| Materials Required: | ½ yard each of blue, red, yellow and green gingham, |
| 3 quarts of small white beans, | |
| A length of No. 6 rattan, | |
| A bunch of red raffia, | |
| A tapestry needle, | |
| 3 screw eyes, | |
| 2 ½ yards of strong twine, | |
| A spool of No. 40 white cotton, | |
| A needle, | |
| Scissors. |
Very many good games can be played with bean bags. The following is a simple one to prepare.
Cut from blue gingham three pieces, each five inches wide by twelve long. Other pieces of the same size are cut from red, yellow and green gingham—three of each colour. These pieces are made up into bags by doubling them and stitching up the sides with strong thread; leaving one end of each open. This will give a small girl something to do for more than one rainy day.
When they have all been stitched, fill each bag half full of small, white beans, turn in the edges of the open end and sew it up, over and over, with strong thread. Be very careful to sew the seams securely, for if you do you will have a good, durable bag instead of one from which the beans are always dropping.
The other part of the game is a large ring of rattan ten inches across, which is made as follows:
Soak a piece of No. 6 rattan in water for a few minutes. While you are waiting for it to get pliable thread a tapestry or darning needle with red raffia. Whittle an end of the rattan into a long point. Next coil the rattan into a ring, ten inches across; lay the end of your raffia, with its tip turned to the right, on the rattan ring and bring the needle, threaded with raffia, around and over the ring. The raffia is then brought under the long end of rattan, around it and down under the ring, binding the second coil of rattan to the first with what is called a "Figure Eight" stitch (see Fig. 1). Hold the ring firmly in your left hand while you sew with the right. First under and around the lower coil, then up, under and around the upper one. It is pretty work, besides making such a firm, light ring.
Playing the bean-bag game
When you have bound the second coil to the first almost all the way round the ring, cut the rattan so that it will overlap the beginning of the ring about an inch, and whittle it to a long, flat point. Continue the Figure Eight stitch as far as you can, then bind the raffia round and round the ring, and sew back and forth through the raffia covering till it is secure. You can then cut it close to the ring.