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Kids are a beautiful gift and we always want to look after them as best we possibly can, to bring a beautiful, loving and caring individual to the world when they grow up. A great way of showing your love for your baby is turning your hand to craft and sewing, Make a sleeping bag for your baby you will be proud of.
DIY is the latest craze taking over the moms to make beautiful and unique accessories for their babies. For example, make sleeping bag for baby, for your little girl or boy, sewing the cutest baby clothes, knitting gloves and mittens are some of the activities that many new moms eagerly turn to.
There is such pleasure and pride in dressing your baby in a piece you have designed and made with love. You can even design your own label to stitch in and who knows, perhaps you can turn this into a little cottage industry…
They make great gifts to give as presents. We have found a great pattern here if you would like to try making one of these cute baby sleeping bags or sleep sack as they are also known. This McCalls pattern is more advanced than the simple bag we will teach you how to make next.
How to Create A Simple Quilt Bag
These cute as a button, baby sleeping bags give you the opportunity to use your creativity and design a fun and personalized bag. A safe, comfy and warm babies bed is one of the most important items, as a new born spends most of his time sleeping. Beautiful pastel colors in brushed flannels are an ideal choice.
With enough space to turn on either side, the baby feels warm, protected and safe when lying in their sleeping bags. The cleaning and maintenance of these bags is very easy. Simply machine wash and tumble dry and they are good to go for afternoon nap time. Here we have listed one of the quickest and easiest ways to create a homemade sleeping bag for babies
Make Sleeping Bag For Baby: Steps To Create A Simple Quilt Bag
Using an existing quilt to make sleeping bag for baby is a very quick and easy way to design and construct a comfy bag. The items you need for making this bag are as follows:
- A single cot sized quilt for the outer shell
- baby patterned flannel / brushed cotton fabric for the inner liner
- Zipper, buttons, trim, needle and thread, baby appliqués, ribbon etc
The idea is simple and easy, provided you know a little about sewing. Even if you don’t, we encourage you to have a go, you may surprise yourself with your inner genius:)
Step 1: Measure your baby from their toes to 5 inches above their head for the length of the bag. Measure across babies chest and allow an extra 5″ on each side.
For example, I am giving instructions how to make a bag measuring 23″ long and 17″ wide to suit an approximately 2-3 month old baby. This will be very much dependent on your babies weight and height.
Lay the quilt and fabric down on the floor together as you will be cutting them as one piece. Pin them together to stop slippage as you cut the rectangle .
Cut a rectangle measuring 24″ long by 35″ wide. It is quite wide, so baby can get her arms up while sleeping as many babies like to do.
If you are using a zip closure, fabric measurements are : 24″ x 35″
If you are using a button closure, fabric measurements are : 24″ x 38″as you need an overlap for buttons
Put the fabric together so the right sides of the fabric are together and wrong sides are both facing outwards. You will stitch around the rectangle with 1/2 ‘ seams, leaving a small 4″ gap. Make sure you back stitch each end to stop stitching undoing.
Now turn the bag inside out through that 4″ gap to show the right side of the fabric.
Using needle and thread, hand sew the 4″ gap closed.
For closing the baby sleeping bag, I recommend inserting a zip as its easier to open and close than buttons. Stitching in a zip is also considerably easier if you don’t have a lot of sewing experience, as buttons will require button holes.
Having said that, there are some gorgeous buttons you can use to decorate the front of the bag, and if they are large enough, I have found babies like to play with them.
For a zip front sleeping bag
Bring the 2 edges of the bag together which is the 26″ side. Pin in the zip, starting at the bottom and so it finishes at the base of your babies neck where their chest begins. You don’t want to take it up too high near their face.
Either hand stitch or use a sewing machine to sew in the zip securely.
Lay the bag down so the zip runs up the middle and stitch across the bottom of the bag to close it off. You can decorate the bottom of the bag to hide the stitching.
Voila! You have just created your very first simple baby sleeping bag, well done.
Adding trims and decorations
If you would like to decorate your sleeping bag with trim, I recommend doing it at the stage where you have stitched around the bag and turned it through. Its easier to add trims when it is a flat piece of fabric.
Mommy Tip
Using pretty pastel shades for the sleeping bag is a good option. Also, choose a quilt which is multi-layered so the bag remains thick and warm.
For a button front sleeping bag
Bring the 2 edges of the bag together which is the 26″ side. Overlap the front edges by 3″ and work out where your first button will be. Position the button at the base of your babies neck where their chest begins.
You don’t want to take it up too high near their face. Space buttons every 3 to 4′ apart and make sure you make the buttonholes horizontally, not vertically. They slip open too easily.
Stitch across the sleeping bag bottom to close it off or you can button it closed as well. This is a nice finish too. Your chosen buttons can work as a lovely decorative finish. Make sure the buttons are washable, do not use wood buttons. They don’t like washing machines.
Tips for Mom
A tip worth mentioning here is to make your babies sleeping bag special, use pretty trims, baby appliqués, rickrack, ribbons and add patchwork fabrics as bands of color…
That’s it! Just follow these easy steps to making your baby sleeping bag and you will have created a lovely and comfortable bag for your beloved baby in a couple of hours.
If you decide making a baby sleeping bag looks all too hard, take a look at the 6 most popular sleeping bags here…they are so gorgeous.
