My daughter got an American Girl doll for Christmas this year, and I got a sewing machine that we both have been excited to try out. For our first project I thought we would go easy, since we both are VERY novice sewers. I found a tutorial for making a sleeping bag for an American Girl doll (or Build-A-Bear animal) here, and we followed some of the directions, but changed some things around as well. Thought I’d share with you!
This project was actually pretty easy for us novices, and were both pretty proud of the end result! It was a spur of the moment project, so we just used some material that I already had on hand. If I were to make this again, I would definitely choose some cuter fabric 😉 But my daughter loves it, so that’s all that matters, right?
Here’s what we did:
1. Cut two pieces of fabric into a 21″x27″ rectangle, one for the inside lining of the sleeping bag, and one for the outside of the sleeping bag. (I used the princess fabric for my liner, the bright pink for the outside).
2. Lay out the sleeping bag fabric, right side up. Place the lining fabric on top of it, wrong side up. Pin the two pieces together.
3. Use a fabric marker to mark the center of each short side. Starting at one mark, sew along the edge down the half of the short side, along the long side, and then halfway up the other short side to the other mark- basically around half of the rectangle. This will be the top half of the sleeping bag (once it is folded and sewed later).
4. Clip the corners, and then cut a small slit next to the dots. Turn the bag right side out. I used the point of my scissor to push in the corners.
5. Fold the material in half to form the sleeping bag, with the right sides touching, and pin together. Sew starting at the dot, and sew down the unsewn side, and across the bottom of the bag. Turn the bag right side out, and use your scissors to push out the corners.
All done! Now if I can make this with my limited sewing skills, you can definitely make this! Your little girl will love you even more for it!
P.S. My daughter helped sew this one, and now wants to save up her money to buy herself a sewing machine. Love that. Now we just need to make a quick pillow for her and she’ll be set to go to the next sleepover! We are going to roll up the sleeping bag when not in use, wrap a ribbon around it, and tie it for easy storage and transport.
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XO, Laura
