You can make a simple hacky sack at home from scrap fabric or two balloons and a filler like rice or dried beans. It’s a great rainy-day project and a good way to understand how footbags work. Here’s the quick version — and an honest note on where homemade bags hit their limits.
The fast balloon method (5 minutes)
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Cut the neck off one balloon.
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Fill it with about a golf-ball-sized amount of rice, lentils, or plastic pellets.
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Stretch a second (neck-cut) balloon over the first to seal it.
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Add a third balloon for durability. Done.
The fabric method (sewn)
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Cut small fabric panels (a simple 2- or 4-panel pattern works).
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Sew them together inside-out, leaving a gap.
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Turn it right-side out, fill with rice or sand, and hand-stitch the gap closed.
More panels give a rounder ball but are harder to sew evenly.
Where DIY bags fall short
Homemade bags are fun, but they rarely stall well. Rice and beans absorb moisture and go stale; balloons split; hand-sewn panels aren’t round enough for clean delays. If you just want to bat a bag around, DIY is perfect. If you want to learn stalls and freestyle, the fill and construction start to matter a lot — which is why serious players use purified sand inside durable synthetic suede with many panels.
That’s the difference with a bag like the 14-Panel OG: consistent 58-gram weight, sand that won’t rot, and a shape built to stall. Make one for fun; buy one to actually improve.
Quick answers
What are footbags made of? Panels of material — synthetic suede, leather, or crocheted cotton — sewn together and filled with sand, pellets, or beads.
What is the filling in a hacky sack made of? Usually sand, plastic pellets, or metal beads; sand gives the most controllable feel.
Ready for a bag that stalls? See the footbag lineup.