{DIY 18" Doll Sleeping Bag}

So now that we have TWO American Girl dolls, they will be having sleepovers. :) We have one beautiful handmade doll bed that you can see a little bit of here.  My father-in-law creates beautiful wooden furniture, so we are fortunate to have a bed, table and chairs, and school desk for FREE. (That's the only way we would have those things, believe me. Yikes on the prices!) So, it's actually wide enough that both dolls can sleep side-by-side, but when they are camping out they really need a sleeping bag. ;)

Again, price the "real" thing and.....it ain't happenin'. My OWN sleeping bag cost only a little more than that. So I grabbed some purple fleece from the clearance remnant rack at Joann's and got started.

I measured it just by laying the doll down and guessing. I think it turned out pretty well. I sewed together 2 pieces of purple for both the front and back side, sliding a thin piece of cotton batting between each of the two pieces. This makes it feel more like a sleeping bag, and it's SO SOFT I want to sleep in it! This doll is camping in luxury!

I sewed scrap ribbon inside of the top piece to use as the roll-up tie. I also sewed velcro along the side, but not the full length of the sleeping bag.

I made a little pillow that you can tuck inside before you roll it up. I kind-of wish I had just made the back piece longer, but it's fine this way, too. Live and learn!

I used scrap felt to make the butterfly on the front, and stitched a swirl design freehand to look like the butterfly 'flutter'. It's hard to see that part in this picture.

It rolls up nicely and tucks away so it doesn't take up space (and it's easy for her to carry of course).

This cost me about $6 total. The purple remnant I bought was MUCH more than I needed, but it was cheap and I figured I would use it for another project later on. The 'real thing' is in the $30's, without S&H, so I'm counting it as a score.

And look....she must like it because she's sleeping so peacefully!

I have so much fun making things for my kiddo to play with, and even more so when it's soooo much cheaper than buying the same thing! I'm rewarded with gratefulness from a sweet girl, and that's really the best part.

Email me if you have any questions about it!

Thanks for stopping by,