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You are here: Home / Kids Crafts / Sit-upons!

Sit-upons!

This post is by long-time contributor and super-mama, Leigh!

easy situpons for camp

I clearly remember the year my mom helped me make a sit-upon for my Brownie troops’ camp (I remember it as well as I remember the smell of the ancient canteen I used to have to take with me to camp…. but that’s a story for another day….).  What’s a sit-upon?  Well, it’s… something… you sit upon.  Hmph – that was easier to explain in my head.  Here, let me show you…

Back in the day, Mom and I made my sit-upon out of a black plastic garbage bag and newspaper.  I wanted to improve on the design a bit, because while I remember making it and using it, I have no idea how long that black plastic sit-upon lasted, and I remember not enjoying it being tied around my waist.  I was told that it was to be worn around my waist so all I have to do is sit down and it would be in the right place, but even then I thought that was silly.  Maybe I don’t sit down like everyone else, but that sit-upon was too tight around my middle and always had to be adjusted when I sat.  So here’s what I came up with…

Gather your supplies:

  • an old vinyl tablecloth or a shower curtain (the dollar store has shower curtains a-plenty!)
  • newspaper
  • a hole puncher
  • large plastic needle
  • heavy duty string or cord
  • ribbon

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Using your newspaper as a template, cut out a rectangle (or two or three – however many you will be making) on a fold of your vinyl tablecloth/shower curtain.

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On a fold?  Fold your tablecloth/curtain in half and use that fold as one of your edges.  You will wind up with a 2 layered piece of cloth/curtain, and you will only need to sew up 3 sides instead of all 4!

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Take a hole punch and punch holes spaced evenly around the 3 cut edges of your cloth/curtain through both layers.  You will be whipstitching the sides shut – see the picture below?  You just “whip” your needle around the back of the cloth/curtain and bring your needle and thread up through a set of holes, repeating the process over and over.

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And I did say “you” will be stitching… Elias gave it his best shot, and did pretty well for his first time sewing anything by hand.

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He wasn’t too interested in doing it “correctly” – so I just had to back up and let him do his thing.  He “finished” one side, and I finished it from there.

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So I mentioned I never liked the sit-upon being tied around my wait – I wanted to make these so they slipped easily over a shoulder and could be plopped down on the ground wherever needed.  I used a length of ribbon for each sit-upon – and look!  My hole puncher could punch through ribbon!  Who knew? Punch 2-3 holes in your ribbon (depending on the width of your ribbon).

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Sandwich the ribbon in between the layers of your cloth/curtain before you sew up a corner, then sew the ribbon in with the sides.  I added extra stitches around the ribbon so it would be reinforced, since that part of the sit-upon would potentially take more stress and strain than other parts.

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Once you have 2 sides sewn up, stuff the sit-upon with newspaper.  My one from back-in-the-day only had flat newspaper layers in it, and I never thought that gave any cushioning for a little hinder.  So I just added some fluff to it – sandwich some crumpled up newspaper in between 2 layers of flat newspapers.  Sitting on it will flatten the crumpled layers out anyway, but in the meantime it will be a bit more comfy.  After stuffing, finish stitching up the sit-upon and tie off the end of your string, clipping any loose ends.

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This step is optional – and can also be easily done before the sit-upon is sewn and stuffed – let your little ones decorate their sit-upon!  Super fun, and one thing I never got to do with my black plastic one.  Use permanent markers – you don’t want marker or paint coming off on little hind ends during your hike.

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Here are ours, all ready to go!

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This really was a walk down memory lane for me, and the boys have already had fun with the sit-upons… well, sitting upon them, amongst other things.  I wonder how long these will last…


summer camp ohamanda long

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All photos property of Leigh Miller. Do not use without permission.

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Comments

  1. oh amanda says

    June 30, 2010 at 7:20 am

    OK. That is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Who knew you could make situpons CUTE?!
    .-= oh amanda´s last blog ..Camp Primo- Top Ten Tuesday =-.

  2. Nikki says

    June 30, 2010 at 8:01 am

    What a cute Idea!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much for linking it to gettin’ crafty on hump day! 🙂

  3. Leslie says

    July 3, 2010 at 3:49 am

    What a fun project! I love how they turned out and I always enjoy a trip down memory lane as well! Thanks for linking up to Hoo’s got talent!
    .-= Leslie´s last blog ..4th of July Crafts Part 1 =-.

  4. Katie says

    October 17, 2010 at 11:37 pm

    This is so wonderful! I am a Brownie leader and was looking for a sit-upon idea for my girls. This is perfect! Thank you so much for sharing!!
    Thanks,
    Kati
    G.S Troop 57532

  5. Rachel says

    November 15, 2016 at 1:28 pm

    Hi, I’m hoping to make our sit-upons as water resistant as possible. Did you have any issues with water getting into the inside, or the string getting wet? I was considering plastic string, such as what is used in friendship bracelets, but not sure if it’s too rigid,

  6. Angela says

    May 25, 2018 at 2:29 am

    Thanks for this new invasion on an old idea, just love it.

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