Snap up Sleeping Bag Sewing Tutorial

Do you love camping? Nicole of the 2014 Sewing Rabbit Team is here with an awesome snap up sleeping bag sewing tutorial that will have you ready to hit the campground this Spring Break! But it gets better, by simply unsnapping the sides this sleeping bag instantly turns into a cozy quilt. Genius! Your little one will love to go camping, either in the great outdoors or in your living room, with this sleeping bag DIY. Time to break out the smores.

Snap Up Sleeping Bag Sewing Tutorial

Hello Sewing Rabbit friends! Nicole here from Modern Handcraft with a fun project to make your little camper, a Snap up Sleeping Bag! My little guy has a hard time with zippers but LOVES snaps so I decided to change up the traditional sleeping bag for the little ones with a bonus – it snaps open to make the coziest camping quilt in the campground!

This combo makes for a fun pretend camp out or sleepover at grandmas house!  It is also warm enough to take on camping trips in the great outdoors. The size of this sleeping bag is perfect for smaller children and can grow with your kiddo as a lap quilt when un-snapped!

Materials needed: Finished Sleeping bag dimensions: 28″ x 56″ // Finished Camping Quilt dimensions: 56″ x 56″

• Sewing machine and sewing notions – scissors, coordinating thread, straight pins, large safety pins, fabric pen/pencil.
• Fabric – Inside panel 1.25 yards / Front border 1 yard / Backing Fleece or flannel (this will be the back of your quilt and also the inside of your sleeping bag) 3.25 yards
• Batting – A high loft polyseter blend works nice, twin size if you are buying pre-packaged.
• Snaps or fabric for ties – Kam snaps were used in this tutorial
• Tape for prepping quilt.

(Materials used for this project: Dear Stella Take a Hike line – Take a Hike Gray for mail panel, Flannel Camping Gray for backing and Arrows Cream for border. I used some of the Thermos Plaid Multi for a quick pillow case // Mountain Mist Fatt Batt Quilt Batting, this has a very high loft // Kam snap kits with pliers can be found online and are very reasonable – you will need the snap pliers to attach.)

Step 1:

• Take your two border pieces measuring 7″ x 44″ and sew onto the top and bottom of the main panel piece that measures 44″ x 44″ with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Press open your seams.

• Now take your two border pieces measuring 7″ x 57″ (this border piece is pieced together from two smaller strips) sew onto each side. Press open your seams. Your blanket top now measures roughly 57″ x 57″.

• You can now sew together your backing fabric.Take your 3.25 yds of fabric and cut in half leaving two cuts measuring 44″ x 58.5″ Sew the two cuts together lengthwise and press open. Cut your backing down to 57″ x 57″ for your final size. Any remaining fabric can be used for a sleeping bag holder or pillow case.

Step 2:

• You will now need a large space (living room or dining room floor) to make your quilt sandwhich. Lay your backing fabric down first facing upwards. I like to take some clear packing tape and tape down the ends and sides to smooth my fabric out for pinning. Next lay your blanket top face down on-top of your backing. Smooth and tape down corners as well.

• At this point I like to trim up any uneven sides to make sewing around the edges easier. Then lay your batting on-top as your final layer – trim the batting to fit your blanket and smooth / tape down corners. **taping down also helps in case a toddler scampers across this mid project 😉

• Time to pin! Take your large safety pins and pin around the perimeter like shown about 1.5″ in from the edge. You will want to do this because when we sew I like to flip this over and sew against the fabric (the batting catches on my sewing foot). Keeping the pins in a bit lets you keep them in place without having to move them.

Step 3:

• Now back at your machine it is time to sew around the edges. I gave myself a very comfortable 1/2″ seam allowance. Remember to leave an opening about 10″ wide to turn your blanket inside out. If you forget – that’s what seam rippers are for 🙂

• Cut away the excess around the edges – leaving yourself about 1/4″ seam allowance. I also left the full amount around the area I left open to make it easier to sew my opening closed.

• Turn inside out through your opening. Poke out the edges with a pen to create nice sharp points.

• Pin the opening closed. Sometimes it helps to fold in and iron before pinning.

• Stitch around the edges, starting with your opening. I used a 1/4″ seam allowance for this.

Step 4:

• At this point you can get creative. I did a straight line stitch around the inside cream border and then straight line stitches along the inside gray panel about 1.5″ wide. If you are not a fan of quilting you can tie this off with yarn every few inches.

Step 5:

• Before adding your snaps (or strips of fabric for ties) I measured down the open side where you would normally have a zipper about 14 inches. I then marked with my fabric pencil every 3 inches, you can space these as you like.

• Following the directions for your snaps, place those where your marked spots are. I used Kam snaps, because they are easy to work with and are great for kids projects since they are plastic. These unsnap easily so it makes it a little easier on small hands. Heavy duty metal snaps or stitching up some fabric strips for ties would work nicely as well!

• Once you finish with the snaps you are done! Time to break out the smores – it’s camping time!

Here are some additional photos of the Snap up Sleeping Bag. Thanks for checking out today’s tutorial and I hope you enjoy making this project!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and until next time…

Happy Sewing!

-Nicole