Baby Amazon Package Sleep Sacks

Today we're covering how to sew a costume for kids that - when paired with those costumes from Renn Faire and some swashbuckling accessories - will make for a punny Halloween costume: the dreaded Porch Pirate and their prized booty (in this case, babies). It's a flannel baby sleep sack with an iron-on decal that looks like the Amazon logo!

Credit must be given to Small Dreamfactory for the free pattern of the sleep sack. If you do not wish to or cannot print out patterns, a good alternative (as of this writing, 2022) is Simplicity 9242. This second pattern is made for knits (like jersey) rather than woven fabric (such as flannel), so please keep that in mind if you choose it instead of the printed pattern. You can skip ahead to step 10 when you've finished sewing the baby sleep sack according to the pattern directions.

The sacks in the example are modeled by the six-month-old twins of a good friend of mine. The linked baby sleep sack pattern by Small Dreamfactory is for up 14 months for free and up to six years old for purchase.

Time: I made these two in a week, working about four or five hours a day. If you're more experienced, it might go faster!

Skill Level: Adventurous beginner or intermediate sewer

For each sleep sack you will need the following:

Necessary

• 2 ¼ (two and a quarter) yards of 45" width flannel
• One open-ended zipper of the specified length (50 cm/20" in this example); at Joann's, this is sold as a "sports separating zipper" in color of choice*
• Tape or gluestick
• Two snaps
• Pair of scissors
• One package of extra-wide double-fold bias tape in the color of choice (sold as 3 yards)
• Iron-on vinyl in the color of choice
• Pins or quilter's clips
• Iron
• Craft knife (X-acto, etc.)
• Ruler
• Scrap lightweight interfacing
• Cutting mat
• Snap attachment tool and hammer
• Sewing machine
• Zipper foot
• (You will also probably need a seam ripper...not covered, but indispensable for correcting mistakes!)

Upgrades/Extras

• Snap pliers
• Rotary cutter
• Cricut or Silhouette (digital cutting machines)
• Cricut EasyPress

For this example, the illustrations will show the tan sack. I did not use a Cricut or EasyPress with this project but if you have one it might make things easier.

*If you want to match the color of the flannel more precisely, I recommend ZipperSource!

If using the pattern from Small Dreamfactory, download and print out the pattern. Check that the pattern is printed to scale by measuring the scale square. Tape or glue the pages together; it's okay if the pages aren't perfectly straight, just use the lines of the pattern as a guide more than the actual lines of the pages. Use the ruler to add seam allowance as directed to the pattern pieces before you cut them out. I repeat, BE SURE TO INCLUDE SEAM ALLOWANCE. It might also be useful to include a notch at the center of the back pattern piece, which I've shown in the above illustration.

(New to printing out pattern pieces? Here's a good tutorial.)

Now that you have your pattern ready, it's time to use it to cut out your fabric. Fold the fabric selvedge to selvedge (long edge to long edge, right sides together) and lay out the pieces as shown in picture one. You can pin the pattern pieces to the fabric and cut them out with scissors, but I used a rotary cutter, pattern weights, and a cutting mat because it's faster.

Repeat this step so you have two back pieces (cut on the fold) and four front pieces (two left and two right), as seen in picture two. This makes it so that you have lining and outer pieces.

I made this a separate step because I forgot about doing it when I made the second sack and it was very annoying to have to go back and add it in, so I want to point out to do it early. Iron or sew in some interfacing to the lining in the areas where you will later add snaps - about four 1.5" squares as in the diagram. They don't have to be perfect, just enough that you'll have something to help the snaps anchor themselves.

Pin the front outer pieces to their lining pieces, right sides together. Measure down from the center of the neck the length of the zipper, mark with another pin, and sew from the underarm to that pin (this is the dark brown area in the diagram above).

When I made these, I inserted the zippers as if they were the zippers in a handbag/pouch.

This is a great tutorial on doing that if you're not familiar with that process!

Essentially, sandwich the zipper between the lining and outer pieces, aligning the zipper edge with the fabric edge such that it is not visible. The tutorial I've linked should help.

Don't forget! Put the zipper in with the head down so that when fully zipped up, the zipper pull is near the feet. This makes it harder for the baby to open it up during wear.

Turn the front pieces right side out and zip the zipper closed.

Lay the lining piece for the back right side up and align the front pieces with the outer edge. Top with the back outer piece, right side down (facing the right side of the lining).

Align the back pieces by ensuring the notches match, and sew along the outer edge from armpit to armpit.

Ironing might seem like a pain, but I promise it will make things look neater in the end!

I wish I had more photos for this step, but I was in a bit of a rush! This was the most difficult step for me, but I found this website very helpful. Staystitch the edge, iron the bias tape in the shape of the curve along the edge, and open the larger edge of the bias tape (bias tape is made with one edge slightly larger than the other).

Pin the top edge of the bias tape to the edge of the wrong side of the fabric. Sew close to the first fold - don't worry too much about keeping it even because it should be hidden when the bias tape is finally sewn in.

Finally, fold the bias tape over the fabric edge and iron. Turn the sack right side out and iron close to the bottom fold as seen in the picture.

You have a couple of options here:

• Sew-on snaps (not recommended, but possible)
• Snaps set with one of the tools above

If you set snaps frequently, a pair of snap pliers is a great investment! I bought mine from Daiso, but the regular ones from Joann's or other craft stores can get a little pricey. I recommend the metal tool over the blue "easy snap" setter.

Follow the instructions on the package, as they may differ depending on the brand. Be sure to put it through fabric that's reinforced by interfacing.

This step also has some options. You have the choice of printing out the PNG files attached to this step and then tracing them out in iron-on vinyl, or if you have a digital cutting machine, use the SVG files to cut them out. If you're not sure about the size, try printing it on printer paper first.

Don't forget to mirror for vinyl, whether you cut it out by hand or by machine.

Follow the instructions for your brand of iron-on vinyl. A good rule of thumb is to use the iron dry and to have a press cloth over it so you don't iron directly on the decal.

Your other choice, if you have the time and don't want to buy iron-on vinyl, is to use the files to make freezer paper stencils like in this Instructable. In this case, use fabric paint or acrylics with fabric medium mixed in. Allow for the time it will take to have the paints dry (usually 24-48h) and set (either by iron or dryer).

Enjoy your adorable packages and reap the benefits (?) of trick-or-treating with small children.