Design Challenge Tutorial: Portable Change-Pad with Built-In Wet Bag

This post is part of the Design Challenge Series here at Sew Lux Fabric. 
See all the previous blogger interviews and tutorials here.

Hi all! My name is Erin, and I blog over at Sew at Home Mummy. I'm really excited today to share with you how to make an 'on-the-go' baby change pad with a built-in wet bag. I used the six colors in my custom fat quarter bundle to create a scrappy, sassy look! 

Materials:

- 6 FQs for a scrappy look  (you can pick up the bundle I used here)

- 1 yard coordinating oil cloth

- 1 yard craft-weight fusible interfacing (20”-25” wide)

- 1 12” coordinating zipper

- 1 piece sew-in Velcro (approx 1” square)

- 1 old, clean yogurt/sour cream container

- 1 package of double-fold bias binding (3 yards) 

- 1 package of magnetic snap (for purses and totes), ½”

- fabric marker

- Machine needles: 1 quilting or universal needle for piecing; 1 denim or leather needle

- Machine feet: ¼” quilting foot;  zig-zag foot; zipper foot

Cutting Instructions:

Oilcloth:

     - cut 1 piece 9.5" x 13"

     - set remainder aside for cutting later.

Strips:

-          from main fabric, 4 strips 20” x 2.75”

-          from each of the 5 coordinating fabrics, 2 strips 20” x 2.75”

-          from main fabric cut 2 strips 3” x 1.5”

-          from main fabric cut 1 strip 1.25” x 10”; press under both end edges ¼” ; press under one long edge ¼”

Interfacing:

-          Piece A: 4.5” x 11.0”

-          Piece B: 3.75” x 11” (CUT 2)

-          Piece C: 11” x 6”

-          Piece D: 11” x 1”

Sewing Instructions:

Piecing the Outside/backside (1/4” Seam Allowance):

1)      sew two strips, end to end. Press seam open. Trip strip set to 28.5” long. Set aside.

trim strips to 28.5"

2)      taking the piece you just trimmed off the end, sew it to another full length strip, end to end. Press seam open.  Trim to 28.5” long. Set aside.

3)      Repeat step 2, until you have a total of 5 strip sets.

4)      Organize your 5 sets on your design wall or table in a orientation that’s pleasing to you

arrange strips in pleasing order

sew strips together, alternating starting ends of seams to avoid warping. Press seams open.

5)      Select 2 remaining strips and sew together lengthwise; press seams open. Trim to 11.5” long. Repeat to make second 11.5” long strip set.

make 2 11.5" strip sets

6)      Measuring and marking 5” from the bottom on both sides of the larger strip set, align the shorter strip sets, right sides together, pin. Sew, back-stitching at both ends. Press seams towards smaller flaps.

align smaller strip sets 5" from bottom on either side.

Pin in place. Sew. Press seams towards smaller set.

flaps sewn on.

7)      Taking a small mug or coffee tin, draw rounded corners at each corner. Trim.

draw rounded corners on each corner

trim.

8)      Measuring 12” from the bottom of the change pad back, draw a centered straight line with your fabric marker, 9.5” long.  Cut along line, creating a slit.

Attaching interfacing:

***Please attach interfacing according to manufacturer’s instructions.***

1)      Attach Piece A to the bottom end of the change pad, trimming corners to fit, affixing it approximately ¼” from the bottom edge

2)      Attach Pieces B to each of the side flaps, trimming corners again as you did in 1), affixing approximately ¼” from the side edges.

3)      Attach Piece C ½” below the slit opening you made above.

4)      Attach Piece D ½” above the slit opening you made.

5)      Attach Piece E about 1/4” above piece D.

6)      Attach Piece F about ¼” from the upper edge, trimming corners as you did above to fit.

what all of your interfacing attached should look like.

Inserting the Zipper:

1)      take 3” x 1.5” strips and fold over long edge ¼” and press.

x 2

2)      press strips in half.

3)      Place zipper in fold of strips, with one folded strip's pressed edge about 9” from the beginning of the zipper pull on one side, and the other right up against the beginning of the zipper pull on the other side. Sew in place about 1/4" from folded edge.

4)      Fold back fabric and trim zipper along ¼” seam lines on both ends.

5)      Trim tab even with zipper edge.

trim zipper tabs on both ends even with zipper tape top.

SWITCH TO DENIM OR LEATHER MACHINE NEEDLE.

6)      Pin, in order:

          a.       Changepad backside, along lower slit, right side UP

          b.      Zipper, closed pull to left, bottom zipper tape face DOWN

          c.       Oil cloth (13” x 9.5” piece) right side DOWN.

7)      Sew with zipper foot, close to teeth. Back-stitch at each end; you may need to move the zipper pull out of the way while sewing.

FUN! You get to use your super-cool zipper foot ;)

8)      Turn oil cloth to wrong side of change pad (stuff it through the slit opening); finger press to back. Top stitch the oil cloth in place, close to zipper.

