I made Wy a nap mat for his MDO program this fall. I saw some in stores but didn't really like any of them. The ones I did like were on Etsy for twice the price I wanted to pay. So, I made it. I found two tutorials online and picked from the parts I liked and created one. Here are the links I used:
What I liked about J.G.: The look overall. The tabs to close it, the strap, pretty much everything
What I didn't like about J.G.: The price of the insert, the washability of the insert, the blanket.
What I likd about P.B.: The ease of washing, the blanket, the width
What I didn't like about P.B.: It looked frumpy, bias tape is a pain to sew, the straps and tabs
What I did: I bought batting from JoAnns in a double bed size, made a velcro opening for the pillow insert to be removed to be washed seperately.
What I wish I did differently: I was I had made the fabric just a bit wider. I followed the J.G. tutorial when cutting the fabric. I wish I had gone with 30 inches wide instead of 22.
How I sewed mine: I wanted to be able to toss this puppy into the washer. Afterall, potty training boy = pee everywhere! So I thought about just doing the J.G. one and adding a layer of vinyl fabric between the fabric and foam. But that would not breathe well, would be crunchy, and well, just didn't sound comfy. So, I took the batting, and my front and back fabric (green and dinosaurs) and layered it all together.
First, make the blanket. I used double sided minky. You could also use fleece or one sided minky. If you use one sided minky, you will need to follow the J.G. tutorial. (And if you have never sewn with minky, it sheds like no other on the cut edges, so be prepared for tiny minky pieces everywhere). I made my own bias tape out of the green fabric. I cut 3" strips and used this tutorial. Once the tape is ready, you will sew it on 3 sides of the blanket, the two shorter ends and one long end.
Fold the batting to the right size to fit the edges of the fabric all the way around. The way I did it, the batting was about 4 inches too short for the width I folded. So I just left it that way, sewed the short end to the batting so it won't get messed up and move around in the wash.
Take the dino fabric and put the velcro for the tabs on it. I measured 28 inches from the bottom and sewed it on. You may want to roll the fabric and batting up like you would when it is finished and have the tabs pinned on to check and see where the tabs will lay comfortably. Then put the velcro there. (that is actually what I did.) Then sew the velcro on the right side of the dino fabric and the tabs.
Then I put the dino fabric on the batting face up Pin the strap in place according to the J.G. tutorial, 10 inches from the bottom. Then pin the tabs on the bottom of the dino fabric. (I measured to the middle of the dino fabric, then measured half of that on both sides and then put the middle of the tabs onto the middle of those spots). Then pin the blanket onto the right edge of the dino fabric (so that when it is finished the blanket will fold over from the left side, not that it really matters, this is just what I did.)
Once all that is pinned, I lay the green fabric face down onto the dino fabric and batting and pin it all the way around. You want to leave about 13-15 inches from the top for the pillow. Once all pinned, sew all the way around the sides and bottom of where the batting is. Then I flipped the whole thing to make it where the batting was inside and the green and dino fabric were facing out (like you would when you sew a pillow cover). Then sew the three layers of fabric/batting together at the top. Next put a strip of velcro on the left side of where the pillow will lay. Then I sewed the edges on the top and right side of the pillow insert. You could probably use bias tape to make it look nicer, but I HATE bias tape lol. Then you are done.
I don't think I missed any steps. If I did let me know where you get stuck and I will go through and figure what I missed.
Why I sewed it the way I did: I wanted to just toss the mat into the washer and dryer. With the batting edges sewed all the way around I shouldn't have to sew the middle area of it. I wanted the pillow to be removeable to wash. If you don't care about that, then when sewing around the batting, don't stop at the top of the batting, sew the entire length of the sides and just leave the top of the mat open to flip it. You will still need to sew the top of the batting edge to keep it in place and keep the pillow from falling into that area. Then you will just have to sew that edge and then fold the edges on the top of the mat down and close it.
Here is a picture of our finished project: It is upside down and the pillow area is flipped over to show some detail.
