The Poland's: Homemade Nap Mat

Now that everyone is back in school...I wonder how many of you had a nap mat on your child's school supply list?

We are now to that age where we have graduated from the baby bed (only at MDO), to a nap mat....tear :(

Anyway, in preparation for this year at Mother's Day Out, I was looking around the internet for nap mats and was finding prices from $60-100...YIKES! My grandma knows I've been interested in learning to sew, so she insisted on buying me a sewing machine...even though I had no clue how to even thread the thing.

I am so grateful to Gramme for such a thoughtful and generous gift b/c she is right, I do think I will use it a lot. Unfortunately, the timing of this gift was right when we found out #2 was on the way. Needless to say, I was doing good just to get the bare necessities done around here and get our family fed. Now that I'm in the second trimester...FINALLY...deep sigh...I decided to tackle the sewing machine orientation and nap mat project at the same time.

I know I probably should have started with something smaller but...oh well..I'm a girl who is always up for a challenge. I was also thinking...how hard can it be, it's just a bunch of strait lines. And those were her last famous words...

Let's get started...

You will need a few supplies which include: tape measure, ruler, thread (that matches your fabric), strait pins, fabric pen/pencil, 20" of 5/8 velcro, and scissors.

For fabric...because I did a few different colors, I ended up getting:

2 yards of tan cotton
2 yards of the airplane print (1 for the the mat cover and 1 for the blanket)
1 yard of the brown cotton
1 yard of the brown dot minky

Note: you could probably get away with a little less of the cotton fabric, but I wanted to make sure I had enough. And just for the record, I didn't have a ton of scraps leftover.

Then you need whatever you are going to use for your mat. I went with the Quilter's batting, but some people just buy the kinder-mats. I wanted my mat to roll and not fold, which is why I went with the batting. I bought pillow stuffing, but didn't end up making a pillow (because Briggs doesn't use one yet). So that part is up to you.

First of all, let's just start off by saying..there is NO WAY this project would have happened without this lovely lady (pictured below). That's Ms. Timmie from across the street. She came over to help get me started (she is a very seasoned seamstress).

We started off by deciding what size we wanted the mat. We just unrolled the batting from the package and left it folding as it came. We cut it at 45" long (it measured 19.5" wide).

In order to get the front pieces (pictured below), we cut one longer piece 34" by 23" and a shorter piece 15" x 23". Put them face down, with right sides together, pin and sew together with a 1/2" seam allowance.

To make the two back pieces, measure and cut two pieces 27.5" by 23". You need to allow for the overlap with the velcro, the thickness of the batting and 1/2" seam.

Tip: It's best to lay out the fabric with the velcro pinned BEFORE sewing...b/c you will be sewing the velcro, one to the front of the fabric and one to the back of the fabric...so they will close the right way...don't ask how I learned that...just trust me :)

Before pinning the velcro on the fabric, iron down a 1" piece, where you will pin the velcro.

Pin the velro to the ironed edge.

And get to sewing...I was trying to act like I knew what I was doing, but I was freaking out on the inside..just a little bit :)

Ms. Timmie was a great teacher and very patient with my 101 questions. What I appreciated the most is, she just kind of threw me in there. She didn't do any of the sewing...she helped me prep the fabric, got me on my way and she went home to drink herself a glass of tea :)

I'm an advocate of getting in there and getting your hands dirty...makes you learn better..so that's just what I did.

During my process of learning to sew, my thread got tangled and I had to do surgery on my new sewing machine. At one point, Justin walked through the dining room and said..."I sure hope you know what you're doing b/c I'm not watching you so don't know if I can figure out how to put that thing back together"....

It was kind of funny coming from him...because Justin can fix ANYTHING..no joke, so I don't worry too much if ~~I break something~~ something breaks.

To put all of your minds at ease...I did proceed with great caution during this operation and followed the instruction manual to a tee in order to ensure I would be able to put things back together properly.

When I FINALLY got the machine back up and running... it was time to work on the straps.

Cut four pieces of fabric (I used the fabric I had the most leftover).

Dimensions for the pieces are: 2 pieces 26" by 5" and 2 pieces 16.5" by 5"

Fold in half (right sides together). I ironed prior to sewing b/c it helped me to have a good edge to sew and made the fabric easier to handle. Sew down the side and across one end and turn right side out.

Take both big pieces you made (front and back of the cover) and lay right sides together. Place one short and one long strap together at whichever end you choose to have your straps. You can also choose how close together or far apart you want your straps, but measure from each end to make them even.

Sew around the entire perimeter of the fabric with 1/2" seam allowance.

Last but not least, it's time for the blanket.

Cut a piece of dot minky 30" by 36" and a coordinating fabric the same size. Turn the fabric right sides facing each other.

Pin around the entire edge.

Here is my rookie-move...because I'm not that great at sewing a strait line...I used a fabric pencil and made my own little line to follow with the machine. For all you new sewers out there...this helps..I promise!