9)      Then, pin in order:

       a.       Oil cloth, right side UP

       b.      Zipper TOP, right side UP

       c.       1.5” x 10” pressed strip, right side DOWN, aligning raw edge with zipper tape       edge (keeping the pressed edge free).

10)   Sew using zipper foot.

11)   Lay pad back flat on a table; fold pressed strip back and align with remaining raw edge of slit; pin, sew, top-stitching about 1/8" from edge of strip around the entire perimeter.

fold the strip back toward the remaining slit raw edge, while keeping the change pad as flat as possible on the table. Pin the pressed folded edge of the strip over the slit raw edge.

top-stitch around outer edge of strip.

12)   Flip change pad over to wrong side; sew oil cloth pouch, right sides together up sides of pouch.

sew up both sides of oil cloth, creating pouch. Careful not to catch any of the front change pad in the seam.

Attaching your Velcro tabs:

1)      Using one of the leftover 2.75” strips, create a double folded strip. Sew down the center of the strip to secure.

2)      Cut strip in half; to right side of one change pad flap, pin one sewn strip approximately 1.5” from edge, with majority of strip facing towards center of change pad, away from edge. Zig-zag raw edge in place.

zig-zag raw edge in place

3)      fold the strip back over on itself, covering up the zig-zagged edge and overlapping strip by about ½”. Sew in place with an 'x' in box-type stitch to reinforce

reinforce tab with 'x'-in box type stitch

4)      Repeat for other side flap.

5)      trim right side strip to 4” ; trim left side strip to 4.25”.

6)      Zig-zag raw edge of right strips. Trim Velcro pieces to width of strips.

trim Velcro to fit

7)      Folding over zig-zagged edge ¼”, pin in place; pin Velcro piece over top of raw edge. Sew in place.

pin Velcro over folded zig-zagged edge.

sew Velcro in place

8)      Repeat for left side, ensuring the your Velcro pieces will over lap

NOTE: One strip will have the Velcro on top of it, the other on the bottom.

Cutting your Oilcloth:

1)      Lay your oilcloth RIGHT SIDE UP on your cutting mat (you'll find it much easier to cut this way - the under side of oil cloth is quite slippery).

2)      Lay your change pad backside RIGHT SIDE DOWN on top of the oilcloth.

3)      Oil cloth is notorious for pin holes that don’t heal...so, we can’t pin it together. Lay some heavy stuff on top of the pad to stabilize it for cutting. If you have heavy bean-sacs for quilting these would work great! (I just used what I had kicking around).

weight your pad down on top of the oil cloth

4)      VERY carefully, cut the oil cloth, using your pieced back as a guide. (PICTURE)

oooh.... pretty....

Inserting the Magnetic Closures:
Pieced Backside:

1)      measure from the bottom of the backside of the pad 9” centered; mark with fabric marker.

2)      Remember that old yogurt container I mentioned? Cut (from the lid or flat portion) 2 pieces, approximately 1-1.5” square (roughly) and round/smooth edges. (PICTURE)

reduce, reuse, recycle! 

3)      Now – install your magnetic closure (female piece) at the mark, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Use one plastic cut out as the back support (the instructions on the packaging say to use cardboard; if we want to be able to wash this, we’ll need something more water-proof, like plastic)

yogurt container piece used as support. strawberry? YUM!

Oil Cloth Inside:

1)     Place mark on the RIGHT SIDE of the oil cloth cut out: centered, 1.5” from TOP of change pad.

right side, from top: mark 1.5" down, centered.

This is where you’ll insert the second half of the magnetic closure (the ‘male’ piece).

2)      Repeat steps 2 & 3 above.

magnetic closure inserted on top section of inner pad

Let’s stop here and give the cotton part of the change pad a good hot press, careful to avoid any oil cloth with the iron.

Finishing your Changepad

1)      Since we have already established you can’t use pins with oil cloth, pull out your basting clips!

a.       Layer:

                                                               i.      OILCLOTH right side DOWN

                                                             ii.      Back pieced right side UP (pouch facing to bottom)

                                                            iii.      Pin back your Velcro tabs to your fabric only (so as not to catch it in binding)

b.      Clip baste in place, smoothing fabric flat as you go.

2)      Zig-zag raw edges together.

3)      Attach double-fold bias binding.

You're done!
To fold your change pad:

sides flap out for extra protection; the oil cloth is easily cleaned if baby makes a doo-doo!

folds compactly and will slide into the side pouch of most diaper bags for easy access!

a small pack of wipes and a couple of diapers fit nicely in the backside pouch;
and, the pouch is water proof - in case there are any messy accidents! 

Thanks for letting me share my tutorial with you today, and a special thanks to Chrissy at Sew Lux for inviting me to do this challenge!

Happy quilting!

Erin