Upcycled sweater baby cocoon

ETA:  Here's how it fits a real baby!

We are now officially in pregnancy overtime. It's not a bad thing, it's just that all the imperative items on our to-do list are done and it's time to wait patiently for the baby. I am 40 weeks today and felt like trying out a little craft I'd been wanting to do for a while.

I wanted one of those baby cocoon things like people knit and use for photos. But I wanted to make it myself, and I don't knit or crochet. I had this soft merino wool sweater that was perfect for an attempt at making one.

Here's the sweater before I got started. The back piece was all I needed.

So I cut that out.

Then I turned it upside-down (the ribbing from the bottom of the sweater will become the top of the cocoon) and trimmed it.

And I cut two rounded things like this. (I also pulled all the lint balls off.)

Then, starting at the top, I rolled the edges under so nothing raw was hanging out and hemmed a little ways. I did this on both sides.

I only went about 5-6 inches.

Then I folded it in half with right sides together, and starting where the folded edge meets the beginning of that cut bottom curve, sewed it together by hand. You could do it on a machine depending on your fabric, but hand-sewing didn't take me long. Besides, I didn't want to climb the stairs to get to my craft room and rethreading the machine is a hassle.

When I'd sewn up to about 4 inches from the top (a little into my rolled hem) I stopped and reinforced that spot.

Then I turned around and sewed all the way back over what I'd just done to be sure it'd hold up well. It only took about five extra minutes. This is what I had at that point.

I turned it inside out and was pretty pleased.

I borrowed one of the girls' baby dolls to try it on. This baby, whom we've taken to calling Big Baby after the doll on Toy Story 3, didn't want to put her arms down or bend her legs, but it did fit. I think the concept is a keeper, and we'll see how it fits a real newborn after Robert arrives. I may need to find another soft sweater and try again for a better fit. I'm wondering if I should have made the bottom wider, for instance. Hopefully it'll at least be good for a belly cast photo prop.

We made that last night!