Sandbag Tutorial...

How's THIS for cute??

"What is it?" you ask... it's a sandbag! I've been working out with bodyrock.tv for about 12 weeks now. I love it. I started with no weight, then moved to 5 lbs (I had two 5 lb dumbells in my closet). I then moved to 10 lbs, but after a few weeks felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. Time to up the ante... so here is the 20 lb sandbag that I made for less than $10. (At this weight, they sell for $30-$40 retail and aren't NEARLY as colorful.)

I started with two gallon sized bags full of sand, weighing 10 lbs each. I super-glued them shut, then put each of them inside of yet another gallon sized baggie... just to make sure they'd stay shut. I then laid them side by side and used an old pillowcase to cover them. I cut it to size and sewed the top shut. That was the hard part- I would use velcro if I ever had to do it again.

I used it to work out yesterday, but realized that I needed handles- it was too chunky and hard to hold on to. So today I spent about $6 on 1/2 yard canvas fabric and some velcro, and voila- sandbag. Here is a pic of the inside-out, so you can see the basics of how I put it together.

To make the handles, I used two 6" strips. I folded them until they fit into my hand without bunching, pressed and sewed a seam along each of the long sides. I pinned them to my fabric, between the right-sides, then secured using a TON of backstitches. I wanted them stay in place, since there would be a lot of pressure on them. I sewed the velcro in place along the edge- make sure the velcro is not on the edge your handles are on- all the pressure from the handles will open the velcro. I then trimmed along the edge near the velcro opening and the corners at the bottom, just to make the it all fit together more nicely.

The handles worked great- no need to give them extra slack.  Here is Little Man to demonstrate how they work.

So here's my encouragement to all of you today: If you want something, but don't have the cash, maybe there's a way you can make it for cheap- or maybe you have a friend who could make it for you in exchange for, say, babysitting or something along those lines. Shoot, there's a lot I would do for a friend in exchange for babysitting! My point is this: get creative. Think outside the box. Here's to happy crafting and new ideas today!