Doll Sleeping Bag Sewing Tutorial

Hunter stayed home from school today after a middle-of-the-night onset of a stomach bug. I was sorry for her to feel so bad, especially since the nighttime episode involved a very difficult hair-washing. But when the morning came, and she had slept 3 hours later than normal, and her stomach was feeling better, I think she and I both agreed that the nighttime upset was worth a day at home together.

After a movie, some crackers, and a morning of attempted work and chores, we finally ended up in the bonus room, which I am trying to dub the Creative Studio, on a Hunter-and-Will-style camp-out. Since Will has joined the Cub Scouts and has already had his first camp-out, sleeping bags are all the excitement in our house right now. Hunter grabbed her sleeping bag, and I came dragging her comforter to set up camp in the open space between the boxes, the ironing board, and the childrens’ library, which desperately needs shelving. I had full intention of napping on that fluffy pink comforter while Hunter did whatever you do when you pretend to camp out. She did not have that same intention.

Five minutes after I got nice and comfortable and nearly to snoozeland, she realized we were within arms distance of my sewing corner. And there was her brand new Janome Sew Mini sewing machine she got for her 6th birthday, perfectly boxed up and sitting amidst the boxes of fabric and craft supplies. And guess who didn’t bring a sleeping bag? The teddy bear. Before I knew it, Hunter had plopped the Janome box right in front of me and was picking tape off the box in preparation for making the sleeping bag she determined we would sew.

As I lay there, half awake, I kept making up excuses of why there was no way we could create a sleeping bag for her teddy bear right then and there, with no planning and no prep, and no idea how to use the new sewing machine. She wasn’t buying it. She knows we will attempt to make anything in our house, and the more complicated the better.

So out came the manual, which I, in my nerdiness, read cover to cover while she unwrapped the foot pedal and AC adapter. (I did, fortunately, get to read in the comfort of my camp-out palette.) The whole time I was thinking, am I really doing this? I can’t even think straight right now, much less think of how to concoct a sleeping bag zipper. And with a machine I’ve never used. I tried to convince her to think of something easier. Maybe something that didn’t need a pattern or a plan. Or something we already had a pattern for. Nope. The afternoon project was definitely going to be a sleeping bag.

We finally agreed on some striped flannel I had just 1/2 a yard of and some light pink flannel to line it. After a quick inspection of her sleeping bag, I determined that this really was quite a simple project. We folded the fabric over her teddy bear to get some dimensions, and then I just started cutting away. I found some quilt batting in my closet too, so it ended up being fluffy like a real sleeping bag, even though Hunter thought it needed to be flat.

I did the prep work, and Hunter did most of the sewing on the new Sew Mini. My new (old) Singer sewing machine table from Bill’s grandmother’s house turned out to be too high for Hunter to work at, so we moved her Mini down to an end table, which was the perfect height for her little self. I was extremely pleased with the Sew Mini, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to teach a child to sew or just wanting to learn themselves without a huge investment in a machine. It really sews beautifully, and it was fast and easy to learn. The simplicity does mean it lacks a few things that I’ve grown accustomed to on my Bernina Virtuosa, but the Sew Mini truly is a great little machine. I can already see Hunter putting the miles on it.

I’m going to write the sleeping bag up like a tutorial, though a quick and un-photographed one, because it truly was so super quick and easy to make, that nearly any novice seamstress should be able to make one in under an hour. I’m sure there are dozens of tutorials or patterns out there for this very thing, and there are a couple of things I would do differently if I wanted to take more time, but for a quick, one-hour little girl project, this is what I came up with.

P.S. That Singer sewing machine table? It still has the original sewing machine in it. Talk about Heir. Loom. I’ve thought of shabby-chic-ing the table, but I just don’t know. It’s decidedly full of character and deliciously brown and musty.

Doll Sleeping Bag Tutorial

Material

1/2 yard each of 2 coordinating fabrics
1/2 yard of quilt batting

Cutting Measurements

2 15″ x 22″ Rectangles of fabric, cut with the 15″ side going with the grain
1 15″ x 22″ Rectangle of quilt batting

Notions and Tools I Used

22″ Coordinating Zipper, Coordinating Thread, Scissors, Iron and Ironing Board, Seam-ripper, Straight Pins, Tape Measure, Fabric marking pen

Notes

This tutorial assumes a 1/2″ seam allowance, unless otherwise specified. All seams should be back-stitched at beginning and end, and corners and curves should be cut. The size could be completely varied; we made this for a teddy bear, and a small 12″ doll fit it perfectly. It would need to be slightly larger for an American Girl doll or a standard 18″ doll. This is such an easy project to custom fit.

This would make a great fat-quarter project!!

Instructions

1. ROUND THE CORNERS After cutting your rectangles of fabric and batting, place the fabric right sides together, and lay on top of batting. Cut the bottom two corners of all three layers in a rounded shape.

2. SEW TOGETHER With your fabric still right sides together, place the 3 layers on your machine with the fabric side up, and stitch around the entire outside edge, leaving a 3-4″ opening to turn.

3. TURN AND SEW CLOSED Trim the Seam Allowance, turn right side out, and press. Edge-stitch opening closed.

4. QUILT With your fabric marking pen, draw some quilting lines on the inside of the sleeping bag in any desired pattern. Our striped fabric came in handy with those lines, and we chose a typical comforter-type pattern of vertical lines that connect, alternating at the top and bottom. I’m sure there’s a technical term for this. Stitch along those lines.

