Strawberries and Mint - Burda Baby Sleeping Bag #9640

This pattern is the "Baby Sleeping Bag Burda Sewing Pattern No. 9640"

or a 'Grobag' as they are more fashionably called!



I love the idea of this piece of clothing, wrapped up but with room to move- whilst looking gorgeous. PLUS... they are really yummy mummy fashionable and you can be spending £45 on a top-end one... frugal thoughts enter my head and I have to out-do in quality and price!






I have so many ideas brimming for this little girl I'm having! It seems the more I find out about her and time I spend brewing her, the more I make and think and plan to make for her arrival!

In my (messy) room, I have ongoing:

• Another growbag
• A knit cardigan
• A Crayon Quilt that I'm making with REALLY thick wadding for a play mat
• Nappy covers

Unstoppable!

After a real crazy decision-making stint with every fat quarter and remnant I had, I found this combination as my current favourite mix of fabrics. I love that it's girlie but not yucky as there is pink to show, world, that she is a girl but the green neutralises any yuck and goo into a piece a bit more summery-chic than candy-floss.

I made the piece out of quilt-weight cotton, rather than the suggested sweater-weight knit. Instead I used a cotton interlining to make the weight and the tog of the grobag much warmer. To be honest, this looks like it's ready to eat on a summers day yet warm enough for a March snow drift! 

I loved the underlap detail. No pinching necks and skin here... doesn't bear thinking about, does it?! Anyway, its a lovely detail. I used the lining fabric to get even more pink (dark pink) in there. Underlaps like this are basted onto the zipper fabric and then permanently attached when the lining is applied. 

For the maths; bambina will be born in August. I made a 3-6 month size. So that gives me at least November to February of use and most likely, as this is massive... up until next March! Not bad going.

To clarify, the pattern does not require the addition of piping. I just thought that it would bring the bias arm and neck lines into the piece a bit more. I really like the look of it and anyone who knows anything about sewing will know that additions such as these are a sign of spending that little bit more time on a piece and adding that little bit more quality.

Lining, piping and bias was all made from the same fabric. I am so happy with the results. This is truly one of the best things I've ever made. I just love it!

The lining is so simple, too. In construction this grobag, you make two- one outer and one lining. They are attached by the arm and neckline and then covered with bias tape. The lining is then turned and hand stitched to the zipper fabric. Thanks to my bombshell dress, I knew how to make this baby look almost invisible!

So here is little ones growbag, I hope you like it!

I bought the sewing pattern from: Sew Essential. A cheap and fabulous shop of all your essentials at a VERY reasonable price

Fabric is from Backstitch. I used Klona Cotton: Ice Frappe and Berry and Leaf by Lizzy House. Bias and piping material was just a pink metre I had from Lincoln City Market, I do believe.






Pricing:

Fabrics: £2.60 Ice Frappe (1/2 Metre), £1.50 Pink Fabric (1/3 metre) and £4.00 berry fabric
Zip: £1.00 eBay job lot
Interlining: Free from a remnant after I made a pair of curtains for a friend
Pattern: £3.95

Total cost: £13.85

All in all, this seems like a lot- much more than I have spent for some of my own makes in the past. However in comparison to the cheapest baby sleeping bag on the John Lewis website @ £22.00,  I think that mine wins! John Lewis Baby Striped Sleeping Bag, 2.5 Tog, Navy

Time Taken? I faffed. Should have been 3ish hours. Took me 6 hours. I tried different zip insertion techniques... basting is bestest.

Make again? Yes. For gifts and maybe one more for lickle lady.

Until next time.

Bundana

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