Craft Time: Giant Chess Board

I found myself needing a giant chess board.

I am the parent advisor/teacher for my son's chess club and we like to do dress up and have a live action game now and then. Last year we used painter's tape and a permanent black marker on a white plastic table cloth. It was a one time use solution and the squares were too small (1 foot).

Then my son started helping a family friend plan a Harry Potter party, based on the Sorcerer's Stone. They needed a giant chess board for one of the scenes.

I volunteered to make one. I wanted a reusable board that would stand up to child use and provide enough room for live action players to stand comfortably. I started by searching for used sheets via my friends, freecycle, etc. It didn't work out.

I ended up at the fabric store with a small budget. I discovered some heavy "eco felt" (made from recycled stuff) marked way down from it's usual price. Bingo!

 It was 72 inches wide and I bought 4 yards of black and 4 of white. My son and I cut out 64 eighteen inch squares (32 white, 32 black).

The next part was the most daunting part for me. Honestly, sewing 60 straight seams sounded tedious. Afriend volunteerd to help. (Thanks, L!!) Things are friendlier and quicker with two, and in one evening, fueled by chocolate mint fudge, we sewed 16 strips of four squares each, alternating black and white. We used 5/8 inch seams, but any seam size will do as long as it is consistent.

 

A few days later, I pressed the seams open so they wouldn't be bulky.

Then, I sewed four sets of four strips together with right sides together, being careful of the checkerboard pattern.  I ended up with four pieces of 16 squares each. Again, I used  5/8 inch seams.

 I had considered various options for connecting the four pieces. I thought of Velcro (too likely to gather dirt), zippers (expensive and time consuming at 6 ft each) and sewing. In the end, I borrowed a solution from a blogging buddy: Duct tape: (Check out: DIY Cheap and Chic Outdoor Area Rug). This solution allows for maintaining the board in four pieces which are easier to store than one whole and the pieces can be washed at home, rather than in the commercial size washers at the Laundromat.

To use this solution:

Put right sides of two pieces together, being careful to preserve the checkerboard pattern. Pin the seams together:

 For each square, stretch duct tape from seam to seam on one side.

 Lift and press the tape down on the other side, forming a seam. Remove pins.

 

Repeat this with the other two pieces, taking care that this new side matches the checkerboard on the other side.

 

Then, pin and duct tape the two sides together, being careful to remove the pins. You then have a ready to use chessboard:

 

We look forward to using our chessboard many times. I hope this is helpful if you ever need something similar.

What crafts have you made lately?

 

First six photos by J. Parry. Final Photo by J. Brown.