I have made a baby changing and nappy bag, I got the idea from a girl in our group who saw it when she lived in Queensland. I am wondering if anyone knows this pattern and indeed if there is a pattern.I did manage to figure it out but would like to have the pattern. Its a great idea to store all babies requirements ,and unzip the 4 zips for the mat. It would work as a picnic bag too! I have also made an Autumn version of Bluebell woods.Take a look please if you have time. Thanks
Do you know Roberta I am not a zip putter in er normally.lol This one ,(after I had drawn the circle shape with chalk)I attached the straight part of the open zip first, then the rounded part.It followed the shape really easier than I thought it would. I would hate to sew in a regular zip. Never had any luck with them. I may consider a summer very green woods. I can never plan anything,depends on the mood I am in I guess.!
I saw this design being demonstrated on one of the pbs sewing programs (probably back in the 90's?) - I couldn't help thinking though - if the bag were packed with diapers and all the other baby accoutrements, the bag would have to be unpacked completely before it could be used as a changing pad? Wouldn't it be more useful to have a separate pad to pack in a diaper bag?
Anyway, I remember that the pattern maker/demonstrator also had ideas for changing the alignment of the zippers which resulted in other finished shapes for the end-result bag - I think that one of the shows was with Sue Hausmann before her show was renamed "America Sews". Sorry, but I don't remember the pattern maker's name. jennellh
Thank you Jennifer. I too think this could be a pain and am thinking of making a matching fold up smaller mat to pop in.This has enlightened me as far as the pattern is concerned.
Could you make the mat the same size as double the size of the bag's side, and Velcro it across the top of each side, so that it didn't take up room inside the bag, and could be got at immediately when needed? . In message , EstelleUK writes
Thank you Pat. I wish that would work, but the inside of this has a smaller top as the zips come up at an angle. not very clear. I will make a paper pattern though and try.
What about making an inner bag that lifts out with everything in it when the mat is required - perhaps with just a drawstring top. Seems a shame to make another mat after you've gone to the trouble of those zips.
It looks great, however, due to "all babies requirements", the whole bag turning into a changing mat, probably wouldn't work in real life, even if it has pockets, once you fold it out, it ends up bumpy!
What I have is rather nifty and could probably be made slightly better. If you imagine a rectangular changing mat, about twice as long as it is wide, I think about 10 inches by 20 inches.
It "rolls up" or rather folds 3 times from one end to make a squashed roll. The first fold has two mesh pockets which you can flip outwards, I tuck 2-3 nappies in one side and a standard Huggies reusable plastic wipe container (everything fits better if you use a soft, but disposable one, but it costs so much more and I've had wipes dry out on me that way too, so that's one of the improvements, slightly increase the size!).
I lay baby's head between the two pockets, which leaves the final fold still free and it has a zip pocket on the outside, in which I keep a small tube of diaper rash cream, a small bottle of hand sanitizer and a few plastic bags (I reuse the ones from fruit and veg).
Everything is set to go in one little bundle, it fits in my medium size purse, which was great with a toddler, I find I need other bits and bobs with a baby, so I have a bigger general bag, but if DH takes the baby anywhere, he can just grab the roll and know he's got the essentials.
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