Sleepy Sack Tutorial

I don't know about you... but my baby [and I use that term loosely] has decided to grow up on me! 

At 5 months old he is already 17lbs 4.6 oz and 28inches (or better) long! 

Compare that to his birth stats of 10lbs 1oz (yep big baby) and 20 inches long. 

It makes me sad that he is growing up so quick!

As a first time mom I just knew that I could NEVER live without what I can a sleepy sack. Especially not after all the horror stories I heard about babies covering their heads with blankets in the night! Blankets in my kids crib? Psh! I think not!

I purchased a Halo [you didn't see that] Sleep Sack and was amazed! Not only did it swaddle but it kept him warm! GO SLEEP SACK! 

So in true mommy crafty-ness I got right on it procrastinated!

So here goes! 

Disclaimer: I am not claiming to be good at this tutorial thing so if my directions completely bite just comment or email me and I will see what I can do to change it up! :D

And I apologize for the crap-tastic pictures... my camera doesn't like me!

What you need:

-2 t shirts or one REALLY long t shirt
-Medium width velcro (half of the length of your child) or a zipper
-shirt with no sleeves that fits your child or is a teensy bit big
-your trusty sewing machine
-patience

Here goes:

First measure how long your kiddo is and add several inches. My son is 28 inches head to toe so I made this 32 inches long.Than you gather your t-shirts and your child's sleeveless . 

Cut your shirt that you want for the main color up the sides



We are going to use the collar that is already there since it is ribbing and it will have a nice finish (and stretch since your making this for your LO to grow into) So put your childs shirt to the neckline and use a fabric pencil or marker to trace.

When drawing the pattern make it flow out slightly like a dress.
This piece should be your child's height minus 2 inches.
(don't worry we will add those inches and than some back later)



This is what you should have (if you didn't mess up you will have just one drawing)


Cut it out through ONE thickness of the shirt because remember the back neckline is different from the front!



(remember to cut out ONCE SIDE AT A TIME because the back necline must be higher than the front! )

[now repeat those last couple of steps for the back of the sleep sack]



The neckline should look like this!


Remember those two inches we took away? Add those plus the extra you added when calculating and cut out a "bottom" for your sack.
When cutting remember that the sack flows like a dress so it is a good idea to lay your sack on your shirt to cut.

(I.e. my child is 28 inches tall.. I made this 32 inches long. So my bottom panel would be 6 inches long)


Like so...
Than round out the corners (it just looks good)


Now we are moving onto our trusty sewing machine!


[The rest of the tutorial is under this link... I hid it so that all the pics didn't load at once for our slower loaders]


So now we have our trusty machine... The first thing I did was overedge stitch using my overcast foot all the way around the arm holes. it is neater and looks good for decoration. (I hate doing small hems :P) But you can just fold it over twice and sew . (I took pictures of both)

[folding over and sewing]

[over cast]

Than your going to straight stitch the top half of your sack to the bottom half of a different color.
Attach both front and back with right sides facing in
(than serge or overcast the seam if you want)


Find the shoulders with right sides of fabric facing each other and straight stitch both sides together
(serge or overcast close for extra strength)

Finally we are going to sew all the way down the sides of the sack! Find where you have already sewn on the bottom part.


Make sure that the front and back match up and stick a pin in there to keep them matched.
(very important... trust me I forgot the first time and let's just say me and trusty seam ripper sat in the living room for awhile)

Sew all the way down and around the product with right sides of the fabric facing together (don't forget to leave the arm holes open!)
[Serge or overcast the seam for extra strength if wanted]


Now finally we are ALMOST DONE!
As our last step we are going to create a slit so that you can actually get your kiddo in and out!
Lay the sack out flat on the table and find the center of the back.
Now remember that zipper or velcro you got earlier?
Measure your zipper and cut a slit in the back of your sack an appropriate length. Or if you have velcro decide how big you want your opening and cut to size.



You should than have this..


I am using velcro so in order to do this I used the left overs from the bottom of the sack and cut out two strips that were 2 times the width of my velcro and 1/2 inch longer than the slit.


I used Soft and Flexible SEW ON.
I would NOT recommend the sticky version! It does not hold that good!

Oh gross! Excuse the fat fingers! :P


So now I have my two strips



And this is where my camera got iffy on me... So

I used one strip like bias tape and sewed it on and than over the edge of the right side. I than attatched the Soft part of the velcro to the length of this.

After that I did the left side and attatched the strip so that it made the fabric WIDER. 
I will try to add a picture of this later today! 
Than attatched the harder prickly velcro to this piece so that it overlapped the soft :D 


And presto! Wearble! 


I put my lil R.bug in it and he went right to sleep (as you can see)

And he has lots of room to grow!


Enjoy!

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