5. INSERT THE ZIPPER This is the tricky part. And the part I would do differently if this were a bigger project. You’re going to do the zipper one side at a time–pin, sew, then pin, sew. Place the bottom of the zipper in the center of the sleeping bag, and pin one side of it around the edge of the sleeping bag, with the sleeping bag edge on top of the zipper tape. This is leaving the inside of the sleeping bag with an exposed zipper tape. It’s not my usual perfection, but it’s for a doll who won’t know the difference. Cut a few inches off the top of the zipper (with the zipper pull below where you are cutting). Be sure to fold the end of the zipper tape down at the top edge before pinning it so your zipper doesn’t fly off. I left 2 or 3 inches at the top of the sleeping bag zipper free. Stitch the zipper tape to the sleeping bag with whatever sort of edge-stitch or top-stitch you want. Repeat on the other side. I had a regular type of zipper, so when I got to this part, I actually had to hand-stitch the end of the zipper tape. This would be much easier with a zipper that separates completely (forgive my lack of technical terms here), but then you would have to keep putting it back together for your child. I opted for the painful one-time hand-sewn method as opposed to the easy-to-insert zipper that creates constant requests to put the zipper back together. If you get stuck on the zipper, I’m just sorry about it. Google a zipper tutorial or call my mom. She’s a zipper expert.

WARNING: If your son sees this, he’ll want one too. For his teddy bear. So will the neighborhood kids. I’m just warning you. Keep this one hidden.

A Running List. Roll Tide!

I’m bursting at the seams with things to tell you, partly because I haven’t blogged in so long, partly because I just read someone else’s blog who keeps a running list of things to share (most of them actually interesting or helpful, as opposed to my upcoming list of slightly boring details from my overly-stuffed brain), and partly because I have SO MUCH happening in my quiet little world.

So much, in fact, that I will probably have to break this post into a series. Which would be good. Then you would have something interesting (hopefully?) to read in the coming days, instead of once in a blue moon.

And speaking of blue moons, there is an absolutely amazing yellow moon glowing above the trees of the mountain view from my dormer window. Mrs. B texted me to be sure I didn’t miss it as I put the kids to bed.

So the moon, and the view, and the so-fun-neighbor who texts me to see the moon and saves lids for my son’s lid collection kick off my totally random list of thoughts running, no sprinting through my mind.

Yes, you read that right. My son has a lid collection. During our move this summer, he started collecting lids from our water jugs, which we now no longer need, since the tap water here won’t give you gallbladder disease. He had to collect other sorts of lids, and it quickly became a game to see how many and what kinds of lids he could collect. He wants to be in the Guinness Book of World records one day for having the largest lid collection. So Mrs. B joined the game and has definitely brought the most interesting lids of his collection.

Collecting. Once again we are collecting Box Tops for Education. My son’s school made like umpteen thousand dollars last year from Box Tops. That is simply amazing. I wish it would make them stop asking for donations from me of both money and extra teacher supplies. But if that’s what it takes to have such out-of-this-world schools that my children attend, I’ll bring in the donations. If you don’t mind, stick your box tops in an envelope and mail them to us. I’ll feel better about not contributing to the classroom ELMO fund.

Since the parents are all broke now from sending in extra Clorox wipes and printer cartridges and math workbook cost supplements, the kids are collecting donations from everyone else for the Healthy Heart Fun Run. This is Will’s first opportunity to go door-to-door flat out asking people for money to contribute to new technology equipment. Let me just tell you right now that I HATE FUNDRAISERS. With a passion. I hated them when I was in school, and I hate them now, and the only thing I ever want to sell or buy for a fundraiser is Girl Scout cookies. I love the Samoas and Thin Mints best of all. But this fundraiser, like it or not, has been a character-building assignment for Will and for me. Me–because I had to get off my rump and teach him through role-playing, something we rarely do. And him–because he had to learn how to look someone in the eye, project his voice, speak confidently, make a request to an adult he may or may not know, and then gratefully thank them afterward. This was a much-needed assignment for him, and he is very much wanting to raise $100 by this Friday so that he can attend the pizza party. I, however, feel the tug of war between the current school fundraiser and the Cub Scout popcorn fundraiser that is coming, probably like next week. The good thing about this one is that any amount is helpful. Cub Scout popcorn, however, is expensive. But it does at least give the purchaser something tangible in return.

Did I mention that my Eagle Scout husband managed to find himself as an Assistant Den Leader? I don’t think he meant to do that, but he made a friend with another den leader who really needed help. That friend’s son happens to be one of Will’s good friends at school. He has a really sweet family of six. So sweet, that they invited us to join them and several other couples for Game Day Saturday.

Ah, Game Day. Saturday was our first Bama Game Day to attend. Roll Tide. Did you know that in Alabama, Saturdays during Football Season revolve around Game Day? Bama flags fly, fans don crimson, and beer flows. Almost noone watches the game alone. And afterwards–the camping chairs come out to the lawns while the dogs grill and the police sit watching the main roads.

Shortly after our first Game Day, I “friended” my new friends from the party on facebook, and on one of the friend’s pages, I saw a youtube video of an ESPN Roll Tide commercial. It taught me a lot about this Alabama culture. Apparently “Roll Tide” is useful for any expression you need to use it for, not just to root on the home team. Are you leavin’ your friends house? Roll tide. Did you pass the test? Roll Tide. Is dinner ready? Roll Tide. But be sure and say it Bama-style: “Roll Tahd.” Ha! Love it. Now Will tells me with a grin and a wink, “I love you, Mom! Roll Tide.”

Ah, the many things I love about Alabama. Sounds like a post for another day. I guess I’ll let this list come to a close. But come back tomorrow. I’m typing the next one “raht now.”