Nap Mat Cover tutorial

Here in the south,
kids go to pre school and Kindergarten all day,
so their day includes a nap.

A nap means a nap mat is necessary.
And of course I have to make it look as nice as possible
with a nap mat cover.

When my littlest started pre-school 

2 years ago, I made him the cutest polka-dot nap mat cover. 

Now that he's going into Pre-K, 

he requested something more 'big boy' and not babyish polka dots (his words).  

I found some fantastic super hero fabric that he 

approved of and made him a new cover.

Here is a tutorial for how I made it.  

As I have said a bunch of times before, 

I am not a seamstress and I don't know how to use a pattern.  

 I used my usual wing it method to make this cover.

I purchased a padded plastic nap mat from the store.

I used a little under 3 yards of super hero fabric.

I folded the fabric in half lengthwise, inside out.  

Then laid the mat on top of the fabric to measure 

how much I would need.  

I cut about 1/4 of a yard off.  

Since the cover is similar to a pillow case, 

I folded down the top end, 

where the opening is to insert the nap mat, 

2 times and sewed a hem.

I sewed the sides and the bottom closed.  

It looked like a long pillow case, with the end open to insert the mat.

On the open end,

 I used sew-on velcro for a closure.

I then stuffed the mat inside the cover.

When my little man took it for a test drive,

he said it needed a pillow.

I used really soft fleecy fabric 

and sewed a simple rectangle.  

I left a small opening to stuff Poly-fill into,

then I hand sewed the opening closed.

To attach the pillow to the nap mat cover,

and still have it removable for laundering,

 I sewed buttons onto both sides of the pillow and the cover.

I used ribbon to attach the pillow to the cover together.  

The process was simple.  

I took about a 6inch piece of ribbon, 

cut a slit on each side for a button holes 

and then melted the raw edges of the ribbon 

with a flame to seal the loose fibers.

The ribbon holds the pillow to the nap mat nicely.

To keep it all together, 

I wrapped more of the same ribbon around everything.

It is closed with velcro

sewn to the ends of the ribbon.

The finished big boy nap mat!

Linking up to:  The Shabby Nest, 

Whipperberry, Tatertots and Jello, 

Be Different Act Normal, 

Six Sisters. Lil Luna, 

Organize and Decorate Everything,

  A bowl full of lemons