Make Your Own Baby Sleeping Bag

Making you own baby sleeping bag is really just making an over-sized baby blanket and then adding a zipper to it. Trust me it's not that hard. I will go over how I made my own baby sleeping bag and you can just adjust the sizes and fabrics to suit your own needs.

First of all, you will need to shop for appropriate fabric. I recommend using something just a little more heavy weight for this project, unless you plan on using it during warmer weather months.
I used a semi heavy jacquard fabric for mine. It has a cute Winnie the pooh print to it. I actually bought it at Walmart on sale for $2.00 per yard. You can't beat that! I used a fleece for the inside lining. You can probably get away with buying one yard of each fabric, but it never hurts to get a little extra just in case. Plus, if you have any left over you can always make a matching pillow or something.

Start by ironing the fabrics. You can even pre-wash them if you think it is necessary.
Place the fabrics onto your work surface so that they are matched at the corners and they are facing in towards each other. Both fabrics should have the back of the fabric facing outwards. You want to cut the fabric into one large rectangle. The size of the cut depends on how big you want the baby sleeping bag to be. I cut mine to 35" by 45", but my sleeping bag is very over-sized. It is actually closer to a sleeping bag for say, a one year old. You can easily adjust the sizing yourself to make it smaller or bigger. One way to make sure and keep your cutting straight is to use a tape measure and mark off a guideline for cutting using some sewing chalk.

Once you have the fabric cut, pin both fabrics together so that all the corners are matching up. Now just go right ahead and sew the edges shut leaving a 2-3" opening for turning the fabric out. See my page on how to make a baby blanket for more detailed help...

Cut the extra fabric from the corners, and turn the fabric inside out (actually outside in). Iron the edges of the blanket if you wish.
Now is the time to get out the needle and thread. Turn the edges in where you left an opening in the fabric. Using the same thread you sewed the blanket with, hand stitch the opening shut.

Now fold the blanket in half to form how you want the baby sleeping bag to be sewn. Measure across the bottom edge from left to right, and then

To sew the zipper on you will want to fold the sleeping bag so that the inside is facing outwards. Keep your zipper shut and pin it from the bottom corner all the way across the bottom and about halfway up the edge of the sleeping bag until you meet the end. You can unzip the zipper after pinning to make it easier to sew. Once you have sewn both side of the zipper on all the way, all you need to do is turn the baby sleeping bag the right side out and press with an iron, and you're done!

These baby sleeping bags are great for babies and small children. I even used mine as a wrap around my baby on cool days. I just plopped her right in it and carried her around that way. It did great to cover her legs and keep her warm. I have even used it on winter days to cover her bottom half, while her top half was adorned in her winter jacket. Mmmm, comfy cozy...

Making one of these baby sleeping bags can make for a really great baby gift too. And don't count out making it part of an entire matching baby bedding set!

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