"I Spy" Bag

I made an "I Spy" bag for Sam and my niece for their birthdays and Heidi asked how I made it. So hear are the directions and pictures. Keep in mind I can not sew very well so if I can do it, it must be easy!!

Cut a piece of transparent vinyl 3.5" square (you can get this at Wal-Mart in the sewing section). Cut two pieces of fabric 2 x 3.5" (we'll call these the short strips). Using a 1/4" seam, sew the two short strips to two opposite sides of the vinyl. Fold fabric over and top-stitch. It'll look something like this:

Cut two pieces of fabric 2 x 6.5" (we'll call these the long strips - see, not rocket science). Top stitch to the other two opposite sides of the vinyl and short strips. Cut a piece of fabric 6.5" square. Now you have:

Right sides together, sew the front and back together, leaving a small opening.

Turn the bag inside out.

Insert small items and fill the bag with rice. Do not put in too much rice (I use about 1.5 cups) - you want the items to remain somewhat hidden, but can come to the surface by gently shaking the bag. Tuck the fabric of the opening inside and sew together. The finished product:

Make a list of all the items you want in your bag. Print up and laminate. Punch a hole in one of the top corners and tie a small piece of ribbon or cord. I used a safety pin to place the list on the corner of the bag so that I can remove it if I wanted.

Note: I used fleece but it was thick to sew. You could also try using regular fabric…it’s your choice. Also, when you start making it, it will seem that the pieces are really small but it works well with the size of little kids’ hands. You could make the pieces bigger but then it gets harder to keep in your diaper bag too.

It's up to you what you put in the bag. You can make it age-appropriate for your child or even do a theme. Here's a list of items I put in my bags:

Safety pin
Paper clip
Penny
Bean
Bead
Macaroni
Marble
Popcorn kernel
Balloon
Band-aid
Ribbon
Heart
Star
Seashell
Flower
Key (scrapbook size)
Hand (scrapbook size)
Foot (scrapbook size)
Rattle (scrapbook size)
Football (scrapbook size)
Baby bottle (mini party favor)
Different animal pieces (buttons or small wooden pieces from Michael’s or Robert’s)
Different colored buttons (so they can practice their colors)

Have fun with this easy project...it may be the source of hours (or at least, minutes) of entertainment for you kids!

P.S. This is not the best sewing I've done and the bag has only about half the items on the list since I made it specifically for this post. However, if you want it, I will give this bag to the first person to post a comment. I will even mail it if you live far away.