I saw these at the Eagle Farm markets last week and with my new-found sewing skills, thought 'I can make that'. With a bit of googling I came across wonderful instructions at the Mad Quilter. She's super-woman this lady. Seven kids and she still finds time to make fabulous creations and share them with people like me.
If you can sew a straight stitch and have a reasonable command of a pair of scissors then you too can whip up a balloon ball in no time. These are great toys for kids and big kids cause all you need are a few scraps of fabric and a balloon. They're much harder to break than a balloon on its own and if it does happen to burst, the rubber explosion will be contained inside the ball.
To make the balloon balls, head over to The Mad Quilter and print out her pattern. Trace the pattern 6 times onto fabric of your choosing then cut them out.
Working with one half of the balloon ball at a time, stitch the 3 panels together from end to end by placing two pieces right side together and stitching down one side. Make sure you back-stitch at the start and finish so it doesn't unravel (yes I know everyone knows this but I would have liked to be reminded).
Now, pin the two halves together and then stitch them together leaving a little opening at one end. This is so you can turn it the right way out and also where you'll insert the balloon.
Turn the ball the right way out.
Now it's time to put the 'balloon' in 'balloon ball.' Insert the balloon through the opening, blow it up and tie the end.
Enjoy hours of fun!
Tania says
thats great! I actually found you thru mad quilter but daftly couldn't find the pattern... *sigh* excuse is it's been a loooooong day!
Do you add seam allowance to the pattern or is it included? Anything you'd do differently "next" time? I'm thinking the hole cover would help stop the popped balloon escaping? but then I haven't made one yet!
thanks,
Tania