This is a very tricky hammock (so far as my tutorials go), but if you follow the directions carefully you will be able to master it. You'll notice that I say tricky, and not difficult. This is because it isn't hard to do, there are just many steps that are a bit hard to explain. Study the pictures and carefully read the directions. Once you get the hang of it, it will be "Oh duh!", even though it sounds complicated. And hey, just think -- if you can follow along with this tutorial then you can make anything!
What you will need to sew this hammock (all measurements given in inches):
- Standard sewing apparatus (sewing machine, scissors, thread, measuring device, etc)
- 7" x 7" fabric square
- 7" x 7" fleece fabric square
- 24" x 8" piece of fabric
- Fleece scraps, to taste (these are leftover pieces of fleece from trimming seams, pieces left over from a yard that are too small for another purpose, etc)
- 4 grommets
You'll want to begin by cutting your fabric. I have used a 7" square piece of cotton fabric, and another piece that is 28" long (the length of all four sides added together -- if you want to make a circle you can use these same principles and measure around the outside of the circle) and 8" high.
The height is subjective.. make it a little bit more than twice (as you will be folding it in half) the height you would like the walls to be. Don't forget to also cut a 7" square of fleece. You will not need a piece of fleece to match the rectangle.
Now you'll want to fold the rectanglur piece of cloth in half with right sides together, and you want the long edges to be touching. If you've ever made a tube hammock, this step should feel familiar! Now sew the tube together along the pinned edges and make sure that you do NOT sew the unpinned short edge. You'll need this open to stuff the tube with fleece scraps! Once you've got it sewn, turn it right side out.
And here is where we get tricky! We are going to pin the edge of the tube with the seam all the way around the cube (leaving a small opening for a "door"). Please be sure to look at the pictures carefully and really pay close attention to what I am saying here.
Start by laying the square piece of fabric down on your work surface, with the right side facing up toward you. Now, a little less than halfway from the middle of one side of the square (say you want your door to be.. 2" wide, you will start pinning 1" from the center point) place the edge of the tube down on the cube and pin it in place. Keep pinning until you reach the corner.
Now you are going to have to "curve" the tube around and pin in to the corner (as you can see in the second portion of the picture above). Keep pinning in this way until you have pinned the tube all the way around the square and are back to your door. Make sure to leave a 1" space between the middle of the fabric (which brings you to a 2" door) unpinned.
At this point you will need to roll the extra fabric from the tube into the tube as seen in the above photo. Once you've done that, pin it down to the square. The picture on the left shows how the door will look once the entire tube is pinned in place.
Once you're all pinned in place, it is time to put the fleece on top! To do this, you will first need to get the tube fabric out of the way, since you only want the edge of it to get sewn! If you don't fold and pin it out of the way, when you invert the whole piece your sides will be stuck!
Basically, you're just going to lay the tube fabric down flat as seen in the picture below and use a pin (four total, but you can obviously use more if it makes you more comfortable) to hold each flap down securely away from the edge of the fabric. The picture on the right shows a close up of one flap pinned out of the way. Once all of your flaps are pinned out of the way you can place the fleece square (right side down) on the whole shebang and pin it in place.
Now, starting at one edge of your "door", begin to sew all the way around the square. Stop when you reach the other side of the door. This leaves you with a 2" space to turn the whole thing right side out. Be careful when you're doing this, don't forget that there are still four pins inside, you don't want to stick your fingers! Once you have the whole thing turned right side out, you'll have a beautiful, seamless Snuggle Square!
Looking pretty good, eh? Well you haven't got much left to do and everything that is left is EASY! If you made it to this step, you are as good as home free ^_^
If you've been saving up your fleece scraps (these are the little bits of fabric that are left over when you trim your seams or end off a roll of fabric with not enough left to make anything useful) then you should have a nice big supply to stuff this baby with! If not, you can use quilt batting, old T Shirts, or anything soft and snuggly that you'd like. Simply work your stuffing all the way through the tube. Pack it as tightly or as loosely as you like. You can also stuff the bottom floor (as you should still have a 2" opening here) if you'd like. I do mine!
Once you are done stuffing, slip-stitch both the tube and the floor openings closed.
Add grommets and hang!
Tip: If you don't want to add grommets, don't. The Snuggle Square will be just as snuggly placed on the floor as it is hanging. Especially if you stuff the floor with fleece as well!