After my prototype, I’ve been playing about with the design of my changing pad a little because it seems to be morphing into a large-ish bag rather than a small thing you can pop into your bag. Hmm.

I made another one last week with a snap closure this time so the mat can be folded in four and snapped closed. It’s a lot smaller than the prototype but still too bulky for my liking. The problem is that the bulk is caused by the padding in the mat which was the big selling point for me. I’ve been using mine everywhere, including putting it on a sofa in a cafe so Greer could lie on it comfortably and nap while I had a cuppa but I’m used to lugging a massive bag around with me and adding this hasn’t been a massive ordeal. For your average new parent I can imagine this being a cumbersome nuisance which wouldn’t get used and I need to change that before I start selling these bad boys.

I’ve got one tester lined up and I’m sending another version to a friend who is about to have a baby so hopefully I can iron out the niggles that are irritating me. This one is pretty lush if I do say so myself, but I will NEVER AGAIN attempt to sew fleece to a non-stretchy fabric. What a nightmare!

Posted under for the kids, sewing

I am a big fan of any product that makes my life easier and I’ve been mulling this idea over in my head for a fair wee while. I wanted a baby changing mat that I could pop in my bag, one that would be big enough to hold a couple of nappies, some wipes, some cream and maybe a sleepsuit but which I could also change the baby on comfortably. Add to that complication, I use cloth nappies so a couple of clean nappies tend to take up masses of space AND this whole thing by necessity needed to be machine washable

I decided that what I needed was a bag with a box-style base attached onto the mat so with a bit of tinkering this is what I have come up with.

The bag section is on the left and has a snap button closure in the middle to prevent the contents from spilling out. The changing mat is plenty big enough to lie a baby on. The dimensions of this one were decided based on the item I used to pad the mat but in actual fact it’s probably a little on the too thick side. Ah well, the baby will be comfortable! The changing mat has snap buttons at the corners to close it over securely meaning that any accidents can be contained, and the whole bag flips over nicely. What I did forget was a way to fasten the changing mat to the bag in order to keep it closed but as this is only a prototype that can be remedied with the next version

What do you think? Once I’ve tweaked the design I might offer the instructions for download if there’s enough interest!

Posted under for the kids, sewing