Sleep Sack for a Toddler

I have a monkey for a 21 month old. She is all arms and legs and climbs everything, including her crib.

She also FREEZES at night. I've never met anyone quite so cold blooded, and I have a hard time believing she is related to me, who likes the thermostat set to about ice box or below. (In the below pic she's helping me create a pattern for her new sack.  We were using her old sleep sack as a template to create the new one.)

Now, I'm not quite ready to move her to a big girl bed, because, well, she's also uber-curious, and I can only imagine what she'll get into if left to her own devices in her room.  (just look at those deceptively quiet deep brown eyes.)

So we solved the climbing problem AND the freezing problem by putting her in a sleep sack. Can't get a leg up when they're tucked inside a sack. But Little Miss Long Legs is too long for her sack. And apparently the baby clothes making companies don't think anyone over the age of 9 months need these.

To solve the problem, I made her a big(ger) kid sleep sack.  This is the last of the material from these covers which used to be stocked in my shop.  I had just enough material to make sure the fabric pattern centered nicely on the front and the back, but not enough material to allow extra room in the fabric pattern to meet perfectly across the zipper.

Because I had limited amounts of material, I couldn't get as much of an a-line cut on the front pieces.  That meant I needed to put a little box pleat in the back piece when I sewed them together.  Had I been thinking (instead of trying to sew this in time for her nap while she and her brother jumped around the room like wild monkeys, tossing new Christmas toys willy nilly and in general causing mayhem of one type and another), I would have not made it an inverted box pleat, as it would look prettier on the outside.  But this job was rushed so that it could be used at nap time.

Also, I didn't get the light pink bias tape cut for the right armhole.  But maybe before bedtime :)

I did take pictures along the way, so I'm thinking I can put this up as an easy peasy tutorial, too.

Something for the boy

Poor Ben.  He does get short shrift in the sewing department.

And he gets SO excited when I do make something for him.  

I told him about a dinosaur winter hat that I could make for him, courtesy of From an Igloo.

 

So during his nap, I stitched it up.

He loved it.  But then said he wouldn't wear it till I added eyes.

So here is his sister modeling the hat.

It's a bit big on her.  It's a bit big for him, too.  Now that I've made it once, I think in the future, I'll make the triangles (for the crown, not the dino spikes) smaller.  

Guess I need to add eyes during his next nap.

Double Sided Fleece Blanket for Toddlers - Naptime Project

Ben, the three year old, has been so patient as I keep stitching things up for his little sister, and I have been really wanting to make him something of his own.  Every time I'm working with fleece, he steals the fabric and says it is his blanket, so I thought I'd make him one.  The boy loves his Baltimore sports teams, so I bought a yard of each of the fabrics above and made him a blanket that he can actually use.  I told him if he took a good nap, I'd have a surprise for him when he woke up.  And I did!  I don't think I've ever been happier to give someone something I made.  He has been wanting a blanket from some of my fabric stash for so long.  He immediately wrapped himself in it and stole my heart.

Click on "read more" to get the full how to.

Katrina's Soaker Tutorial for the Novice Sewer - Part 3

Depending on when the kiddos wake up from their naps, this will be the last in the Katrina Tutorial Series!  The first tutorial covered cutting the pattern and sewing the wetzone layer on to the soaker.  The second tutorial showed sewing the soaker body and the waist and leg bands.  This one will show you how to sew the waist and leg bands to the soaker body.  And you'll be all done!

Katrina's Soaker Tutorial for the Novice Sewer - Part 2

Here is part two of the tutorial.  Also, if you are a super newbie sewer, this post on Prudent Baby's Blog is a great place to see a quick and easy video tutorial on using a sewing machine. 

For Part One of the tutorial, click here.

Read more after the jump.

Katrina's Soaker Tutorial for the Novice Sewer - Part 1

I love these fleece cloth diaper covers in the Katrina pattern. It is so generous of her to share it with all of us cloth diapering mamas! While I sell some in my etsy shop, I think that if you are a handy mama, you can sew your own. It really feels wonderful to know that you've made something for your own little one. So if you are a novice sewer, this tute is for you!

Get the first part of the tutorial after the jump.  I'll add the next parts over the next couple of days.