way around leaving an opening to turn the barn inside out.  Be sure to sew a ribbon scrap into the seam.  This will hold your "I Spy" list. To turn your bag inside out, use something long and pointy like a pencil to punch out the corners as much as possible.

Now, add your toys to the bag.  Be sure to keep a list of what you add because you'll want to tell your child what to look for!

Add the poly pellets.  I think the easiest way to do this is by using a funnel.  Less mess, less stress!  You don't need to fill the bag too full, but you do want to cover the toys inside!

Now, sew up your opening with a blind stitch.

Now create a list of items inside the I-Spy bag.  I laminated mine for extra durability.  Punch a hole in the corner and thread it through the ribbon.  Sew a ribbon loop to keep the list nice and snug!  All done!

This entire project took me about 45 minutes from start to finish, with a few "oopseys" in between and documenting the process as I went along!  This project was so simple and so fun, I had to make another one!  I made a fish I-Spy bag with ocean animals inside!  I already have plans to make an ABC bag and a transportation bag in the near future, too.

Helpful Hint

You can vary the difficulty of a I-Spy bag by varying the following:

*The size of your window 

* The size of the toys inside (very small toys and very big toys are harder to detect!)

* The amount of toys and poly pellets

Happy crafting!