SLEEPING BAG FOR BABY

For the sleeping bag I used fleece as a lining and a rectangle of one fabric rather
than patchwork so that the seams wouldn't be too bulky. I used 1/2 yard of main
fabric, a rectangle of fleece 42" by 15.1/2" and about 55" of lace or broderie
anglaise. In the photos, the fabric is the bouncing ball design and the teddies are
in fleece.

Cut a 2.1/2" strip of fabric across the width of the fabric. Put this to one side for
the moment to be used for the binding.
Place the fleece right side down and lay the fabric on top with right side up. Pin
the 2 pieces together.

Fold in half along the length, giving a rectangle about 8" by

22". Using a plate or anything curved, mark a curve inside one corner - make
sure you are not on the corner where the fold is. Cut along the marked curve to
round off the top of the sleeping bag.

Fold the binding strip in half along its length and press. Cut a 15.1/2" length.
Lay a 15.1/2" length of lace along the bottom, straight, edge of the fabric and lay
the binding on top of the lace (all raw edges together). Sew all layers together
using a 1/4" seam.
Flip the binding over and slipstitch to the fleece lining. With the fleece lining
underneath, fold the bottom, bound edge up by 17", so that you have a 27"
rectangle underneath and 17" rectangle on top, with a fold at the bottom. The
fleece should be on the outside. Sew the seams on either side from the fold to
the lace binding. Turn inside out. The bottom of the sleeping bag is complete, so
now there just remains the binding around the top, curved edge.

Measure around the top curved section of the baby sleeping bag. Mine measures
30". Cut a length of lace about 38" long and stitch along the long inner edge
using the largest stitch size on your machine. This usually gathers the lace up
slightly as shown, but if it doesn't then gently pull one of the threads of your
stitching and you can slide the lace along the thread to gather it slightly.
You also need 30" of binding. The remainder of the 2.1/2" strip is just too short
so I added 2" of another fabric to each end. I felt that this was better than
cutting a second 2.1/2" strip from the fabric at the beginning and reducing the
width of the baby sleeping bag. For the same reason I have not cut the binding
on the bias, even though it is to follow a curve.

Zigzag the raw ends of the lace and tuck the raw ends of the binding inside the
fold. Working on the outer fabric side of the sleeping bag, pin first the lace and
then the binding to the sleeping bag, all raw edges together.
In order to be sure and catch all the layers of fabric, it is best to use a 1/2" seam
to sew the layers together. Ease the layers gently round the curves. Don't worry
if the binding looks puckered as it will straighten out when you flip it to the other
side.
Flip the binding over to the inside and stitch to the fleece lining. That's the baby
sleeping bag complete.
I found these really useful when my children were babies because I could pick
them up to take them somewhere and not disturb them too much as the sleeping
bag came with them.