SUNNY-SIDE UP SLEEPING BAG SET
Bacon wrapped kids anyone??? This sleeping bag combo was inspired by one of my favorite childhood books "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" which in recent years was adapted into an animated movie that my children enjoy as well. The book is about a town called "Chewandswallow" that gets it's food from the weather & is overcome with a natural disaster of freakishly large food items. As a child I always dreamed of what it would be like to live in a town with super-sized food. Now my kids don't have to dream of it, they can experience it first hand, wrapped in their cozy bacon & egg sleeping bag set.
NOTE: The egg doubles as a sleeping bag carrier/pillow case.
NOTE: The egg doubles as a sleeping bag carrier/pillow case.
Ingredients
The materials needed will change depending on the size you would like to make your sleeping bag. I had my children in mind for this project so I made the bag about 54" in length & about 30" wide, but you could easily make it larger for an adult. Based on my measurements I used:
3 Yards of a burgundy fleece (bacon)
1.5 Yards of white fleece (egg)
3/4 Yard of yellow fleece (yolk)
1.5 Yards of white felt (for fat strips)
1 sleeping bag zipper (100 in)
20 in. of white velcro 1" width. (You can use a white zipper instead)
Quilt batting (I used a thin batting but you can use whatever you prefer or none at all if your fleece is thick)
About a basketball size amount of polyfill stuffing (yolk)
Optional: white ribbon for carrying strap.
Note: You will also need a sewing machine, threads to match, and scissors.
3 Yards of a burgundy fleece (bacon)
1.5 Yards of white fleece (egg)
3/4 Yard of yellow fleece (yolk)
1.5 Yards of white felt (for fat strips)
1 sleeping bag zipper (100 in)
20 in. of white velcro 1" width. (You can use a white zipper instead)
Quilt batting (I used a thin batting but you can use whatever you prefer or none at all if your fleece is thick)
About a basketball size amount of polyfill stuffing (yolk)
Optional: white ribbon for carrying strap.
Note: You will also need a sewing machine, threads to match, and scissors.
Where's the Pork?
To make the sleeping bag:
1. Lay out your burgundy fleece so that it is doubled over length wise with the fold along the top edge. It will create a sandwich that is about 54" x 60"
2. Open your sandwich and add your batting to the center.
3. Fold under the edges of the fabric by about 1/4" and pin the zipper into place between the folds. Work one half of the zipper at a time. Start the zipper at the top outer edge and end it at center of the bottom edge. (because the finished product will be folded in half)
4. Sew the zipper in place.
OPTIONAL: I also sewed a seam across the folded edge that was about 3-4" from the fold to distinguish it as the opened end.
1. Lay out your burgundy fleece so that it is doubled over length wise with the fold along the top edge. It will create a sandwich that is about 54" x 60"
2. Open your sandwich and add your batting to the center.
3. Fold under the edges of the fabric by about 1/4" and pin the zipper into place between the folds. Work one half of the zipper at a time. Start the zipper at the top outer edge and end it at center of the bottom edge. (because the finished product will be folded in half)
4. Sew the zipper in place.
OPTIONAL: I also sewed a seam across the folded edge that was about 3-4" from the fold to distinguish it as the opened end.
Fatten It Up
Now that your bag is constructed you can "fatten" it up a bit.
1. Cut some wavy, pointed, strips from your white felt to resemble fat bands. Try to vary the size & shape.
2. Lay the shapes out on the bag where you feel they look best & pin them in place.
3. You can then quilt the felt onto the bag with a wide zig zag stitch by doing some freehand machine quilting.
1. Cut some wavy, pointed, strips from your white felt to resemble fat bands. Try to vary the size & shape.
2. Lay the shapes out on the bag where you feel they look best & pin them in place.
3. You can then quilt the felt onto the bag with a wide zig zag stitch by doing some freehand machine quilting.
Let's Get Cracking
For the egg carrying/pillow case you will want to use the bacon as a gauge for size.
