Did-It-Myself Made-from-Scratch, Custom Corn Hole Bags

When I decided to make a set of custom corn hole boards for a close friend of mine, I knew a set of store-bought cornhole bags just wouldn't do. A quick trip to the American Cornhole Association's website provided me these specifications for tournament sanctioned bags:

The corn bags shall be made from two fabric squares with a quarterinch double stitched seam on all four sides. The corn bags should be made from 12 oz / sq yd duck canvas and may be any color that is easy to see during Cornhole play. Each bag shall be filled with approximately 2 cups of corn feed and finished bags should be a minimum of 6" X 6" square and weigh between 14 and 16 ounces.

This gave me the perfect starting point for designing and making my very own bags; however, I did fudge a couple of things in order to make my life a little easier:

• I used the 10 oz duck canvas that they carry at Joann's. This saved me from having to order 12 oz canvas from somewhere online, which would mean not being able to see the color in person, paying for shipping, and waiting for it to arrive. The bags I made almost a year ago from the 10 oz canvas have held up extremely well, even with constant use.
• I cut my fabric squares 7 inches square, which gave me a 1/2 seam allowance. This gave me some room to breathe when doing the double stitching, and by trimming the seam allowance before turning I think it probably ended up being pretty close to 1/4 inch in the end.

Anywaysss, let's get on to the fun part!

I started with 1/4 of a yard each of orange and black duck cloth. For a set of four bags, I cut 8 squares that measured 7 inches by 7 inches from each color, so I had 8 orange squares and 8 black squares. For the design on the bags, I used the same mixture of textile medium and acrylic paint that I used on my American Flag Shorts. I painted four of the orange squares to look like basketballs and four of the black squares with a UNC Asheville "A." After the paint was dry, I heat set the design with an iron, following the directions on the textile medium bottle.

Then it was time to break out the sewing machine! I took two squares, one painted with a design and one plain, and pinned them right sides together. Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, I sewed along the dotted blue line in the diagram below, making sure to back stitch at the beginning and end of the stitching for added strength--after all, these bags are going to be tossed around quite a bit! For reinforcement, I sewed into the seam allowance about 1/8 inch from my first stitching line, as indicated by the green dotted line in the diagram.

Here's what one of my squares looked like once I was done sewing--

After all of my squares were sewn together, I trimmed the corners and the seam allowance. I left the bottom seam allowance at 1/2 inch to make it easier to sew the opening closed after filling the bags.

Then I turned each bag right side out and finger-pressed the seam allowance to the inside of the bag.

For filler I used whole corn feed that I picked up at my local Southern States. You can buy a 50 pound bag (which would make approximately 50 bags) or you can buy it by the pound (which is what I did) and not have 42 extra pounds of whole corn feed laying around. Since ACA regulation corn hole bags weigh between 14-16 ounces a piece, I purchased 8 pounds of feed and even ended up having a little extra left over. Using a kitchen scale to measure, I filled each bag until it weighed approximately one pound.

After the bag was filled, I pinned the opening closed. Then I pushed all of the corn to the side of the bag opposite the opening and added some pins to keep the corn out of the way of my sewing machine. Here's what the bag looked like after I was done pinning--

NOTE: I did not paint a design on the bags I used to take these pictures, but if I had, the design should be on the side showing in the picture above.

Next I sewed straight across the entire length of the side with the opening, getting as close to edge of the bag as possible to make sure I caught the seam allowance. I also back stitched at the beginning and end of the seam for added strength.

HINT: Whenever I top stitch anything, I always use a hand sewing needle to bring the top thread to the back or wrong side of whatever I'm sewing and tie a knot with the bobbin thread. This gives the bag a more finished look, plus I like to think it helps keep the seam from unraveling over time (<- not sure how true that is, but I haven't had any issues like that so far, knock on wood!)

I sewed another line directly on top of my first one, complete with back stitching and knotting the two threads on the back side of the bag, and voila! I had my very own made-from-scratch, custom cornhole bag.

And after all eight bags were sewn up, I was finished with my complete, custom corn hole set!

Want to know how I made my custom corn hole boards? Check out this post!

Did-It-Myself Custom, Made-from-Scratch Corn Hole Boards

It's hard to imagine a tailgate, cookout, or any summer gathering without yard games, and cornhole is easily my favorite. When one of my good friends told me he was moving into a new house, I knew a set of alma mater-themed cornhole boards would make the perfect housewarming gift. Here's how I made a completely custom set of boards and bags:

Step One: Decide on a Design

This was the easiest part of the whole process for me. My friend loves basketball, and he loves UNC Asheville. And since I had already painted him a basketball court "party" table, I knew a similar design would look awesome and he would love it.

As you can see, I didn't spend a lot of time on sketching.

As for the construction of the boards themselves, I searched the interwebs for a set of plans and there are a lot of good ones out there! I ended up reading through several and just taking bits and pieces from each that worked best with my (limited) skill set and access to tools. It would have been a lot easier to just buy a set of unfinished boards, but that's not as much fun or as fulfilling. This way I can truthfully say these boards were made-from-scratch.

Step Two: Gather Materials

After I assembled a list of materials I needed to make and paint the boards, I got to my second favorite part of the process--shopping!

Ichi accompanied me on a trip to the Home Depot where we picked up the lumber, screws and other hardware, along with some primer and protective sealant.

Step Three: Build the Boards

When we got home, it was time to get to work. My mom's boyfriend taught me how to use the miter saw, and with a lot of help from him, I had two homemade corn hole boards by the end of the day.

Somehow I still have all my fingers and toes!

After all the measuring, cutting, and drilling was done, I covered all the screw heads with wood filler and then gave the whole board a good sanding, paying careful attention that the top of each board was exceptionally smooth.

Step Four: Prime & Paint

Now I was ready for my favorite (and the most time consuming) part of the process, painting. First, each board got two coats of Kilz 2 Latex Primer, then it was time to create the basketball court design.

I used regular acrylic craft paint for the top of the boards. For the "wood" part I used a technique that I first used on a table I painted (which I also plan to do a post on eventually). To achieve this look, I painted the entire area with a light sandy color. Then with a large, dry brush, I applied a darker sienna brown color to a small area and then wiped away the excess with a paper towel until I got something that looks similar to wood grain. I repeated this process until the entire area had a wood-like finish.

Next I added all the details that make it a basketball court--three point line, free throw line and free throw lane, center circle, etc. I also added some school and conference logos to personalize it.

I duplicated the same process for the second board, just switching out the logos. In all, I would say I probably spent at least 50 hours on just the painting. I wanted these to be perfect and there was quite a bit of detail work, but in the end every second was worth it.

Step Five: Protect & Seal

Almost finished! The base of the boards got painted with black latex paint in a gloss finish, and the top got a minimum of 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish. This finish is water-based so it's easy to clean up and it won't yellow over time like polyurethane; however, it's not really meant for outdoor use, so the boards should be stored inside. After I was satisfied with the coverage and smoothness of the protective finish, all that was left to do was wait for them to dry!

Step Six: Make Some Bags

A set of custom corn hole boards this awesome deserves a set of corn hole bags as equally cool. Check out how I made my own custom cornhole bags!

Step Seven: ENJOY!

After all the paint was dry and the bags were made I finally got to see the entire set together, and I must say I am pretty pleased with how they turned out.

I apologize for the quality of the pictures. Once I was finally finished with everything, it was dark and pouring down rain. And the next day when I drove to meet the owner of these wonderful boards, it poured down rain the entire way. Needless to say, there was never an opportunity to take better pictures, so the ones on the kitchen floor will have to do. But the boards and bags are being put to good use at their new home!