DIY Barbie Doll Sleeping Bags

My daughter and I like to plan a fun girl's night at least once a month. My daughter often plans our fun nights together with a theme, which usually include a movie, dinner, and some kind of activity. This last month, we decided to have a Descendants Slumber Party and watch the new Disney Channel Original Movie, Descendants, which released on The Disney Channel and on DVD at Walmart on July 31st.

With Descendants being all about the next generation of villains, we were most looking forward to seeing one of our favorite villains, Maleficent and her daughter, Mal with her awesome purple hair. The movie is fun for kids and parents alike with catchy songs, nostalgic characters, and parents will definitely have a laugh watching the villains attempt to parent their rebel teens and try to keep evil alive by pressuring their kids to follow in their footsteps!

To get our party planning on, we headed to Walmart and purchased The Disney Channel's Descendants DVD and the official movie soundtrack. The DVD was easy to spot in the new movie endcap display, and the soundtrack was featured in the hot music section.

Since every party needs a few guests, we checked out the Disney Descendants fashion dolls to watch their movie with us! Featured in the toys section next to the Frozen merchandise, you can find the main characters like Mal and Evie, along with some of their friends like Jane, Lonnie and Audrey all in their stylish clothes and coronation dresses!

Along with the Descendants DVD and the official movie soundtrack, we came across Disney Descendants fashion dolls that came in a two pack that included Carlos & Evie, and Ben & Mal.

Now that we found all we needed for our party, we needed to work on the "slumber" part, which means sleeping bags for the dolls to sleep in! Don't worry if you are new to sewing - these sleeping bags are SUPER easy and are a great project for beginners.

1. First, you'll need some fabric. Flannel, fleece, and cotton all work well. Flannel and fleece are soft and fluffy on their own, but since cotton fabric is thinner, I like to add a piece of flannel in between to make it a little fluffier. The seam allowance is 1/4 inch.

Cut 2 pieces 13 inches x 6 inches
Cut 2 pieces 11 inches x 6 inches
*If using cotton - cut 1 piece flannel 10.75 inches x 6 inches

2. Line the two fabric pieces right sides together (*for the smaller piece, add the flannel to the outside of the two pieces). Sew along three sides of each rectangle (as shown above with dotted lines), making sure to backstitch at each end.

3. Cut the corners at an angle (but not through the thread!), then flip the rectangles right side out. Use something pointy (but not sharp) to poke the corners out. Press the seams flat with an iron. Grab a small handful of Poly-Fil and stuff it into the end of the larger rectangle piece. This will make the pillow!

4. Measure down about 2 inches and mark with pins or a water soluble marker. Squish all the Poly-Fil into the end of the fabric, and sew along the line you just marked. Even out the pillow by squishing it around a little.

5. Line up the unfinished bottom edges of both pieces and pin in place. Sew along the three edges starting at one side (either side will be fine), but stop when you get to about 2 inches from the end of the other side (as shown above). Backstitch at both ends.

6. Cut the corners and flip the sleeping bag so the seams are all on the inside. Poke the corners, and now the sleeping bag is ready to use!!

The Disney Descendants fashion dolls fit perfectly in the sleeping bags (as well as most dolls this size). The sleeping bags come together really quick, so it's fun to create multiple bags for all the dolls you own!!

We chose sparkly fabrics in colors to match each character, and got a little more creative making something black, white and red for Carlos (son of Cruella de Vil)! His sleeping bag was sewn the same way, but I only cut one size rectangle of each fabric pattern so that the inside and outside of the sleeping bag are different.

It was such a fun night of watching Descendants (complete with popcorn and treats, of course), and playing some Disney Villain Bingo to honor the parents of the Descendants characters! My daughter has since been reenacting the movie with all the dolls, and having them sing and dance to the soundtrack.

I'd love to hear if you've seen the movie and what you thought! If you haven't seen it yet, I'd love to know who your favorite villain is!