Make sure your doll has a nice comfy place to read while you read.  I love getting cozy in a bean bag chair, don’t you? That’s why it’s so important to make your 18″ doll an American Girl Bean Bag Chair as well!  In this tutorial you will learn how to make one in a few simple steps.

Materials Needed:

Fabric ( I only used 1/2 yard)
Scissors
Needle & Thread or Sewing Machine
Stuffing of some sort:  Batting, rice, scrap fabric, beans, pasta
Measuring Tape (Optional)

American Girl Bean Bag Chair   American Girl Batting

Step 1:

Get some fabric and fold it in half.  Measure 17-18″ and then cut a half oval so when you open it, it is a full oval.  Repeat this step 3-5 times.  The number of times repeated just depends on what type of shape you want your bean bag chair.  I wanted a more square look, so I opted for 4 pieces cut total.  If you want a more round bean bag chair, make sure you have at least 5 cutouts.

American Girl Bean Bag Chair American Girl Bean Bag Chair American Girl Bean Bag Chair American Girl Bean Bag Chair

Step 2:

Take two pieces of fabric and put them right side together.  Hem from the top of the half oval to the bottom.  This leaves half still open.  You will repeat this step by placing the third piece of fabric face side with one of the pieces you just sewed together.  Do this until you have added the last piece of fabric.  For me, it was the forth piece.  Now you should have the first piece and the last piece open.  Place them face side together and sew 3/4th’s of the way down.

American Girl Bean Bag Chair American Girl Bean Bag Chair American Girl Bean Bag Chair American Girl Bean Bag Chair

Step 3:

Turn the fabric right side out so you can see the pretty pattern on the outside.  You will have a little opening left.  Fill it with your choice of stuffing.  I used a mixture of leftover fabric scraps and batting.

American Girl Bean Bag Chair American Girl Bean Bag Chair American Girl Bean Bag Chair American Girl doll Bean Bag

Step 4:

Once you have it to your desired fullness, hem the little opening so non of your stuffing can fall out.  Fluff it up a bit and your American Girl Bean Bag Chair is done!

American Girl Bean Bag Chair

American Girl Bean Bag Chair was last modified: March 21st, 2017 by Rudy

21 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

    1. River Aiton
      September 21, 2016 at 8:45 pm –

      Can you do a video on this?

      Thanks!?

    1. Natalie
      December 8, 2015 at 1:23 pm –

      Based on my math and measuring the cut piece in the picture, if you make the oval 18 ” long, it should be 10.5″ wide. If the oval is 15.5″ long, it should be between 9″ and 9.5″ wide.

      It turned out great – thanks for the tutorial.

    1. Amy S.
      July 13, 2015 at 3:47 pm –

      Thanks! I made my ovals about 5″ (folded) and my daughter is so happy with the final result.

        • Rudy
          July 13, 2015 at 5:10 pm –

          Thank you for sharing how big you made yours!

    1. Janet
      March 3, 2015 at 2:09 pm –

      This was a waste of time & fabric for me. Looks like I’ll have to buy a pattern.

    1. Janet
      March 3, 2015 at 10:10 am –

      3-4″ open or folded? My pattern piece looks nothing like the picture.

        • Rudy
          March 3, 2015 at 10:46 am –

          Folded

    1. Kathleen
      February 24, 2015 at 11:00 am –

      I agree with Lindsey, better dimensions would be helpful. If the oval is 17 inches long, how wide is it supposed to be? Another poster said 15 1/2 was good, but she didn’t say how wide she cut it? 17-18inches seems really big for a doll, especially with 4-5 pieces. Knowing the width of the oval would help a lot. Thanks.

        • Rudy
          February 24, 2015 at 11:05 am –

          I’m sorry about that, I just eyeballed it. I am making another one this week, so I will post the width when I do.

        • Rudy
          February 24, 2015 at 11:07 am –

          Okay, another ready told me between 3-4″ is good for the width.

    1. Ginny
      February 21, 2015 at 5:29 pm –

      Couldn’t you just use a BIG strip of duck tape and cotten balls??????? Just askin.

    1. Ally
      February 11, 2015 at 8:59 am –

      So cool

    1. Nicole
      January 31, 2015 at 1:54 pm –

      Neat project and toooooo cute.

    1. Kristy
      January 30, 2015 at 11:30 pm –

      TFS! My daughter would love to make these for her dolls!

    1. lindsey
      November 22, 2014 at 1:45 pm –

      How wide did you make the half oval? I know you said to fold the material in half but I have a big piece and I do better with exact measurements. Thanks! Super cute chair!

    1. DorrieBelle
      September 23, 2014 at 11:11 am –

      Made four of these for my Disney Princess and Me doll collection, out of thicker-than-I-like fabric I was about to re-donate (it’d come in a material grab bag from the thrift store in the first place !). Went with a 15.5″ oval (because that’s how long my paper pattern was), and they came out great ! So much fun to sew ! You can see my version here –
      http://dorriebellesdolldiaries.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-are-those-things-sea-spuds-but.html

      Only problem was, I used up a two-year fabric scrap hoard to stuff them ! Ended up using some plastic grocery-style sacks to help fill them up. Worked fine, but not recommended if you wanna toss these in the wash someday.

      Thanks for a fun, easy pattern I’ll be making again – I got lots of other dolls to seat ! ?

        • Rudy
          November 15, 2014 at 9:22 am –

          They turned out super cute! Thanks for sharing!

    1. April
      July 10, 2014 at 1:25 pm –

      Thanks for the tutorial. I made three of these last night for my daughter and her friends. Super quick and easy!

        • Rudy
          July 10, 2014 at 10:10 pm –

          You’re welcome! I’m glad it was an easy tutorial.

            • marci
              December 16, 2014 at 5:57 pm –

              Hi! How wide were your ovals once you opened your fabric? Thank you!!