Sleeping Bag Challenge

In spite of having a quilting mum, CT does NOT sleep under covers of any kind unless they are attached to her.  She's a twister, turner, upside down, sideways, anyway but relaxed, kind of sleeper.  She DOES sleep though, so I'm not going to complain, and the quilts on her bed make the prettiest base sheets you ever saw!  But, she is not quite as little as she used to be and although I've been putting it off for ages, I had to bite the bullet last week and figure out how to make her a larger sleeping bag.

(In spite of much research in the hope of finding a suitably sized bag that would allow me NOT to have to make one, I could not find one bigger than the ones she already has. Now thanks to @patchworkummy on IG I have a link to a site that does sell larger bags if required, though oddly there's a gap in sizes between 4 and 6 years old.)

Using some gifted Australian cuddle fleece and repurposing a lovely soft brushed cotton cot sheet as lining, my plan was to make a giant sleeping bag which will hopefully give her a bit more fidget room and keep her cosy as the nights turn a little cooler.

I didn't really have a clue what I was doing, so decided to make a little trial version just to see if I could get the construction steps straight in my head.

It was a bit tricky and I even sewed it all inside itself but that was the point of a test version and I just made myself a note to leave a gap in the lining of the real thing!

Far from perfect, but almost there and with a wee bit more care and precision, perhaps I could pull it off.  I also decided to order the construction stages differently in the making of the real version.

Enlarged pattern drafted and pinned, I got out my scissors and let the shed-fest begin!  It looked like it had snowed all over my house and all over me.  I was warned the cuddle fleece might shed and fray and it did not disappoint!

But I did get there.  Zipper in a lined sleeping bag, reasonably well-shaped and top stitched around the neckline/armhole and fixed with kam snaps at the shoulder tabs.

Not looking too closely is the key to this, but hey, CT has a sleeping bag that is much less snug than her existing bags and mummy has a sense of achievement!

Mummy also learned that she never, EVER wants to work with cuddle fleece again (shed-fest be gone!) and is very happy (hopefully) not to have to make a sleeping bag ever again either - thank you @patchworkummy for sharing the link!

Cuddly Toy Sleeping Bag

I've been sewing for CT's Christmas stocking lately and among the makes is a sleeping bag that I made with help from the Hexie Doll Quilt pattern in Sedef Imer's book, Quilt Petite.

Although it's called a quilt in the pattern, I think of it more like a sleeping bag.  I made two quilted pieces to the measurements of the pattern and bound them together.  The pattern doesn't use a quilted piece for the backing but I thought it might survive CT's not-so-gentle approach to play if hers has a quilty backing.

Sedef's pattern uses a gorgeous hexie EPP quilt topping but I needed a quicker solution, in spite of how much I would love to have made the hexies.  So, I used the adorable cheater print above which was sent to CT when she was born - it was the wrapping paper on her present from Yvonne (Nellie's Niceties).  I kept it, hoping to find a way of using it for her, and this seems like the ideal opportunity.  You can see that I don't have any pompom trim in my stash (as used in the original pattern) and so I used ric rac instead.  I have to breathe deeply when using ric rac because I'm not very good at getting it to stay put while sewing.  Managed it this time, phew!

Blue polka dot binding (also used as the backing) worked beautifully with the cheater prints delicate hues and patterns.

As you can see, Monkey looks very comfy in the cosy sleeping bag!  The other cuddlies will be queueing to have a snuggle too once it is delivered for Christmas!