2nd Day of Christmas: Fabric Tic Tac Toe Game

It's the 2nd Day of Christmas here on the CKC blog and today our free pattern comes to you from Jessica Fulton, the head of our CKC Sew-Alongs. It's a fun one! Here she is: 

Looking for an easy sewing project to make a gift for a boy or girl? I’m here today to show you how you can whip up an easy Tic Tac Toe game that is sure to please boys and girls alike. You can have fun making it unique with the fabrics and trims you choose to use. Let’s begin!

Materials Needed:

• 2 – 18″ x 18″ squares of fabric for the game board
• 10 – 5″ x 5″ squares of fabric for X beanbags
• 10 – 5″ x 5″ squares of fabric for O beanbags
• 1 – ¼ yard of fabric for X’s & O’s
• 5 cups of dried beans, rice, popcorn kernels, or other filler for beanbags
• Heat ‘N Bond Ultra (HNBU)
• X & O Template 
• 2 yards bias tape, ribbon, ric rac, or other trim for grid marks on game board

*All seam allowances are 3/8” unless noted otherwise.

STEP 1: Print out the X&O Template. Cut a piece of Heat ‘N Bond Ultra (HNBU) and place on top of the template with the adhesive side facing down. Tape down the four corners. Trace the X’s and O’s onto the HNBU. OR for a faster way, simply place the page with the HNBU taped on it back into the printer and reprint the template page. You will need a total of five (5) X’s and five (5) O’s. 

STEP 2: Once you have traced or printed the X’s and O’s onto the HNBU, roughly cut around them.  Place them with the adhesive side on the WRONG side of the fabric. Iron according to the directions on the HNBU. Then cut out the X’s and O’s. Do NOT use your good fabric scissors for this step because you will be cutting through the paper and adhesive on the HNBU! 

STEP 3: After cutting out the X’s and O’s, peel the paper backing off and iron onto the center of the 5” x 5” squares of fabric for the bean bags.

If you use Heat n Bond Lite rather than Ultra, you will need to topstitch around the edges of each X and O. If you use Heat n Bond Ultra, they will be secure enough without topstitching. 

STEP 4: Sew around the fabric squares with wrong sides together. Leave about a 1-2” opening for inserting the bean bag filler of your choice. (I used popcorn kernels in mine.) After sewing and before filling the bean bags, cut around the edges with pinking shears. NOTE: If you prefer a more finished look, then you can sew the fabric squares with right sides together. Clip corners and flip using the small opening.

STEP 5: Using a funnel, insert the bean bag filler you are using. I made a makeshift funnel out of a piece of card stock I had laying around. I used about a ½ cup of popcorn kernels in each of my bean bags. You do not want to overfill the bags as it will be difficult to sew the opening closed. Also, it is more fun to play with them if they aren’t filled to the brim. 

STEP 6: After filling the bean bags, sew the opening closed. Take care to backstitch at the beginning and end to ensure that the opening is closed sufficiently.

STEP 7: Take one of the 18”x18” pieces of fabric for the game board. Draw a vertical line at the 6” and 12” point on the fabric. Or you can do this the very unscientific way that I did and simply fold your fabric into thirds and press with an iron to create your grid marks. J Sew the bias tape or whatever trim you are using down. I used the widest zig zag stitch on my machine to sew the bias tape on my board. 

STEP 8: Flip the board piece around and repeat Step 7 to create the grid marks at the 6” and 12” points.

STEP 9: Take the second piece of 18”x18” fabric and place on top of the Tic Tac Toe grid you just created in Steps 7-8. Ensure that the fabrics are facing right sides together and then sew all around leaving about a 2-3” opening for turning. After sewing clip corners. 

STEP 10: Flip the game board so right sides are showing. Iron edges well, then topstitch 1/8” all the way around the board to close the opening you used for turning.  Now you have an adorable Tic Tac Toe game that is sure to delight your child!