How to Make a Doll Sleeping Bag

December 21, 2008 by  
Filed under build, Crafts, Fabric, featured, Ramblings, Toys

My daughter’s dolly needed a warm place to sleep, so we went to our scrap fabric drawer and pulled out a scrap of fleece with a fun pattern larger enough to fit the doll. We placed Anna (the doll’s name) on the fabric and sized it to her.

fold the fabric over the doll

fold the fabric over the doll

You can see below that we folded the fabric to create a bag on the bottom for the doll to sleep in and into a space for a pillow on the top.

make sure the doll fits on the fabric

make sure the doll fits on the fabric

Now make sure that the fabric is inside out and all the edges are straight with the openings folded over approximately 1/4 inch.  Now it’s time to dig out the sewing machine.  (I don’t have much of a sewing machine, but it gets the job done. It’s a Shark Mini Sewing Machine and they cost around $20.)   Sew each side of the sleeping bag two times for a little extra stregth.

Sew the Fleece

Sew the Fleece

Next I used fabric glue to glue the lip down.

Use Fabric Glue to hold down the fabric lip

Use Fabric Glue to hold down the fabric lip

We then flipped the sleeping bag right side out and commenced to stuff the pillow area with some excess fabric in order to make a fluffier pillow.

Stuff the pillow area.

Stuff the pillow area.

Finally we glued the seams of the pillow area together the same way that we glued the lip on the other side and the dolly had a warm place to sleep.

doll sleeping bag

doll sleeping bag

Toy Saw Pattern and Instructions

Even a kids toolbox is not complete without a good saw.  For filling out that toddler toolbox you can download our pattern and cut one on yourself.

This toy saw can be made from a scrap of 1/4″ plywood or any other 1/4″ thick material you choose.  It consists of three pieces easily cut on a scroll saw.  Click here or on the picture below to downoad a free pdf of the pattern with instructions and then you can follow along with the pictures below to see how I made mine.

Pattern For Toy Saw

Pattern For Toy Saw

You can see in the picture below I cut the three parts of the saw from an 8″ X 10″ piece of scrap 1/4″ plywood.

Toy Saw Pieces Cut Using Template

Toy Saw Pieces Cut Using Template

I then glued and clamped the boards together.  I used Gorilla Wood glue, but any polyurethane wood glue should work fine.  Make sure to remember to use a piece of scrap material under the clamps as to not dent the wood.

Toy Saw Clamped

Toy Saw Clamped



Finally I hand sanded the saw to 220 grit.  You can finish the saw with the child safe finish of your choice or you can leave the toy unfinished.

Toy Saw

Toy Saw

Thanks for viewing this project.  Please leave any questions, problems and comments you have below.

Toy saw in use

Toy saw in use

Spoon Pattern

December 6, 2008 by  
Filed under Play Food, Scroll-saw, Woodworking

A friend mentioned he needed a pattern to cut out a wooden spoon, so I quickly made one up.  You could use this for a real cooking spoon or you could scale it down and use it for a play spoon.

Click here to download or click on picture

spoon pattern

spoon pattern