How to Make Hacky Sacks

The American sport of hacky sacking was invented in 1972 by two gentlemen named John Stalberger and Mike Marshall. Stalberger, who was recovering from knee surgery and was interested in finding a new way to exercise his knees. Together, these two gentlemen came up with the idea of "hackin' the sack", a game that consisted of two or more players trying to keep a pellet filled sack from touching the ground using their hands, feet and knees. Also known as "footbags", hacky sacks can be purchased at most toy stores or you can make them at home with fabric scraps and small pellets. Read the steps below to learn how to make hacky sacks at home using materials you probably already have lying around your house.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Leather, vinyl, or another durable fabric
• Scissors
• Sewing needle
• Thread
• Funnel
• Rice, corn, or plastic pellets

Make Hacky Sacks

1. Begin by cutting the fabric in 6 identical strips resembling a football. The strips should measure 3 1/2 inches across with the widest area of each strip measuring 1 1/4 inches.

2. Double thread your needle. Do this by pulling the desired length of thread through the needle and then folding the thread in half so that the top end of it meets the area where the thread will be cut. Cut the thread and tie the two ends together.

3. With the desired side of the fabric on the inside, sew two pieces of fabric together on one side using very small stitches.

4. Repeat Step 3 until you've attached a total of 5 fabric pieces.

5. Attach the sixth piece of fabric to the fifth and flip the fabric inside out so that the desired side is facing outward. This will hide the stitches.

6. Stitch the end of the sixth piece to the end of the first leaving a small opening just big enough to insert the funnel.

7. Insert the funnel through the small hole left the in bag and fill the bag with rice, corn or plastic pellets. Be careful not to fill your hacky sack too full as this makes the bag very hard.

8. Stitch up the opening after you've filled the footbag with the desired amount of filler.

Tips & Warnings

• See the resource below for other hacky sack patterns.
• When sewing the hacky sack, be sure to place stitches very close together to prevent the filler from slipping through.
• Hacky sacks can be used for juggling too!

Resources

• Footbag/Hacky Sack Patterns
• Interesting Footbag Info

[WHATSTHISLIFE4]

on 6/18/2008 Great articl, very informative, would love to do this with my Nephews!