Simple Sit-Upon Tutorial

HADA Days 16, 17, and 18 didn't happen. I've decided that days with Girl Scout activities take up too much of my attention to do anything extra on those days, and this week, we had a meeting on Thursday, and an overnight Friday-Saturday, so those three days were out. So, in lieu of a HADA post today, I am making a tutorial for the sit-upons we made at our overnight.

First off, if you have never been a Girl Scout, you might not know what a sit-upon is. It's basically a square of something somewhat squishy and waterproof for you to "sit upon" at outdoor events where there might be nothing more than hard ground or damp picnic tables to sit on. The classic sit-upon design involves sewing around the edges with laces, but I wasn't sure my Daisies would have the patience and/or dexterity for that, so we went with a duct tape edging. This still required a bit more dexterity than many of them had, but I think the end results were pretty decent.

Gather your materials

For each girl, you will need:

• Two 13"x13" squares of sturdy vinyl tablecloth (the dollar store kind is not sturdy enough). I traced my square cutting board, which happened to be exactly the right size.
• One 12"x12" double layer of quilt batting. (Or other padding of some sort.)
• Four 13" long strips of duct tape.
  Tip #1: Stick the tape on wax paper, so you can distribute them to the girls without them getting stuck to everything and each other.
  Tip #2: Buy them in the hardware section, not the craft section, where they are twice as expensive.
• One 24" long segment of parachute cord (or other sturdy cord). Melt the ends to prevent fraying (if you use a lighter, do this at home, before the meeting, because lighter fluid is not allowed at Girl Scout events).

You will also need:

• Sharp scissors
• Some sort of hole punching implement
• Sharpies

From GS Crafts

Assembly

Place your two squares of tablecloth together, with the pretty sides out. Tape along one edge, so that the duct tape overhangs the edge, and sticks approximately half to the sit-upon, and half to the table.

From GS Crafts

Unstick from table and flip over. Press tape down over onto other side, sealing edge closed.

From GS Crafts

Repeat until three edges have been sealed with tape, leaving one edge open.

Slide quilt batting into opening, taking care to flatten it all the way into the back corners.

From GS Crafts

Close the fourth edge with duct tape, as directed above.

Punch two holes a few inches apart on one edge of the sit-upon. (If your puncher is having a hard time getting through the layers of plastic, try putting a piece of folded card stock behind it.)

From GS Crafts

Thread your para cord through the holes and tie off, to use as a hanging/carrying handle. I used para cord because it is great for practicing knot tying, and could have a variety of uses on a camping trip.

From GS Crafts

Write your name on it in Sharpie.

From GS Crafts

Done!

From GS Crafts