nibot ([personal profile] nibot) wrote2004-09-26 02:57 pm

bean bag chairs

I really want to get some bean bag chairs for our basement, and maybe some for our office at school. I wonder if I could make bean bag chairs by making or buying the covers, and filling them with styrofoam "peanuts" (shipping material), which seems like it would be easy to find. ideas?

I am also on a mission to acquire scraps of carpet left over from new carpet installations, with which to carpet the bomb shelter (hey, if we have to stay in there for the next 10,000 years, we might as well make it cozy).

[identity profile] tjernobyl.livejournal.com 2004-09-26 12:32 pm (UTC)(link)
The trouble with packing peanuts is that they squeak. Real 'beans' are round, about half the size of a pea, and may have some sort of anti-squeak coating. Beanbag stuffing material is said to be available from fabric stores.

Most of the past year, I've been sleeping in a nest made from a foam base, three beanbag chairs, a heck of a lot of pillows and a heck of a lot of blankets. It worked!

[identity profile] nibot.livejournal.com 2004-09-26 01:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah.. thanks for the pointers. I just visited a futon store that happened to be right next to a garage sale I was perusing.. this futon store had "foof chairs" that are like beanbag chairs but filled with foam. so wonderful! i might try to make one. (theirs are $100+)

Most of the past year, I've been sleeping in a nest made from a foam base, three beanbag chairs...

That sounds great! In the co-op we have a "sex pit" (more innocuous that it sounds!) formed from four sofa-corners pushed together, and filled with pillows.. that's usually where i sleep when i visit.

[identity profile] heike.livejournal.com 2004-09-26 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Carpet scraps can be acquired by going to a carpet store and asking if they have carpet remnants. Sometimes you can even get them for free.
Today Wayne and I went to a store (Construction Junction (http://www.constructionjunction.org/#))which sells used construction and hardware parts, which also sold carpet. So you can look for a place like that.

[identity profile] cheeseparade.livejournal.com 2004-09-26 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
i love those things! we just found one in our free pile and quickly hoarded it into our room. where it will remain for eternity.

awesome! bean bag chair pattern (http://www.sewing.org/enthusiast/html/et_beanbag.html)

[identity profile] erinmack.livejournal.com 2004-09-26 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
It's really funny that you're making this post because I've had the same question/plan for the past month re: beanbag chairs.

The current plan is to sew up this old fitted flannel sheet I've got with bleach stains all over and get a bunch of packing peanuts from my work to stuff it. I'll let you know how it goes!

[identity profile] fireflies100k.livejournal.com 2004-09-26 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
You're probably geometrically savvy enough to figure it out on your own, but I could help out with devising what shapes of fabric to sew together.

My concern with packing peanuts is that they would get squished and compacted and/or broken over time. I think the real stuffings are harder plastic.