Fleece Swaddle Blanket Tutorial

I made a fleece swaddle blanket for the coming baby!  I found a pink one at a garage sale this summer and just had to buy it, just in case we had a girl.  But then we found out we're having a boy, so I decided to try and copy it using a boy fabric.  The pink one is actually more like a sleep sack with wings that you use to swaddle the baby.  I happened to be shopping with a friend, and she picked up a swaddle blanket that was more like a sleeping bag with the wings.  It seemed like it would be much easier to make, so I went with the sleeping bag version.

Are you interested in making one?  Here's what I did:  I started by laying out the pink sleep sack I had and tracing it about an inch bigger.  If you don't have a sleep sack to trace, you could use a sleeper to get the length and then just add wings.  I actually traced the bottom part a little bigger than 1 inch, but I wish I wouldn't have.  The finished swaddler seems a little big to me.  Although there should be plenty of room for him to grow!

Below are my cut out pieces.  The smaller piece is for the front of the sleep sack.  The bottom of it is the exact same dimensions as the larger piece, but then it extends up a few inches.

Time to start sewing!  First, sew the front piece to the bottom piece.  My seam starts and stops at the corner of the large bottom piece.

Next, it's time to make the bottom of the sack look like a bag.  With the sack still inside out, adjust the corner so that the side and bottom seam are laying on top of each other.  Measure 2 inches from the corner and sew a seam across the corner (as shown below).

Trim the excess fabric.

Flip it right side out.  The picture below shows what the bottom looks like now.  Next, hem the raw edges, all the way around the wings and the front flap.

I used 3/4 inch strips of velcro, but the pink swaddler I have uses 2 inch strips.  I decided to use 3/4 inch because of the price difference, $0.84 vs. $5.44!  My velcro strips are probably about 6-8 inches long, I didn't measure them, and they are not all exactly the same.  I sewed them on so they would be a criss cross pattern when secured.  I thought this would be much better to swaddle the baby, and can be adjusted as the baby grows.

And that's it!  All ready for a real baby.

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