1. Fold up your bag to a comfortable size. There is nothing worse then trying to fold, roll, and stuff a sleeping bag into a tiny case, so keep it simple & build your case to fit it properly!
2. Lay the white fleece over the top of the bag so you have a general idea of how large the bag needs to be in order to fit the bag. (I needed about a 30" square)
3. Cut 4 copies of a wavy, egg whites shape, that is the approximate size needed to cover the folded sleeping bag.
4. Cut about a 14" circle out of the yellow fleece. This will be your yolk. (My fleece was rather thin so I doubled the layers)
NOTE: As you work with the egg whites be sure you are orienting the shape together correctly.
5. Take 1 copy of the egg whites and sew the yellow yolk onto the center of it. Leave a few inches unstitched for stuffing. Stuff it. Then finish closing it to complete the yolk.
6. Now take a 2 copy and sew a long strip of velcro along one edge.
7. Sandwich & sew together the yolk piece and the velcro piece so that the yolk is on one side and the velcro on the other.
8. Take the remain 2 copies and add the opposite half of the velcro to one of the copies, while the other remains plain. Sandwich & sew these 2 pieces together.
9. At this point you will have created the two halves of the case. One half with the yolk on the outside velcro on the inside. The other half with the velcro on the inside & plain on the outside. Now sandwich & sew both halves together with outsides facing in, being sure to leave the Velcro edge open.
10 Once sewn you can turn it sunny side out! You will notice that the edge by the velcro is not finished, so fold over & hem down the edge to finish it.
Optional: you can also sew in a length of ribbon as a carrying strap near the opening.
NOTE: You could use a zipper instead of velcro as an option. I chose velcro because I thought the zipper may be uncomfortable under their little heads. You have to watch the velcro when slipping in the bacon bag though, because it likes to grab it a bit.
1. Fold up your bag to a comfortable size. There is nothing worse then trying to fold, roll, and stuff a sleeping bag into a tiny case, so keep it simple & build your case to fit it properly!
2. Lay the white fleece over the top of the bag so you have a general idea of how large the bag needs to be in order to fit the bag. (I needed about a 30" square)
3. Cut 4 copies of a wavy, egg whites shape, that is the approximate size needed to cover the folded sleeping bag.
4. Cut about a 14" circle out of the yellow fleece. This will be your yolk. (My fleece was rather thin so I doubled the layers)
NOTE: As you work with the egg whites be sure you are orienting the shape together correctly.
5. Take 1 copy of the egg whites and sew the yellow yolk onto the center of it. Leave a few inches unstitched for stuffing. Stuff it. Then finish closing it to complete the yolk.
6. Now take a 2 copy and sew a long strip of velcro along one edge.
7. Sandwich & sew together the yolk piece and the velcro piece so that the yolk is on one side and the velcro on the other.
8. Take the remain 2 copies and add the opposite half of the velcro to one of the copies, while the other remains plain. Sandwich & sew these 2 pieces together.
9. At this point you will have created the two halves of the case. One half with the yolk on the outside velcro on the inside. The other half with the velcro on the inside & plain on the outside. Now sandwich & sew both halves together with outsides facing in, being sure to leave the Velcro edge open.
10 Once sewn you can turn it sunny side out! You will notice that the edge by the velcro is not finished, so fold over & hem down the edge to finish it.
Optional: you can also sew in a length of ribbon as a carrying strap near the opening.
NOTE: You could use a zipper instead of velcro as an option. I chose velcro because I thought the zipper may be uncomfortable under their little heads. You have to watch the velcro when slipping in the bacon bag though, because it likes to grab it a bit.
Sampling the Menu
The last step is to test it all out, OF COURSE!
Slip a pillow into the egg and wrap up a willing test subject. If everything is satisfactory, then you can pack it all up to go, by wrapping up your bacon and slipping it into your sunny-side up egg case!
Slip a pillow into the egg and wrap up a willing test subject. If everything is satisfactory, then you can pack it all up to go, by wrapping up your bacon and slipping it into your sunny-side up egg case!