Baby Sleeping Bag

Our girls were swaddled as newborns and and once they started rolling we have dressed them in sleeping sack / gro-bag type suits over their pyjamas. Lucy is so much taller than Anna was at the same age, and she has outgrown all the baby sleeping bags I had for her. We are not ready to take the sides of her cot yet and create a 'big girl' bed, so she needed a new extra long sleeping bag for winter.

A couple of weeks ago Abby mentioned that she was making one for her newborn due in May, so we decided to have a sewing night and make sleeping bags. Abby's sister-in-law Anna and myself both brought around our machines and fabric to her place and sewed up a storm together. It's amazing how much you get done when you set the time aside and have a few people to help! (And chat endlessly about sewing, fabric, patterns, tutorials, machines, techniques and so on and on...)

I loved being able to control the weight of it - my girls are both hot sleepers so I didn't go for a really heavy lining. I used a cotton panel style print for the outer, which had the large bird and flower motif with a sort of patchwork type print between each bird panel. I loved the aqua, pink and red combo. Super girly but not too babyish.

I used a cotton flannelette for the middle layer, then a soft white cotton jersey knit for the interior which is the layer against Lucy's skin.

I had made a few little mistakes, like on the front there is a bit of a pinch where I sewed the seam under the zipper, and the neckline doesn't quite line up above the zip, but for my first attempt at this pattern I was pretty pleased. And you can't tell when Lucy is wearing it!

I made a tab under her chin to protect her from the zipper end and also to make sure she doesn't unzip it and take it off. I used a plastic snap to secure the tab. I'm so in love with my Kam snap pliers!

I think she likes it! I'm so glad I made this when I did. I suspected she was a bit uncomfortable in her old ones and she used to wriggle out of them as often as she could. She hasn't taken this one off once and she is sleeping so much better during her afternoon nap. Yesssss! *fist pump* Now I need to make one more so I can rotate them through the wash. Abby I think we need another sewing night...