Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Vintage Girl Scout Craft: Sit-upons!


Did you ever make a sit-upon in Girl Scouts or when you were younger? We had fun making them and my littles love using them when we are at Grammie and Pepaw's house! This summer I thought it would be fun to make a set of our own for an upcoming family camping trip!

This is a fun summer craft - but does need some Mama involvement for the hole punching. I'm sure there are other ways of making them, but this is what I came up with.

Supplies:
oilcloth or vinyl tablecloth - my piece was 1/2 yard off of a bolt and it made two sit-upons
newspaper or magazines
hole punch
paper clips
cording
marker
scissors
clear nail polish


Fold one edge of your fabric about one inch up. With your piece of fabric laid out in front of you, you should have one long rectangle. Start with one of the shorter edges. Paper clip to hold in place on each end and one in the middle. 


Working with one layer at a time, evenly space your hole punches. Use the first layer as a guide for punching through to the second layer. Punch along the whole length of this first folded edge.


I had trouble with my hole punches staying stuck in the fabric, so I had to snip them off after punching an entire row. 


Now, you are ready to do your second edge. You will be folding your fabric in half to create the sit-upon. Repeat the process of folding your edge about one inch to match the other edge. Line them up together and paper clip both edges together.


Use the edge you have already punched as a guide for matching up the hole punches on the second side. Punch holes evenly and trim off any remaining hole punches.


Now, you are ready to move onto the sides. Fold your fabric to a desired fold - I didn't measure mine specifically, but looked to see what worked with the existing holes I had punched and the size of my newspapers. When you have it folded where you want, repeat the process of paper clipping in place, hole punching evenly, etc... Then fold the rest of that side {shown under my hand} and use the top layer for a guide for hole punching. 


You should have one side left that needs to be folded and punched. Grab a stack of newspapers or magazines - whatever you have in your recycling bin! 


Slide your papers into the pouch you have created. It may take a bit of adjusting to get them in there nice and smoothly as that furry backing on the fabric catches edges easily.


Now you have your padding inside and all smoothed out - here is a peek at the inside.


Now, I am showing you from the outside what a margin I had leftover on the last edge. You will fold this last edge to fit the padding you have inside. Mine was probably at least two inches. Fold, paper clip, punch and repeat! Keep all your paper clips on there to hold things in place until the next step.


Ok, so everything is punched and clipped together. Grab your cording and simply "sew" around the edges going over and under through the holes.



See? Over. Under. 


See how the knot is up at the tippy top?! Make sure to leave even tails or work the cording through until the tails are fairly even. This creates a handle or you can tie the sit-upon around your waist while walking or hiking.


Before you finish off your knot for the handle, go ahead and knot at the last punched hole on each top edge. I looped my cord back through the hole and made two knots just to be sure!


Tie off your handle and dip the ends of your cord in clear fingernail polish or wrap with clear tape to prevent fraying. Write the owner's name on it and have fun!