Now we are going to add a shoulder strap.

1. Cut a length of webbing/belting the width of your t toddler nap mat . 24″ in my case.

2. Finish the raw ends of your webbing by stitching a tight zig-zag along each end of the strap with one side of the stitch hitting over the edge of the toddler nap mat fabric. Or an overlock stitch.

3. Decide which side is the outside of your toddler nap mat . It won’t really matter unless you have just realized that one side of yourtoddler nap matfabric is upside-down. Measure 15 inches up from bottom and pin strap to the very edge on both sides.

4. Through all layers, sew a square with an x in the middle, a typical reinforced strap stitch (is there a technical term for this?) Add a few backward stitches at the beginning and end to secure.

5. Starting on the front of the toddler nap mat , begin pinning the bias tape just before the top left corner. The opening right below the start of the bias tape will be where you insert the pillow later.

You want to add a little tuck like this at the beginning.

1. Continue to pin along top, down right side and across bottom. Again, my pins point out because I’m a lefty.

2. For the corners, just turn the bias tape, leaving a rounded corner, you will trim the excess fabric later.

3. Just after you turn the bottom left corner, you want to add your blanket. Align the left (unfinished) edge of your blanket with the left side of yourtoddler nap The top of the blanket should hit just under the pillow pocket and the bottom edge of the blanket should be at least a few inches above the bottom edge of the toddler nap mat . The blanket will be much wider than the toddler nap mat .
Note: You can also see when I had to add a new strip of bias tape along the bottom edge. I used a french seam “fold” to “hook” the ends into each other. This is a picture from later in the project, don’t be confused by the lack of pins and the trimmed corner.

4. Continue pinning the bias tape until you hit opening for the the pillow. Insert pillow.

Continue pinning bias tape, closing pillow area. When you reach the start of the bias tape. “Hook” ends of bias tape into each other with another French seam “fold.”

1. Start sewing the bias tape. Keep checking that you have all of your layers aligned and that you are sewing through them all. You want to sew just outside the outer fold of the bias tape. Sew all the way around edge.

It will look like this, except your stitches wont be all wonky. Check under the bias tape all the way around and make sure you didn’t miss the fabric anywhere. If you did, just sew over that section a little deeper into the bias tape.

 Trim any edges even with the outer edge of the bias tape.

Now wrap the bias tape around the edge of your toddler nap mat . You can pin if you like but I found it easier not to pin so that I could keep checking that all layers were being sewn in.Ideally you want to keep your bias tape flat and stitch through all layers but you might have to be flexible here and let the folds open a little to accommodate the girth of the edge. It is MORE important that all layers get securely sewn into the bias tape then keeping the bias tape flat.

You are seriously almost done! Your toddler nap mat will look something like this rolled up. We just need to add Velcro closures.

Cut 2 – 4″ lengths of webbing/belting. Finish ends the same as the strap above.

 Sew 1 1/2″ of Velcro (fuzzy loops) to under side of strap as shown. Repeat for 2nd strap.

Pin other end of strap (5″ in from side and 2″ in from bottom) at the bottom of your toddler nap mat . Repeat on other side.

 Roll toddler nap mat and position other side of Velcro (scratchy hooks) on mat and pin.

Sew straps to toddler nap mat using the same formation as the shoulder strap. For the other side, I hand-sewed them to the toddler nap mat, going through only the top layer, using many small tight stitches.

And you are done with your DIY toddler nap mat ! Snuggle up my friend! I think I will add a cute applique to the blanket, maybe pick up one of the sweet shapes from the fabric or do her name so none of those 3 year old hoodlums walks off with my masterpiece!

Tags: Toddler Nap Mat

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